Edward was the eldest of 6 children born to David Knibbs and his wife Mary.

He was one of the third generation of the Knibbs family to have settled in Niagara Falls, New York, following the arrival there of his father, David, and grandfather, John Knibbs from Deddington in Oxfordshire, England in 1830.

He married Mary Hoffmeister in 1876. They had four children, two of whom died in infancy. Edward and Mary lived most of their lives in Tonawanda, Buffalo, NY., but also lived for some time in Menominee, Michigan.

Photograph courtesy of Julie Weiss