Edward R. Emmons was born around 1842 in Massachusetts to Alonzo Emmons and Abigail Lawrence. His father was a farmer who owned $700 of real estate in 1850. Emmons grew up and attended school in Hardwick, Massachusetts. By 1860, Emmons was working as a farm laborer. He married Caroline Jane Towne in Hardwick on April 30, 1863, and they had at least five children: Leora, born around 1864; Edward, born around 1866; Frederick, born around 1868; Herbert, born around 1870; and Mabel, born around 1871. They lived with Emmons’ father in Hardwick until at least 1880. Emmons died of apoplexy with heart disease in Hardwick on October 7, 1894.