Eddie Edwards – Obituary 1888 _ A touching death was that of Edwin Sherman Edwards, son of Louis E. Edwards, at about noon yesterday, at 159 Fairfield avenue. He was in his sixth year, and very bright.
His illness began on Sunday Fef. 12, and the physician prescribed for a fever. On Friday last it was apparent he had diphtheria. Soon after eleven o’clock he requested to be lifted from the bed and while in the arms of his father, said: ” I am dying, I know I am.”
This he repeated three times and then expired. Funeral services were conducted by Rev. W.V. Garner at 4 o’clock, and the remains were taken to Mountain Grove Cemetery for burial.
Image # – EDW1001
Taken by Branson & Ellis
407 Bridgeport, CT
Diphtheria (Corynebacterium diphtheriae), an acute bacterial infection spread by personal contact, was the most feared of all childhood diseases. Diphtheria may be documented back to ancient Egypt and Greece, but severe recurring outbreaks begin only after 1700. One of every ten children infected died from this disease. Symptoms ranged from severe sore throat to suffocation due to a ‘false membrane’ covering the larynx. The disease primarily affected children under the age of 5. Until treatment became widely available in the 1920s, the public viewed this disease as a death sentence.
