Edward Lowe Martin was born in Kentucky in 1842 and moved to Kansas City, Missouri, in 1863.

Martin was the head of the E. L. Martin & Company wholesale liquor business and organized the Kansas City Distilling Company. He became mayor of Kansas City, Missouri, in 1873. Martin was also active in the Board of Education in which he served from 1875 to 1896.

Edward Lowe Martin is buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Kansas City, Missouri.