He acquired such an education as the neighboring schools afforded. At the age of seventeen he went to New Orleans and entered the commission-house of I. Thayer & Co., where he remained seven years. In 1837 he removed to Hamburg, and was clerk for the firm of Edsall & Vandegriff, which position he held until 1841, when he entered into partnership with J. Cowdrey and kept store at Warwick, N.Y., under the firmname of Cowdrey & Edsall until 1844, when he retired from business and was disengaged for a year. Subsequently he became book-keeper for Col. J.E. Edsall, at the Hamburg furnace, where he remained until 1849, when he commenced business in Hamburg as a merchant, where he has since resided. In 1853 he took in John Vandegriff as a partner; in 1855 Vandegriff retired from the firm. In 1858, W.H. Chardavoyne was taken in as partner, and the firm became R.E. Edsall & Co. This firm continued business until 1872, when W.T. Anderson was taken in as partner, and the firm of Edsall Chardavoyne & Co. continue business in 1880. Mr. Edsall is a member of the firms of Chardavoyne, Drew & Co., of De Witt, Iowa, and T. Lawrence, Jr., & Co., of Belle Plain, Iowa. In 1858 he married Emma E., daughter of Robert A. and Elizabeth (Ryerson) Linn, of Hamburg. The maternal grandfather of Mrs. Edsall was Martin Ryerson, a land surveyor, and one of the early settlers of Hamburg. The children of this marriage were Robert Linn, Frank II., Thomas De Kay, Richard E., David L., Henry J., all living at home. In 1855, Mr. Edsall was elected sheriff of Sussex County. In 1863 he was elected to fill the unexpired term in the State Legislature occasioned by the death of the late Col. Samuel Fowler. In 1867 he was elected State senator, and remained in office six years. While in the Senate he was chairman of the committee on railroads and canals, and member of many other important committees. He has been a delegate to the different conventions, State, county, and congressional. In politics he is a Democrat, and has always taken an active interest in political matters. Though not a member of any church he has always given his support to all church and kindred interests. He and his family attend the Protestant Episcopal Church of Hamburg. Mr. Edsall has spent his life as an active business man, and in his business relations his integrity, his desire for justice to all, and his frank and open ways have always secured the confidence of those with whom he has been brought into contact.