He was educated at Union Hall Academy in Jamaica, Queens, and in 1849 moved to California during the California Gold Rush. He established the Jones &amp; Hewlett firm in Stockton, but in 1862 he moved to Hempstead, Long Island for a few years. While there, he married Mary Smith Lloyd (1839-1874) on December 10, 1862 in Greenport. Mary was the daughter of Representative Frederick William Lord. Edward and Mary had three children: Helen Watts Floyd-Jones (1863-1917), Louise Ackerly Thorn (1867-1961), and Edward Henry Floyd-Jones (1869-1930).