Edward von Siebold Dingle (1893-1975), artist and ornithologist, was born in Charleston, South Carolina, to John Rutledge (1856-1919) and Agatha von Siebold Dingle (1856-1947). Growing up on his parents plantation near Summerton, South Carolina, he developed an early interest in birds, painting his first bird, an Eastern Wood-Pewee, at the age of twelve. He received his A.B. degree from the College of Charleston in 1917. After serving in the Navy in World War I, he moved to Mount Pleasant where he would make frequent trips to the Isle of Palms, Sullivans Island, and other surrounding sea islands looking for rare bird species. It was during this time that he started to paint professionally. After his marriage to Marie Guerin Ball (1881-1963) in 1927 the couple moved to Middleburg Plantation in Huger, South Carolina, where he lived and worked until his death in 1975.