Edgar Allan Poe (1809 - 1849)

Edgar Allan Poe is born 19 January 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. He is the son of David Poe, Jr. and Elizabeth Arnold. ^[1]

Edgar Poe has Irish ancestors.

Edgar Poe has Scottish Ancestors.

Edgar Poe has English ancestors.

His father abandons the family in 1810, and his mother dies the following year. Orphaned at the age of 2, Poe is taken in by John Allan and his wife,Frances Keeling Valentine Allan . They never formally adopt him, but serve as a foster family and give him the name "Edgar Allan Poe". Poe is baptized into the Episcopal Church in 1812. His foster mother Frances embraces him, teaches him to read, and is the most positive influence in his early life.

The family sails to the United Kingdom in 1815, and Poe attends the grammar school for a short period in Irvine, Ayrshire, Scotland (his foster father's birthplace) before rejoining the family in London in 1816. There he studies at a boarding school in Chelsea until summer of 1817. He then enters at the Reverend John Bransby's Manor House School at Stoke Newington.

Poe moves with the Allans back to Richmond in 1820. In 1824, he serves as the Lieutenant of the Richmond Youth Honor Guard.

Poe became engaged to Sarah Elmira Royster before he registered at the University of Virginia in February 1826 to study ancient and modern languages. During his time at UVA, Poe loses touch with Royster and becomes estranged from Allan over gambling debts. He claims that Allan has not given him sufficient money for school. Allan sends additional money and clothes, but Poe's debts increase. 13 West Range is the dorm room that Poe used while studying at the University of Virginia in 1826; its upkeep is overseen by the Raven Society.

Poe gives up on the university after ten months, but does not feel welcome returning to Richmond, especially after learning that Royster has married another man. He travels to Boston in April 1827, working in odd jobs as a clerk and newspaper writer, and he starts using the pseudonym Henri Le Rennet during this period.

Poe is unable to support himself, so he enlists in the United States Army as a Private on 27 May 1827, using the name "Edgar A. Perry". He serves at Fort Independence in Boston Harbor. That same year, he releases his first book, a 40-page collection of poetry titled Tamerlane and Other Poems, but the book receives virtually no attention. Poe is promoted to "artificer". He serves for two years and attains the rank of Sergeant Major for Artillery; he then seeks to end his five-year enlistment. Poe reveals his real name and his circumstances to his commanding officer, who only allows Poe to be discharged if he reconciles with Allan. Poe writes a letter to Allan, but he ignores Poe's pleas. Frances dies on 28 February 1829, and Poe visits the day after her burial. Softened by his wife's death, Allan agrees to support Poe's attempt to be discharged. Poe is discharged on 15 April 1829.

Poe moves back to Baltimore for a time to stay with his maternal aunt Maria Clemm (née Poe), her 7-year old daughter Virginia Eliza Clemm, his brother Henry Poe, and his invalid paternal grandmother Elizabeth Cairnes Poe. Meanwhile, Poe publishes his second book Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems in Baltimore in 1829.

Poe travels to West Point and graduates as a cadet on 1 July 1830. In October 1830, John Allan marries his second wife Louisa Patterson. The new marriage and bitter quarrels with Poe lead to the foster father disowning Poe. Poe decides to leave West Point by purposely getting court-martialed. On 8 February 1831, he is tried for gross neglect of duty and disobedience of orders for refusing to attend formations, classes, or church. He tactically pleads not guilty to induce dismissal, knowing that he would be found guilty.

• Here we should note that while many cities claim Edgar Allan Poe as their own, Poe considered Richmond, Virginia his hometown. The River City is the alpha and omega of Poe’s literary legacy. It is where he wrote his first lines of poetry and got his first job in journalism, and where he gave his last public reading before his death.

Poe leaves for New York in February 1831 and releases a third volume of poems, simply titled Poems. The book is financed with help from his fellow cadets at West Point. It is printed and labeled as "Second Edition." The book once again reprints the long poems Tamerlane and Al Aaraaf but also six previously unpublished poems, including early versions of To Helen, Israfel, and The City in the Sea. Poe returns to Baltimore to his aunt Maria, brother Henry, and cousin Virginia in March 1831.

