Poe's grave as it looks today.

Edgar Allan Poe

The death of Edgar Allan Poe on October 7, 1849 has some element of mystery to it. The circumstances behind his being found semi-conscious in a Baltimore gutter are uncertain, as are his final days leading up to his death; some questions even exist surrounding his burial. The cause of death itself has many theories but none are fully proven. The mystery of Poe's death, combined with the confusing falsehoods about his life that were presented shortly after, has added to the intrigue of the story of one of America's most famous writers of horror. Image:Poes grave Baltimore MD.jpg - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ... Image:Poes grave Baltimore MD.jpg - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1190x1490, 419 KB) en: Daguerreotype of Edgar Allan Poe 1848, first published 1880. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1190x1490, 419 KB) en: Daguerreotype of Edgar Allan Poe 1848, first published 1880. ... October 7 is the 280th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (281st in leap years). ... 1849 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Flag Seal Nickname: Monument City, Charm City, Mob Town, B-more Motto: Get In On It (formerly The City That Reads and The Greatest City in America; BELIEVE is not the official motto but rather a specific campaign) Location Location of Baltimore in Maryland Coordinates , Government Country State County United... Motto: (Out Of Many, One) (traditional) In God We Trust (1956 to date) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington D.C. Largest city New York City None at federal level (English de facto) Government Federal constitutional republic  - President George Walker Bush (R)  - Vice President Dick Cheney (R) Independence from... Horror fiction is, broadly, fiction in any medium intended to scare, unsettle, or horrify the reader. ...

Chronology

Poe allegedly suffered from bouts of depression and insanity, and in 1848 he nearly died from an overdose of laudanum, then available for general use as a tranquilizer and pain killer. It is unclear if this was a true suicide attempt or just a miscalculation on Poe's part.^[1] Clinical depression (also called major depressive disorder, or unipolar depression when compared to bipolar disorder) is a state of intense sadness, melancholia or despair that has advanced to the point of being disruptive to an individuals social functioning and/or activities of daily living. ... Year 1848 (MDCCCXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a leap year starting on Monday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... For other uses, see Laudanum (disambiguation). ... A sedative is a substance which depresses the central nervous system (CNS), resulting in calmness, relaxation, reduction of anxiety, sleepiness, slowed breathing, slurred speech, staggering gait, poor judgment, and slow, uncertain reflexes. ... An analgesic (colloquially known as a painkiller) is any member of the diverse group of drugs used to relieve pain (achieve analgesia). ...

Poe was in Richmond, Virginia making his way to his home in New York, having left on September 26, 1849. It is unclear where Poe was or what he was doing until October 3, when he was found on the streets of Baltimore, delirious outside of Ryan's Tavern. A man named Joseph Walker sent a letter requesting help from an acquaintance of Poe, Dr. E. Snodgrass. In his letter, Walker described Poe as "in great distress, and... in need of immediate assistance." Snodgrass later claimed the note stated Poe was "in a state of beastly intoxication," but the original letter proves otherwise.^[2] Nickname: Motto: Sic Itur Ad Astra (Thus do we reach the stars) Location in the Commonwealth of Virginia Coordinates: Country United States State Virginia County Independent City Government  - Mayor L. Douglas Wilder (I) Area  - City 62. ... NY redirects here. ... September 26 is the 269th day of the year (270th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1849 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... October 3 is the 276th day of the year (277th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Nickname: Motto: The Greatest City in America,[4] Get in on it. ... “Delirious” redirects here. ...

Snodgrass, perhaps not a credible witness because of his fanaticism on temperance, gave a first-hand account of Poe’s appearance on Baltimore’s street. He claims, "[Poe's] face was haggard, not to say bloated, and unwashed, his hair unkempt, and his whole physique repulsive. His expansive forehead, with its wonderful breadth between the points where the phrenologists locate the organ of ideality—the widest I ever measured—and that full-orbed and mellow, yet soulful eye, for which he was so noticeable when himself, now lusterless and vacant, as shortly I could see, were shaded from view by a rusty, almost brimless, tattered and ribbon-less palmleaf hat. His clothing consisted of a sack-coat of thin and sleezy [sic]black alpaca, ripped more or less at several of its seams, and faded and soiled, and pants of a steel-mixed pattern of cassinette, half-worn and badly-fitting, if they could be said to fit at all. He wore neither vest nor neck-cloth, while the bosom of his shirt was both crumpled and badly soled. On his feet were boots of coarse material, and giving no sign of having been blacked for a long time, if at all."^[3]

Dr. John Joseph Moran, who was Poe's attending physician, gives a shorter but equally detailed account: "a stained faded, old bombazine coat, pantaloons of a similar character, a pair of worn-out shoes run down at the heels, and an old straw hat." Poe was never coherent long enough to explain how he came to be in his dire condition, and, oddly, is believed to have been wearing clothes that were not his own.^[3]

Moran cared for Poe at the for-profit Washington College Hospital,^[4] Moran denied any visitors to Poe, who was confined in a prison-like room with barred windows in a section of the building reserved for drunk people.^[5]

Poe is said to have repeatedly called out the name "Reynolds" on the night before his death, though no one has ever been able to identify the person to whom he referred. One possibility is that Poe was recalling a Jeremiah Reynolds that may have inspired the novel The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket. Poe may have instead been calling for "Herring" - Poe had an uncle-in-law in Baltimore named Henry Herring). In fact, in later testimonies, Moran does not mention Reynolds but does mention a visit by a "Misses Herring."^[6] Dr. Moran claims he attempted to cheer him up in one of the few times he was awake. Moran told him he would soon be enjoying the company of friends, to which Poe allegedly replied that "the best thing his friend could do would be to blow out his brains with a pistol."^[7] The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket is Edgar Allan Poes only complete novel, published in 1838. ...

