Born near Aiken, Edgar Brown was educated in the Aiken County Schools and at the Augusta Business School.
He served as a public reporter from 1905 until 1906 and studied law while serving as a stenographer for the Henderson firm in Aiken. He served as the second circuit reporter from 1908 through 1918 with his office in Barnwell and was admitted to the Bar by passing the examination in 1910.
His political career began in 1921 when he was elected as a member of the House, serving as the Speaker of the House in 1925–26. He entered the South Carolina Senate in 1929 and served as President Pro Tem and Chairman of the Finance Committee from 1942–71. His three major legislative accomplishments included: (1) Fiscal responsibility in state government, (2) the modern statewide highway system, financed with gasoline tax revenue bonds, and (3) a sound educational system at all levels, including an innovative Educational Television System, of which his son-in-law, Richard M. Jefferies, Jr., in now chairman.
A loyal Democrat throughout his life, his legal training and extensive practice equipped him for a half century of constructive leadership for his State. That commitment did not interfere with the love for his Barnwell home, where his late wife, Annie Love Sitgreaves Brown, and his late daughter, Emily Brown Jefferies, along with two surviving grandchildren, were his greatest delights.