Judge of the Superior Court of San Luis Obispo county, California. Parents Jacob S and Sarah were both descendants of German families, living for many years in eastern Pennsylvania. Edwin lived with his parents until age 14 and then the whole family moved to Nebraska. His parents were poor. Edwin attended public schools and then the preparatory school of State University. He then took a law degree from Hastings College and began a law career. In 1902 he was elected the Superior Court Judge for San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties. In 1859 he co-founded the San Luis Obispo Tribune and was central to the organising the Committee of Vigilance. (See father-in-law Walter Murray’s involvement.)

History of the bench and bar of California by Oscar Tully Shuck.

Grandson Lew Warden remembers:
In later life the judge was stricken with Parkinson’s disease and unable to speak coherently. As a child visiting his home in San Luis Obispo, which he had built and landscaped with such care and much with his own hand, I recall him virtually helpless, confined to a wheel chair, his hand shaking violently, and trying futilely to stammer a few words to me.