After his brother's death, Poe begins a more serious attempt to start a career as a writer, but he chooses a difficult time in American publishing to do so. He is hampered by the lack of an international copyright law and Poe repeatedly resorts to humiliating pleas for money and other assistance.

After his early attempts at poetry, Poe turns his attention to prose. He places a few stories with a Philadelphia publication and begins working on his only drama Politian. The Baltimore Saturday Visitor awards him a prize in October 1833 for his short story MS. Found in a Bottle. The story brings him to the attention of John P. Kennedy, who helps Poe place some of his stories and introduces him to Thomas W. White, editor of the Southern Literary Messenger in Richmond. Poe becomes assistant editor of the periodical in August 1835, but White discharges him within a few weeks for being drunk on the job.

Poe returns to Baltimore, Maryland where he marries his 13-year-old cousin, Virginia Eliza Clemm on 22 September 1835. ^[2] Six months later on 16 May 1836, he and Virginia held a Presbyterian wedding ceremony at their Richmond boarding house.

Poe is reinstated by White after promising good behavior, and he goes back to Richmond with Virginia and her mother. He remains at the Messenger until January 1837. He publishes several poems, book reviews, critiques, and stories in the paper.

Poe's novel The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket is published and widely reviewed in 1838. In the summer of 1839, Poe becomes assistant editor of Burton's Gentleman's Magazine. He publishes numerous articles, stories, and reviews, enhancing his reputation as a trenchant critic which he has established at the Messenger. Also in 1839, the collection Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque is published in two volumes. Poe leaves Burton's after about a year and finds a position as assistant at Graham's Magazine.

In June 1840, Poe announces his intentions to start his own journal called The Stylus, although he originally intended to call it The Penn. He buys advertising space for his prospectus in the 6 June 1840 issue of Philadelphia's Saturday Evening Post. The journal is never produced.

Around this time, Poe attempts to secure a position within the administration of President John Tyler, claiming that he is a member of the Whig Party. He hopes to be appointed to the United States Custom House in Philadelphia with help from President Tyler's son Robert. Poe fails to show up for a meeting with Thomas to discuss the appointment in mid-September 1842, claiming to be sick, though Thomas believes that he had been drunk. Poe is promised an appointment, but all positions were filled by others.

In January 1842, Virginia shows the first signs of tuberculosis at the age of 19. She partially recovers, and Poe begins to drink more heavily under the stress of her illness. He left Graham's and attempts to find a new position, for a time angling for a government post. He returns to New York where he works briefly at the Evening Mirror before becoming editor of the Broadway Journal and later its owner. There Poe alienates himself from other writers. On 29 January 1845, his poem The Raven appears in the Evening Mirror and becomes a popular sensation. It makes Poe a household name almost instantly.

The Broadway Journal failed in 1846, and Poe moves to a cottage in Fordham, New York. Virginia dies at the cottage on 30 January 1847 at the age of 24. Poe is increasingly unstable after his wife's death. He attempts to court poet Sarah Helen Whitman who lives in Providence, Rhode Island. Their engagement fails, because of Poe's drinking and erratic behavior. Poe returns to Richmond and resumes a relationship with his childhood sweetheart Sarah Elmira Royster.

On 3 October 1849, Poe is found delirious on the streets of Baltimore. He is taken to the Washington Medical College, where he dies on 9 October 1849. The cause of his death is unknown and has been variously attributed to disease, alcoholism, substance abuse, suicide, and other causes. He is buried at Westminster Burial Ground in Baltimore, Baltimore City, Maryland, United States. (Space: Westminster Burial Grounds, Baltimore, Maryland) ^[3] Between 1852 and 1865, the notable French poet Charles Pierre Baudelaire published extensive translations of Poe’s work, which became incredibly popular in Europe. ^{[4] [5]}

