Where's Uncle Eddie

I came by my love of family history honestly.  My grandmother was kind of obsessed with relatives, particularly the dead ones.  I think she had seen so much death in her life, outliving my grandfather and half of her children, her siblings as well as other relatives and friends that death and dead people weren’t far from her mind.  As child I spent my summers with my maternal grandmother and my aunt Cleo and almost every week there was talk of this relative or that relative. 
The majority of my summer stay was usually divided between my grandmother’s home and my aunt and uncle’s home.  While at my grandmother’s house I would stare at the walls in her bedroom.  There was a large oval shaped picture of my grandfather that hung on the left hand side of the wall and then next to the bed on the right hand side of the wall was this huge picture of a man that I thought was white.  Truth be told I thought the man in the picture resembled John F. Kennedy or at least of JFK relative.  I remember asking my grandmother who was the white man on the wall and why did he look like John F. Kennedy. He was out of place to me, but I knew he had to have been special or else why would he be on the wall?  My grandmother was just as confused as I.  She said, “What white man do you see?”  

“That white man on the wall beside the bed, grandma,” I said.

“That’s not a white man.  That’s my Uncle Eddie,” she responded.

“Well where is uncle Eddie?,” I asked.

I don’t think I ever really received an answer.  I remember every year staring at Uncle Eddie’s picture thinking about him and what he had done with his life.  I wondered if he had a wife and perhaps children.   He appeared to be very young in the picture. Not more than 25 years old, if that old.   I often wondered what happened to Uncle Eddie.  No one had ever seen him.  No one knew of his whereabouts or if he ever lived very long.

So here’s what I do know about Uncle Eddie through my research:

•         Born Edward Day on October 9, 1885 in Lebanon, Russell County, Virginia
•          Parents Valentine “Tine” Day and Alice Duff
•          Siblings – Alice (1859), Mary (1870) & my great grandmother Minnie (1879)
•          Eddie was not recorded in the 1900, 1910 or 1920 U.S. Census.  He was not living with my 2^nd great grandmother Alice according to the 1920 census.
•          Tine files his last will and testament in 1890 just weeks before his death, in which he names Eddie as one of his heirs to the estate. 

I’m not sure when the picture of Uncle Eddie could have been taken, but if I were to guess, I would guesstimate between 1905 and 1915. 

What I know about the men in southwest Virginia around that time is that most of them moved to find work in neighboring West Virginia in the coal mines and railroads.  It’s a possibility that he could have moved there or he could have ventured west to Tennessee for an opportunity.  This is of course speculation.  It’s not just my great grand uncle Eddie who is elusive; it’s my entire Day line.  I haven’t given up hope.  Perhaps I’ll come across some new information that will blow the doors wide open off of this mystery.  Until then, I’ll continue to search for Uncle Eddie.