David W. (David William) Edwards

Published as David W. Edwards, David William Edwards was born in 1849. The clearest surviving records found for him are his books rather than detailed biographical accounts, so much of his life remains obscure.

His 1909 book The Hidden Cabin: A Pathetic Story in Condensed Form is strongly rooted in Palomar Mountain in Southern California, and the book itself presents him as the author of Billy Birdsall and Up the Grade. Those works point to the subjects he seems to have returned to most often: western scenery, emotional narrative, and the world of railroads and travel.

Because reliable modern biographical sources on Edwards are scarce, it is safest to remember him as a lightly documented regional author whose work survives through digitized editions and library catalogs rather than through a well-known public biography.