Edward E. Erswell was born on the Atlantic crossing and settled with his family in Ohio. He was a cabinet maker and undertaker in the early days of Birmingham.
Erswell was the son of Charles Erswell, a superintending architect who worked for the United States government. He grew up in Cleveland, Ohio and attended public schools there before going to Baldwin University in Berea, Ohio. He left school after six months to join a wagon train crossing the plains. He made it as far as Fort Kearney, Nebraska before sickness forced him to return home. He pursued a variety of activities over the next several years, including stock trading, book sales, patent medicines, and some time at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.
Erswell settled on the trade of cabinet and furniture making and went into business in Winchester, Virginia. When his partner left him, Erswell began working with a touring stage magician from Baltimore, Maryland named "Professor Collins". The tour prospered and Erswell received permission from the United States government to "secure a party of Indians" from the west to exhibit at fairs in the south.
Erswell came to the infant city of Birmingham in the Spring of 1872 and set up shop as a cabinet builder. His first job was the construction of a stage and equipment for Frank O'Brien's Sublett Hall. He founded the Erswell Company and remained in the city through the 1873 cholera epidemic, engaged primarily during that time in building coffins as well as providing the services of an undertaker.
Erswell continued in that trade through the 1880s, adding furniture, wallpaper, window shades, and carpets to his retail offerings. Over the following years, he invested successfully in real estate.
Erswell is buried in the family vault at Oak Hill Cemetery.
Contributor: Bham85 (48240040)
Children:
1. Maud Erswell b: JAN 1874 in Birmingham, Jefferson Co., Alabama m. Kirkman
2. Nelly Erswell b: 1877 in Birmingham, Jefferson Co., Alabama
3. Edward Erswell b: 1879 in Birmingham, Jefferson Co., Alabama
4. Henry Jordan Erswell b: SEP 1881 in Birmingham, Jefferson Co., Alabama
5. George Edward Erswell b: 1886 in Birmingham, Jefferson Co., Alabama
Erswell was the son of Charles Erswell, a superintending architect who worked for the United States government. He grew up in Cleveland, Ohio and attended public schools there before going to Baldwin University in Berea, Ohio. He left school after six months to join a wagon train crossing the plains. He made it as far as Fort Kearney, Nebraska before sickness forced him to return home. He pursued a variety of activities over the next several years, including stock trading, book sales, patent medicines, and some time at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.
Erswell settled on the trade of cabinet and furniture making and went into business in Winchester, Virginia. When his partner left him, Erswell began working with a touring stage magician from Baltimore, Maryland named "Professor Collins". The tour prospered and Erswell received permission from the United States government to "secure a party of Indians" from the west to exhibit at fairs in the south.
Erswell came to the infant city of Birmingham in the Spring of 1872 and set up shop as a cabinet builder. His first job was the construction of a stage and equipment for Frank O'Brien's Sublett Hall. He founded the Erswell Company and remained in the city through the 1873 cholera epidemic, engaged primarily during that time in building coffins as well as providing the services of an undertaker.
Erswell continued in that trade through the 1880s, adding furniture, wallpaper, window shades, and carpets to his retail offerings. Over the following years, he invested successfully in real estate.
Erswell is buried in the family vault at Oak Hill Cemetery.
Contributor: Bham85 (48240040)
Children:
1. Maud Erswell b: JAN 1874 in Birmingham, Jefferson Co., Alabama m. Kirkman
2. Nelly Erswell b: 1877 in Birmingham, Jefferson Co., Alabama
3. Edward Erswell b: 1879 in Birmingham, Jefferson Co., Alabama
4. Henry Jordan Erswell b: SEP 1881 in Birmingham, Jefferson Co., Alabama
5. George Edward Erswell b: 1886 in Birmingham, Jefferson Co., Alabama
Edward E. Erswell was born on the Atlantic crossing and settled with his family in Ohio. He was a cabinet maker and undertaker in the early days of Birmingham.
Erswell was the son of Charles Erswell, a superintending architect who worked for the United States government. He grew up in Cleveland, Ohio and attended public schools there before going to Baldwin University in Berea, Ohio. He left school after six months to join a wagon train crossing the plains. He made it as far as Fort Kearney, Nebraska before sickness forced him to return home. He pursued a variety of activities over the next several years, including stock trading, book sales, patent medicines, and some time at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.
Erswell settled on the trade of cabinet and furniture making and went into business in Winchester, Virginia. When his partner left him, Erswell began working with a touring stage magician from Baltimore, Maryland named "Professor Collins". The tour prospered and Erswell received permission from the United States government to "secure a party of Indians" from the west to exhibit at fairs in the south.
Erswell came to the infant city of Birmingham in the Spring of 1872 and set up shop as a cabinet builder. His first job was the construction of a stage and equipment for Frank O'Brien's Sublett Hall. He founded the Erswell Company and remained in the city through the 1873 cholera epidemic, engaged primarily during that time in building coffins as well as providing the services of an undertaker.
Erswell continued in that trade through the 1880s, adding furniture, wallpaper, window shades, and carpets to his retail offerings. Over the following years, he invested successfully in real estate.
Erswell is buried in the family vault at Oak Hill Cemetery.
Contributor: Bham85 (48240040)
Children:
1. Maud Erswell b: JAN 1874 in Birmingham, Jefferson Co., Alabama m. Kirkman
2. Nelly Erswell b: 1877 in Birmingham, Jefferson Co., Alabama
3. Edward Erswell b: 1879 in Birmingham, Jefferson Co., Alabama
4. Henry Jordan Erswell b: SEP 1881 in Birmingham, Jefferson Co., Alabama
5. George Edward Erswell b: 1886 in Birmingham, Jefferson Co., Alabama
Erswell was the son of Charles Erswell, a superintending architect who worked for the United States government. He grew up in Cleveland, Ohio and attended public schools there before going to Baldwin University in Berea, Ohio. He left school after six months to join a wagon train crossing the plains. He made it as far as Fort Kearney, Nebraska before sickness forced him to return home. He pursued a variety of activities over the next several years, including stock trading, book sales, patent medicines, and some time at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.
Erswell settled on the trade of cabinet and furniture making and went into business in Winchester, Virginia. When his partner left him, Erswell began working with a touring stage magician from Baltimore, Maryland named "Professor Collins". The tour prospered and Erswell received permission from the United States government to "secure a party of Indians" from the west to exhibit at fairs in the south.
Erswell came to the infant city of Birmingham in the Spring of 1872 and set up shop as a cabinet builder. His first job was the construction of a stage and equipment for Frank O'Brien's Sublett Hall. He founded the Erswell Company and remained in the city through the 1873 cholera epidemic, engaged primarily during that time in building coffins as well as providing the services of an undertaker.
Erswell continued in that trade through the 1880s, adding furniture, wallpaper, window shades, and carpets to his retail offerings. Over the following years, he invested successfully in real estate.
Erswell is buried in the family vault at Oak Hill Cemetery.
Contributor: Bham85 (48240040)
Children:
1. Maud Erswell b: JAN 1874 in Birmingham, Jefferson Co., Alabama m. Kirkman
2. Nelly Erswell b: 1877 in Birmingham, Jefferson Co., Alabama
3. Edward Erswell b: 1879 in Birmingham, Jefferson Co., Alabama
4. Henry Jordan Erswell b: SEP 1881 in Birmingham, Jefferson Co., Alabama
5. George Edward Erswell b: 1886 in Birmingham, Jefferson Co., Alabama
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