Background
Edwin May was born in 1824 in United States.
Edwin May was born in 1824 in United States.
Mr. May was first known in the building field in 1849 when he was awarded a contract for the erection of a Court House at Franklin, of which John Elder was the architect. Three years later he prepared plans for a Court House in Brookfield which were accepted, and the completed structure described as very creditable in both design and construction.
In the following ten years Mr. May was commissioned architect of several other government buildings including the Court House at Sullivan, Ind. built in 1852, and the Greensburg Court House dating from 1854, a building with some suggestions of the Romanesque although designed years before Richardson revived that style . He was also architect of Court Houses built at Vincennes and Fort Wayne (the latter begun in 1859) and one of the large buildings for the Hospital of the Insane in Indianapolis.
During later years Mr. May established an office in Indianapolis, where his last and most important achievement was preparation of plans for the State Capitol. However he died before the building was well under way, and it was completed under the direction of Adolph Scherrer a former member of Mr. May's office.