Edward Gridley was born around 1838 in Westbury, New York, to Charles Gridley. His father was a farmer who owned $3,000 of real estate by 1850. He grew up and attended school in Saratoga Springs, New York, and he moved to Clyde, New York, in the 1850s. By 1860, he was working as a “domestic.”
He enlisted in the Union army on August 21, 1862, and he mustered in as a corporal in Company H of the 9th New York Heavy Artillery three days later. The regiment took part in the Overland Campaign and the siege of Petersburg. He was eventually reduced to the ranks. He was severely wounded in the Battle of Cold Harbor, and he was discharged for disability on February 10, 1865.
He returned to Clyde after the war and earned a living as a farm laborer. He applied for a federal pension in March 1865 and eventually secured one. He married a woman named Betsey, and their daughter May was born around 1876. His wife died on December 1, 1886. By 1900, he was working as a fruit dealer. He died in Clyde on June 18, 1925.