Esty was a descendant of Edmund Rice, an early immigrant to Massachusetts Bay Colony,[5] and a direct descendant of Mary Towne Esty, who was executed during the Salem Witch Trials.

[6] Many of Esty's churches were variations of a popular nineteenth-century style similar to Richard Upjohn's.

He also proposed a design for the Library of Congress building in Washington, D.C.[7] Esty received an honorary Master of Arts degree in 1866 from the University of Rochester.

[8] From 1876 until his death, Esty was employed by the United States Treasury as Superintendent of Construction to the first United States Post Office and Sub-Treasury Building in Boston's Post Office Square.

[9] † Cornerstone Baptist Church was remodeled in 1885 by Van Brunt & Howe, to whom the National Register of Historic Places incorrectly gives sole credit.