Eder was born to a Lithuanian Jewish family in Goldingen in the Courland Governorate in the Russian Empire.

In 1851 Santiago Eder immigrated from Courland to New York City where his older brother and most of his siblings already lived.

He bought this farm at a public auction in Cali from the father of leading Colombian novelist Jorge Isaacs.

From this marriage were born his children Henry, Charles, Luisa, Walter, Phanor, Fanny and Edith Eder.

In 1952 under the management of Harold Henry Eder, Santiago's grandson, Manuelita became the first sugarcane mill in Colombia to make refined sugar.