On this day, October 18, 1907, little Edward McIntosh Quinn was born in Pike County, near McComb, Mississippi. Born to Louis Benjamin Quin and Philonea (Fitzgerald) Quin (the spelling would change a few years later), Eddie was a middle child in a family with five boys. There was Richard “Dick” (born 1892), William “Willie” (1898), Robert “Hillary” (1901), Edward “Eddie” (1907), and Alton “Foots” (1913). In addition, a paternal niece named Fannie Quinn lived with the family for some time; she was Hillary’s age (1901).

Little Eddie was blessed with musical genius, and his talent would reveal itself as soon as he was old enough to toddle up to the family piano.

Worth mentioning about the baby is his slight birth defect, as it would affect him for the rest of his life: 

 “Snoozer was born—when he was born, they had to use forceps, and his head was lopsided like that from forceps; his head came almost to a point; he was a funny looking guy.” (Monk Hazel, New Orleans drummer.)

The Quinn family moved to Bogalusa, Louisiana around 1911, when Quinn was about three years old.   Bogalusa was a natural move – it was home of the Great Southern Lumber Company which in 1905 had established a train line called the New Orleans Great Northern Railroad to transport lumber products. And father Louis’ occupation, according to the 1910 federal census, was “car repairer” for the railroad house.

Interestingly, Philonea was one of four sisters, all of whom moved their families to Bogalusa around the same time, to settle within two blocks of one another. Clearly, Bogalusa was a viable destination for the region in the 1910s when America was transitioning from a rural farm economy to an industrial one.