David Stidd was born around 1832 in Ohio to Morgan and Elizabeth Stidd. His father was a farmer. Stidd probably grew up and attended school in Belmont County, Ohio, before beginning work as a farmer. He married Mary J. Reeves there on December 16, 1852, and they had at least three children: William, born on February 22, 1853; John, born on February 7, 1856; and Hannah, born on July 13, 1859. Stidd enlisted in the Union army on October 15, 1861, and mustered in as a private in Company B of the 3rd Ohio Infantry later that day. The regiment took part in the Battle of Perryville and the Battle of Stones River. . Stidd died of chronic diarrhea in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, on March 26, 1863.