When Edward Robert Donley was born on 21 June 1889, in Miners Village, Cornwall, Lebanon, Pennsylvania, United States, his father, Joseph E. Donley, was 29 and his mother, Rebecca B Brubaker, was 29. He married Margaret J Reed about 1910, in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, United States. They were the parents of at least 2 sons. He lived in Cornwall, Lebanon, Pennsylvania, United States in 1900 and Lebanon, Lebanon, Pennsylvania, United States for about 30 years. He died on 16 November 1963, at the age of 74, and was buried in Lebanon, Lebanon, Pennsylvania, United States.