Edwin G. Davis was born around 1841 in New York to Salem Davis and Sarah Parks. His father was a painter who owned $1,000 of real estate in 1860. Davis grew up and attended school in Southold, New York, before enrolling at New York University. He graduated in 1861, and he probably married a woman named Olive soon afterward. They had at least two children: Virginia, born around 1862; and Charles, born around 1866.

 

Davis enlisted in the Union army on December 26, 1861, and he mustered in as a sergeant in Company D of the 102^nd New York Infantry later that day. He was promoted to sergeant major on September 8, 1862, and to 2^nd lieutenant on August 14, 1863. The regiment took part in the Battle of Antietam, the Battle of Chancellorsville, the Battle of Gettysburg, and the Chattanooga campaign. He resigned on February 23, 1864.

 

Davis settled in Brooklyn, New York, after leaving the army and launched a successful legal practice. By 1870, he owned $1,000 of personal property. Olive died sometime in the late 1870s, and he married a woman named Isadore soon afterward. Davis was active in veterans’ organizations, including the Grand Army of the Republic. He helped organize reunions, delivered Memorial Day addresses, and delivered eulogies for other local veterans. He initially supported the Republican Party, but he apparently became a Democratic by 1880. He applied for a federal pension in April 1904 and eventually secured one. He died in May 1917.

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