Edwin Miles was born on December 21, 1818, in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, to Nathaniel and Sarah Miles. His father was a farmer who owned $300 of personal property by 1860. He began working as a teacher in the late 1830s. He married a woman Susan Jones on March 30, 1847, and they had at least four children: Amanda, born around 1847; George, born around 1850; Nathaniel, born around 1852; and Sarah, born around 1856. He moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, around 1846, and he earned a living as a clerk. By 1860, he owned $3,000 of real estate and $9,000 of personal property.
In 1862, he became a partner in the Black Diamond Steel Works. Then, in 1869, he became a partner in the Duquesne Iron & Steel Company. By 1870, he owned $85,000 of real estate and $5,000 of personal property. He later joined the Evanson, Glass & Macrum firm, and he remained there until his retirement. His wife died on December 2, 1893. By 1900, he was living in his son George’s household in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania. He died in Pittsburgh from “exhaustion due to the infirmities of age” on May 25, 1915.