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Cayce, Edgar

 Person

Dates

  • Existence: 1877 - 1945

Edgar Cayce (1877-1945) was a photographer, Sunday School teacher, and the most documented psychic of the twentieth century. He was born on a farm in Hopkinsville, Kentucky to Leslie Burr Cayce (1853-1937) and his wife Carrie Elizabeth Major Cayce (1855-1927). He was one of four surviving children out of six. In 1893 at the age of sixteen he left school to support his family. He also began teaching Sunday School with aspirations to become a minister. He took a job at Hopper's Bookstore a year later and subsequently met his future wife Gertrude Evans. Edgar Cayce married Gertrude in 1903 after a seven-year engagement and settled in Bowling Green, Kentucky. He opened a photo studio which burned in 1906. Their first son Hugh Lynn was born in 1907. In 1911, a second son named Milton Porter died in infancy. Edgar Evans was born in 1918.

From 1920-1922, Edgar Cayce and his business associates searched for oil in the San Saba area of Texas. When this venture failed, he moved the family to Selma, Alabama where he hired his long-time stenographer Gladys Davis Turner. In 1923, the family moved to Dayton, Ohio where Edgar hoped to build clientele for his readings. Edgar subsequently met New York stockbroker Morton Blumenthal who helped finance the family's move to Virginia Beach in 1925.

In 1927, Edgar and Morton established the National Association of Investigators and began construction of the Cayce Hospital. By 1931 the National Association of Investigators, the Cayce Hospital, and Atlantic University were dissolved. However, later that year, a group of loyal friends organized the Association for Research and Enlightenment.

Thomas Sugrue's book There is a River, along with Marguerite Bro's article in the Coronet Magazine entitled "Miracle Man of Virginia Beach," both published in 1943, brought Edgar and his work to national prominence. However, the onslaught of correspondence including the desperate letters for help from the families of missing servicemembers taxed Edgar's health to the breaking point. He experienced a stroke in 1944, and died on January 3, 1945.

Found in 48 Collections and/or Records:

A.R.E. Bulletin, 1932

 File
Identifier: Folder 1:1
Scope and Contents From the Collection: This collection consists of administrative records, publications, research data, and audio-visual materials that document the development and activities of the Association for Research and Enlightenment in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Dates: Other: 1932

A.R.E. Bulletin, 1933

 File
Identifier: Folder 1:2
Scope and Contents From the Collection: This collection consists of administrative records, publications, research data, and audio-visual materials that document the development and activities of the Association for Research and Enlightenment in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Dates: 1933

A.R.E. Bulletin, 1934

 File
Identifier: Folder 1:3
Scope and Contents From the Collection: This collection consists of administrative records, publications, research data, and audio-visual materials that document the development and activities of the Association for Research and Enlightenment in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Dates: 1934

A.R.E. Bulletin, 1936

 File
Identifier: Folder 1:5
Scope and Contents From the Collection: This collection consists of administrative records, publications, research data, and audio-visual materials that document the development and activities of the Association for Research and Enlightenment in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Dates: 1936

A.R.E. Bulletin, 1937

 File
Identifier: Folder 1:6
Scope and Contents From the Collection: This collection consists of administrative records, publications, research data, and audio-visual materials that document the development and activities of the Association for Research and Enlightenment in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Dates: 1937

A.R.E. Bulletin, 1944

 File
Identifier: Folder 1:13
Scope and Contents From the Collection: This collection consists of administrative records, publications, research data, and audio-visual materials that document the development and activities of the Association for Research and Enlightenment in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Dates: 1944

A.R.E. Bulletin, 1947

 File
Identifier: Folder 2:3
Scope and Contents From the Collection: This collection consists of administrative records, publications, research data, and audio-visual materials that document the development and activities of the Association for Research and Enlightenment in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Dates: 1947

A.R.E. Journal, 1980 - 1981

 File
Identifier: Folder 9:1
Scope and Contents From the Collection: This collection consists of administrative records, publications, research data, and audio-visual materials that document the development and activities of the Association for Research and Enlightenment in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Dates: 1980 - 1981

A.R.E. Journal, 1982 - 1983

 File
Identifier: Folder 9:2
Scope and Contents From the Collection: This collection consists of administrative records, publications, research data, and audio-visual materials that document the development and activities of the Association for Research and Enlightenment in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Dates: 1982 - 1983

A.R.E. Journal, 1966 - 1967

 File
Identifier: Folder 7:1
Scope and Contents From the Collection: This collection consists of administrative records, publications, research data, and audio-visual materials that document the development and activities of the Association for Research and Enlightenment in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Dates: 1966 - 1967