Joseph Emerson (May 28, 1821 – August 4, 1900) was an American minister and theologian. Emerson, son of Professor Ralph Emerson, D.D. and Eliza (Rockwell) Emerson, was born on May 28, 1821, at Norfolk, Connecticut, where his father was at the time pastor of the Congregational church. In 1829 his father became Professor of Ecclesiastical History in Andover Theological Seminary, in Andover, Massachusetts, and he was prepared for college at Phillips Academy in that place. During his senior year at Yale College he was one of the editors of the Yale Literary Magazine. He graduated from Yale in 1841.