When Edgar Henry Dorsey was born on 5 May 1878, in Linwood, Butler, Nebraska, United States, his father, James Henry Dorsey, was 45 and his mother, Emily Jane Eldridge, was 36. He married Minnie Kuenster on 19 December 1906, in Porterville, Tulare, California, United States. They were the parents of at least 1 son and 1 daughter. He lived in Mariposa, California, United States in 1935 and Judicial Township 4, Mariposa, California, United States in 1940. He died on 19 April 1949, in Madera, Madera, California, United States, at the age of 70, and was buried in Porterville Cemetery, Porterville, Tulare, California, United States.