Joseph Story was born in Marblehead, Massachusetts, on September 18, 1779, the son of Elisha Story, a physician, and his second wife, Mehitable Pedrick Story. He was one of eleven children by this second marriage. He graduated from Harvard College in 1798 and studied law with Samuel Sewall and then with Samuel Putnam. He was admitted to the bar in 1822. Despite his political leanings at the time, he was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1805, 1806, and 1807, and in 1808 gained a seat in Congress upon the death of Jacob Crowninshield.

After leaving Congress, having refused to run for another term in 1809, he was reelected to the Massachusetts legislature, and by 1811, was chosen as Speaker of the House. In 1811, while still in the House of Representatives, he was appointed Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, on which he served for 34 years until his death on September 10, 1845.

In addition to his years on the bench, he was a prolific writer of legal treatises and commentaries. He taught at the Harvard Law School for many years and was inaugurated as Dane Professor of Law at Harvard in 1829. Story married Mary Lynde Oliver in 1804, but his wife lived only one year after the marriage. In 1808 Story married Sarah Wetmore. There were seven children born of the marriage, but only two, William Wetmore and Mary Oliver, survived their father. Sarah Wetmore Story died in 1855.