For the 100th anniversary of his death, the US Postal Service issued a stamp in his honor with a first day ceremony in Richmond, Virginia. ^[6]

Sources

1. ↑ Bewley, Edmund Thomas. The Origin and Early History of the Family of Poë or Poe. Dublin: Printed for the Author by Ponsonby & Gibbs, 1906. Readable via Archive.Org
2. ↑ Maryland Marriages, 1666-1970 Edgar A. Poe and Virginia E. Clemm, 22 September 1835; Baltimore, Maryland, United States.
3. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #822 for Edgar Allan Poe (19 Jan 1809–7 Oct 1849), Find a Grave Memorial no. 822, citing Westminster Burial Ground, Baltimore, Baltimore City, Maryland.
4. ↑ Nouvelles histoires extraordinaires by Edgar Allan Poe, translated by Baudelaire, Project Gutenberg.
5. ↑ Jaap Harskamp, "Edgar Allan Poe’s European Legacy," New York Almanack, 26 September 2022
6. ↑ Edgar Allan Poe Issue, Smithsonian National Postal Museum.

• Wikipedia contributors, "Edgar Allan Poe," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Edgar_Allan_Poe&oldid=974416641 (accessed 26 August 2020).
• Edgar Allen Poe Museum
• The Tragic Life of Edgar Allan Poe, The Historical Diaries
• The Works of Edgar Allen Poe on Project Gutenberg
• New York Almanack, "Edgar Allan Poe’s European Legacy," 26 September 2022 by Jaap Harskamp.

Research Notes

There are several minor differences in and about Poe's life. Such as when and why he married Virginia, how long he stayed at UVA, and his sanity. A lot of these discrepancy are due to Poe's nemesis and long time enemy, Rufus W. Griswold. Griswold's publications hurt Poe's reputation badly and some do not even realize how much. Poe and Griswold certainly had a love/hate relationship, that for some reason Griswold was prompted to even pursue the hate after Poe's death. Giswold penned Poe's obituary for the New York Tribune it was not flattering to say the least. Griswold continued to attack Poe's character for years. Griswold believed that he had defamed Poe, but the truth is, few remember Rufus W Griswold, where most anyone you ask will at least know Poe as "that crazy" poet that wrote The Raven. He was much more thatn that, he was a literary genius. https://poemuseum.org/rufus-wilmot-griswold-poes-literary-executor/

• In Baltimore Poe lived with several relatives, including his aunt Maria Clemm and her daughter, Virginia. Poe lived in Baltimore for four years, during which time he shifted from writing poetry to short stories. One publication that took special interest in him was the Southern Literary Messenger based in Richmond, Virginia. Poe published “Metzengerstein”which is considered his first horror story, and “Berenice”

which was so graphic and terrifying that the magazine received multiple complaints from readers. Editor Thomas White offered Poe a job on the staff of the Messenger. Poe agreed and moved back to Richmond.

• Soon after Poe joined the Southern Literary Messenger, he and White began to have issues, the root of which perhaps came from Poe’s drinking. Poe invited his aunt and cousin, Maria and Virgina to live with him in Richmond. One year later, Poe and Virginia then got married. She was 13, he was 27. This is an unlikely pairing and there is much debate about the nature of their relationship. Poe often referred to Virginia as “sissy” (sister) and Maria as “Muddy” (mother). Although many people today presume their relationship was familial, we ultimately will never know what happened in their marriage behind closed doors. Virginia and Maria had a stabilizing effect on Poe. He seemed to be more responsible and happier during the years when they were with him.

https://poemuseum.org/poe-biography/

• Marriage plans were confirmed and Poe returned to Baltimore to file for a marriage license on September 22, 1835. The couple might have been quietly married as well, though accounts are unclear.[22] Their only public ceremony was in Richmond on May 16, 1836, when they were married by a Presbyterian minister named Rev. Amasa Converse

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Eliza_Clemm_Poe#:~:text=Marriage%20plans%20were%20confirmed%20and,a%20Presbyterian%20minister%20named%20Rev.