Elmer E. Studley was born on a farm near East Ashford, New York on September 24, 1869.

He was commissioned as a first lieutenant in the Two Hundred and Second Regiment, New York Volunteer Infantry, serving in the Spanish–American War in 1898 and 1899.

He was a member of the New Mexico Statutory Revision Commission in 1907 and was District Attorney of Colfax and Union counties from 1909 to 1910.

In 1932, he was elected at-large as a Democrat to the 73rd United States Congress, holding office from March 4, 1933, to January 3, 1935.

In February 1935 he was appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt as a member of the Board of Veterans' Appeals and served until his death.