Eddie grew up as Eddie Cosman and faced a life of poverty and hard work from an early age. As I mentioned, he never attended school long enough to learn to read or write, and suffered both hunger and cold on the old farm. The farm house was colder upstairs in winter than it was outdoors, the only heat, a kitchen wood stove. The Old Black River Road was isolated by bad roads, impassable muddy tracks in spring, and there was no electricity, indoor plumbing, store bought food or the like. water, cutting wood, haying and barn work as well as weeding and planting were the order of the day. Toothaches had to be suffered and broken bones had to knit themselves together.

Eddie must have made some trips to town to visit his grandfather Jacob Wood who had a large house and barn on Rothesay Ave., where he met Muriel, his teenaged bride. Muriel's father worked at McAvity's Foundry which was right next door to Jacob Wood's house.

Eddie was a quiet and gentle person, very sensitive and tender, and loved kids and animals.
Eddie and Muriel met and were married at 15, Eddie one month short of his 16th birthday.

Edward Christopher ( Cosman) Lawton