Edwin was born in Augusta, Grenville, Ontario in 1850 to parents Thomas (1822-) and Mary (1828-). He had five sisters and one brother: Sarah (1852-), Henrietta (1856-), Ida (1862-), Hariett (1864-), Mary (1868-), and Charles (1870-). Edwin grew up with his family around Augusta and Brockville where he started working as a plasterer, just as his father did, in his late teens. At some point Edwin made his way to Berlin in 1877. Edwin’s mother, Mary, may have died in 1875 after being severely burned.
Edwin was admitted to the Poorhouse on November 5th 1877 at age 28 after a suicide attempt. It is stated in the County Minutes that he shot himself with a revolver, and was brought to the Poorhouse after.
1877 Journal of Proceedings and By-Laws of the Municipal Council of the County of Waterloo; Source: Region of Waterloo Archives
He spent three days at the Poorhouse before dying of a hemorrhage in his lung on November 7, 1877. It is listed that his occupation was as a plasterer.
