Emerson was superintendent of schools in Concord and on the board of health and the cemetery and library committees. He was a founding member of the Concord Antiquarian Society, now called the Concord Museum, and a member of the Social Circle.
Emerson married Annie Shepard Keyes of Concord in 1874. Four of their seven children lived to adulthood, and only one of their seven children survived them. Their children were:
Ellen Tucker Emerson (1880–1921), who married Charles Milton Davenport when she was 40 in 1920.[5]
Florence Emerson (b. 1882)
William Forbes Emerson (b. 1884)
Raymond Emerson (1886–1977), who lived in Concord, married Amelia Forbes April 19, 1913, and became a civil engineer and later an investment manager.[6]