Edward Echols was born in Monroe County (now in West Virginia). There is some confusion over his birth year, but he is listed in the 1850 census as being one year old in September 1850. He and his family moved to Staunton, Virginia, after the Civil War. He also served for six years in the Virginia House of Delegates and for a total of twelve years in the Senate of Virginia. His father, John Echols, was a brigadier general in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. Echols served as the National Valley Bank's third president from 1905 to 1915.[2]