A generation after G. G. White (See his listed story) was working in Philadelphia Edwin Ramsey Eavenson was born there. The firstborn of Davis and Delilah (nee' Ramsey) Eavenson was born in West Philadelphia in 1854. They lived in Blockley Township on the west bank of the Schuykill River. Their home was next to the The Blockley Almshouse, later known as the Philadelphia General Hospital. It was a charity hospital and poorhouse. Operated by a city committee known as the Guardians of the Poor, Blockley's early reputation for care was dismal. In 1864 Edwin would have witnessed the "Female Lunatic Asylum" building destroyed in a fire by workers installing heaters, killing 18 women and injuring another 20. This area is now covered by the University of Pennsylvania complex.
In this view of the Almhouse Edwin's home would be just to the right,
After attending the neighborhood Newton Grammer School he crossed the Schuykill to attend Philadelphia Central High School in 1868.
After graduating in 1872 it does not appear that he attended local Girard College. His father, Davis, was a pattermaker and also taught woodworking at the college. Girard's was known at the time for their restriction that students must be "poor, white, male and generally orphans." The school sought to educate boys who might never reach their potential and to prepare them for useful, productive lives. Edwin had become a Conveyencer after his schooling. This was a person whose job it is to manage the legal process of moving land or property from one owner to another.
By 1880 Edwin had left real estate and became a lithograher. artist and engraver. This is how he probably met James H. Caterson. Caterson worked as a lithographer and printer in Philadelphia between 1867 and 1873. Before entering the lithographic trade, he worked with his brother, William, as a member of the Caterson Brothers Company. They were manufacturers of passé partouts (or skeleton keys). After 1873, he departed the trade and became a dealer of photographic materials. In 1884 he and a friend, Robert Brotz, started a playing card company in Philadelphia called Caterson & Brotz. (The Caterson & Brotz story is in the works) A few months prior to the incorporation they had Edwin design some card backs for him.
This one (shown above) was used for the Social #36 deck
This design (shown above) was used for the Imperial #96 deck
This last design Caterson & Brotz used for part of their Ace of Spades for their Imperial #96 deck.
I have only been able to prove that several of these card backs were ever used for a Caterson & Brotz deck. If you have one, or a picture of one, I would appreciate getting a copy of it.
Shortly after doing these designs Edwin marries and moves a few miles away to Darby. By the early twentieth century he had relocated to Baltimore. There he is listed as a lithographer and artist. In early 1913 he is very ill from chronic nephritis which is the inflammation of the kidneys. In February he also has acute meningitis which is a life-threatening inflammation of the tissue layers that surround the brain and spinal cord that is often caused by a bacterial or viral infection. He dies on the 25th and his remains are returned to Philadelphia.
Edwin is buried in Mount Moriah Cemetery very near his bithplace on the west bank of the Schuykill River. The 200 acre cemetery closed its gates in 2011 and had no owner after the last member of the board of directors died. It became wildly overgrown with plants, a site for illegal dumping and the buildings, graves and monuments fell into disrepair. A non-profit organization called The Friends of Mount Moriah Cemetery formed to take ownership of the property, clear the overgrown brush, maintain graves, stabilize the crumbling gatehouse and raise money for a petition to place the cemetery on the National Register of Historic Places. It has more than 150,000 burials. Among the buried are 26 Medal of Honor winners and Betsy Ross. Edwin was listed as #88,650.
In January 2019, the Friends of Mount Moriah Cemetery presented their strategic plan to the Philadelphia City Planning Commission to convert Mount Moriah Cemetery into a nature sanctuary similar to the nearby Bartram's Garden and John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge. Restoration and clean up is slowly restoring this 200 acre site.
Edwin is buried in Mount Moriah Cemetery very near his bithplace on the west bank of the Schuykill River. The 200 acre cemetery closed its gates in 2011 and had no owner after the last member of the board of directors died. It became wildly overgrown with plants, a site for illegal dumping and the buildings, graves and monuments fell into disrepair. A non-profit organization called The Friends of Mount Moriah Cemetery formed to take ownership of the property, clear the overgrown brush, maintain graves, stabilize the crumbling gatehouse and raise money for a petition to place the cemetery on the National Register of Historic Places. It has more than 150,000 burials. Among the buried are 26 Medal of Honor winners and Betsy Ross. Edwin was listed as #88,650.
In January 2019, the Friends of Mount Moriah Cemetery presented their strategic plan to the Philadelphia City Planning Commission to convert Mount Moriah Cemetery into a nature sanctuary similar to the nearby Bartram's Garden and John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge. Restoration and clean up is slowly restoring this 200 acre site.