 Edward Drinker Cope was born on July 28 , 1840 , the eldest son of Alfred and Hanna Cope . The death of his mother when he was three years old seemed to have had little effect on young Edward , as he mentioned in his letters that he had no recollection of her . His stepmother , Rebecca Biddle , filled the maternal role ; Cope referred to her warmly , as well as his younger stepbrother , James Biddle Cope . Alfred , an orthodox member of the Religious Society of Friends or Quakers , operated a lucrative shipping business started by his father , Thomas P. Cope , in 1821 . He was a philanthropist who gave money to the Society of Friends , the Philadelphia Zoological Gardens , and the Institute for Colored Youth . 
