Education: Harvard University.
Minister, Old South Church, Boston
Only son of Rev. William and Phebe Bliss Emerson, he was born in the Old Manse at Concord. His father was a Chaplain for the Continental Army at Fort Ticonderoga. He became ill with dysentery and died in Vermont on his journey home. His mother later married Rev. Ezra Ripley.
William graduated from Harvard in 1789 and taught school for several years. He then took up the study of theology and in 1792 was ordained a minister of the Unitarian Church at Harvard, Mass. From 1799 until his death he was the minister at the First Church in Boston where he was known for his liberal views. He was a member of the Anthology Society, which published the The Monthly Anthology and who founded the Boston Athenĉum. Amongst his own published works was a history of the First Church which was published in 1812.
He married Ruth Haskins on October 25, 1796. They were the parents of Phoebe Ripley Emerson, John Clarke Emerson, William Emerson, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Edward Bliss Emerson, Robert Bulkeley Emerson, Charles Chauncy Emerson and Mary Caroline Emerson.