Denby was born
February 18, 1870 in Evansville, Indiana. He was the son of Charles
Denby (attorney, diplomat (U.S. Minister to China) and educator.
His mother was Martha (Fitch) Denby, the daughter of U.S. Senator
Graham Fitch of Indiana. His education was begun in Evansville public
schools until 1885. At the age of 15 the family moved to China where
Charles took up the post of U.S. Minister, Edwin’s primary
education was completed in China.
In 1887 Edwin entered the Chinese Imperial Maritime Customs Service,
which he served for ten years. During this service Denby returned
to the United States and attended the law school at the University
of Michigan. He graduated in 1896 with the degree of LL. B. In 1897
Denby passed the bar in Michigan, resigned his customs post and
became an associate with the Keena & Lightner law firm. He later
became a partner in the May, Denby & Webster firm. At the outbreak
of the Spanish-American War Edwin volunteered to serve in the navy.
He was a gunner’s mate, third class aboard the U.S.S “Yosemite”.
He was honorably discharged August 23, 1898. This would not the
end of his military service. Denby was elected to a term in the
Michigan House of representatives (1902). At the end of that term
he ran for and was elected to a seat in the U.S. House as a Republican
from Detroit. He served for four years. In 1908 Denby was appointed
one of two commissioners of “Land Titles for the Panama Canal
Zone”.
On March 18, 1911 Edwin married Marion B. Thurber the daughter of
Henry Thurber (former private secretary to President Grover Cleveland).
They had two children.
Having returned to his law practice Mr. Denby also under took several
civic responsibilities. He was President of the Detroit Charter
Commission (1913-14), President of the Detroit Board of Commerce
(1916-1917), Michigan Republican State Central Committee (1917).
In 1917 Edwin Joined the U.S. Marine Corps. as a private. He retired
in 1919 as a Major in the U.S. Marine Corp Reserve. He was appointed
Chief Probation Officer of the Detroit Recorders Court in 1920.
He worked on the Presidential campaign of Warren G. Harding. The
President appointed Denby Secretary of the Navy. He held this post
for all of the Harding administration and for one year of the Coolidge
administration. Denby resigned in 1924 and returned to Detroit.
Edwin Denby died February 8, 1929. Denby High School on Detroit’s
East side was named in his honor.
Born: February
18, 1870
Died: February 8, 1929
Buried: Lakeview Section, Lot 20
