Edward Franklin was born on March 1, 1862, in Geary City, Doniphan County, Kansas.

[1][3] Franklin then came back to University of Kansas where he spent one year as a chemist before becoming an associate professor there.

[4] Franklin also worked as associate manager for a mining project in Costa Rica where he remained till he was informed about coming to Stanford University in 1903.

[3] As life went by, he started to receive honors from home and abroad including Nichols and Willard Gibbs Awards.

Franklin got invited to participate at the British Association for the Advancement of Science at Melbourne, Australia, and Johannesburg, South Africa.