by Doug and I went all in on the Edgar Allan Poe sites in Baltimore. Poe died at just 40 years of age under mysterious circumstances in Baltimore, Md. We listened to an excellent book, A Mystery of Mysteries, by Mark Dawidziak, which was about Poe’s life and what could possibly have happened at the end of it. We both found it fascinating!
Poe’s life got off to a rough start; he was born into poverty in Boston in 1809. (We visited the site of his birthplace in 2021, sadly now a parking garage, but there is a wonderful statue of the writer on the nearest corner commemorating the location.)
His alcoholic father abandoned the family soon after, dying the next year. His mother died of tuberculosis when he was just two –– but then things took a turn for the better when he was taken in by the wealthy Allan family of Richmond (and thus the source of the middle name he came to be known by). Yet, the Allans never formally adopted him, and his relationship with Mr. Allan was rocky. When Mrs. Allan died in 1829, Edgar’s relationship with Mr. Allan deteriorated into estrangement.
Poe spent the rest of his life in search of money, barely earning a living as a writer, literary critic, and editor. He is best known for his poetry and short stories, especially those featuring mystery and the macabre, yet he also wrote satires and humorous tales, as well as science fiction. He published the poem The Raven in 1845. It was an instant success and brought him a huge measure of fame, but earned him just $9 despite being reprinted in dozens and dozens of newspapers and magazines.
Poe’s personal life was a bit of something, too. He married his 13-year-old first cousin Virginia in 1836 after the death of her father, and yes, he was 26-years-old at the time. While no one can tell for sure, some believe that Poe’s intentions were honorable and that he was rescuing his cousin and aunt from an uncertain future. She died of tuberculosis in 1847, after years of being very ill, and by then the pair had a close and caring relationship.
Poe tried to persuade other women to marry him, to no avail, and his behavior grew increasingly erratic as he struggled mightily with alcoholism. It seems clear that he had severe, perhaps allergic, reactions to drinking which, needless to say, caused much strife in his personal and work life.
In Baltimore, we visited the home where Poe lived with his wife and aunt. It was dark and cramped, and contained just a few items related to Poe, but it was interesting to think of him trying to write in such a place, nonetheless.
Baltimore’s claim to fame on Poe is not just the house where Poe lived and wrote from 1832 to 1835, but, as our tour guide said, “we’ve got the body” in a nearby cemetery. But how Poe ended up dead in Baltimore is a true mystery.
In 1849, Poe was living in New York City, but ended up in Baltimore that October while (presumably) on a trip back to Richmond. On October 3, the writer was found semiconscious on a street corner in Baltimore, wearing clothes that were not his own. He was taken to Washington Medical College hospital where he was recognized, but was not coherent enough during his brief stay to explain how he came to be in such a dire condition or what he was doing in Baltimore. He died four days later and was buried at Westminster Hall and Burying Ground.
We visited both of his grave sites. Yes, he was first buried in a small unmarked plot in the back of the church, but as his fame grew and more people came to visit, a grander monument was built near the cemetery entrance in 1874. His remains and those of his wife and aunt were also interred there. For extra fun, on the nearby explanatory signboards his wife is also referred to as his cousin, and his aunt also referred to as his mother-in-law, which is what happens when you marry your first cousin.
The aforementioned A Mystery of Mysteries is worth a read if you want to learn more about Poe, his influence on literature, and the possible explanations for those final days.
There is no marker at the intersection where Poe was found in an incoherent, but there is a bar called “The Horse You Came In On Saloon” that claims (somewhat dubiously) to be where Poe had his last drink.
We also discovered while we were in town that a 24-hour Edgar Allan Poe reading was happening, so we ride-shared over to a local independent bookstore to check it out. We fortuitously arrived in time to hear a dramatic and delightful reading of The Raven by Alex Zavistovich, the founder and artistic director of the National Edgar Allan Poe Theatre. (I took video, but unfortunately because the reading was set up on a street corner at that time, you can hear more of the background noise than the reading.)
There are also Poe homes to visit in Philadelphia, Penn. (Doug has been to that one), and Bronx, N.Y., as well as a museum in Richmond, Va.
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