In Poe's distressed state, he made reference to a wife he had in Richmond. He may have been hallucinating and thought that his wife Virginia was still alive, or he may have been referring to Sarah Elmira Royster, who Poe had recently proposed to. He did not know what happened to his trunk of belongings which, incidentally, had been left behind at the Swan Tavern in Richmond.^[8] Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe (August 15, 1822 — January 30, 1847), born Virginia Eliza Clemm, was the wife of Edgar Allan Poe. ... Sarah Elmira Royster was Edgar Allan Poes early childhood sweethart. ...

Moran reported that Poe's final words were "Lord, help my poor soul" before dying on October 7, 1849. October 7 is the 280th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (281st in leap years). ...

Credibility of Dr. Moran

Perhaps the best witness to Poe's death was Dr. Moran who, because of Poe's inability to have visitors, was likely the only person to directly see Poe in his last days. Even so, Moran's credibility has been questioned repeatedly. Throughout the years after Poe's death, his story changed as he wrote and lectured on the topic. He claimed in 1875 and again in 1885, for example, that he had immediately contacted Poe's aunt/mother-in-law Maria Clemm to let her know about Poe's death; in fact, he only wrote to her after she had requested it on November 9, almost a full month after Poe's death. He also claimed that Poe said, quite poetically, as he prepared to draw his last breath: "The arched heavens encompass me, and God has his decree legibly written upon the frontlets of every created human being, and demons incarnate, their goal will be the seething waves of blank despair." The editor of the New York Herald, which published this version of Moran's story, admitted, "We cannot imagine Poe, even if delirious, constructing [such sentences]."^[9] 1875 (MDCCCLXXV) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... November 9 is the 313th day of the year (314th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Accounts even shuffled dates. At different points, Moran claimed Poe was brought to the hospital on October 3 at 5 p.m., on October 6 at 9 a.m., or on October 7 (the day he died) at "10 o'clock in the afternoon." For each published account, he claimed to have the hospital records as reference.^[10]

Some critics claim Moran's inconsistencies and errors were only due to a lapse of memory, an innocent desire to romanticize, or even to senility. At the time he wrote and published his last account in 1885, Moran was 65.^[10]

Cause of Death

Marker for Poe's original grave in Baltimore, MD.

The precise cause of Poe's death is disputed but many theories exist. Many biographers have tackled the issue and come up with different conclusions ranging from Jeffrey Meyers's assertion that it was hypoglycemia to John Evangelist Walsh's conspiratorial murder plot theory.^[11] Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 450 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (960 × 1280 pixel, file size: 467 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Source: de. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 450 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (960 × 1280 pixel, file size: 467 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Source: de. ... Hypoglycemia (hypoglycæmia in the UK) is a medical term referring to a pathologic state produced by a lower than normal amount of sugar (glucose) in the blood. ...

Dr. Snodgrass was convinced that Poe died as a result of alcoholism and did a great deal to popularize this interpretation of the events. He was, however, a supporter of the temperance movement who found Poe a useful example in his work. Later scholars have shown that his account of Poe's death distorts facts to support his theory. Alcoholism is the consumption of, or preoccupation with, alcoholic beverages to the extent that this behavior interferes with the drinkers normal personal, family, social, or work life, and may lead to physical or mental harm. ... A cartoon from Australia ca. ...

Dr. Moran, the physician who attended Poe, stated in his own 1885 account that "Edgar Allan Poe did not die under the effect of any intoxicant, nor was the smell of liquor upon his breath or person." This was, however, only one of several, sometimes contradictory, accounts of Poe's last days which he published and lectured on over the years, so his testimony cannot be considered entirely reliable.

The theory of Poe's alcoholism, both as cause of death and throughout his life, is being disputed and is beginning to be dismissed. Poe had a severe weakness to alcohol and became drunk even after one glass of wine. Poe had gone several months at a time without alcohol and seemed to have no attachment to it. According to this theory, the only reason Poe drank was because of unfortunate events in his life, of which there seemed to be no end.^[12][13]

In a psychological study of Poe, one psychologist suggest that Poe was a dipsomaniac. A dipsomaniac is a person who suffers from frequent seizures that lead to excesses, often alcoholic, in which the person cannot remember what has happened to him or her.^[14] A dipsomaniac is a person with an uncontrollable craving for alcohol, especially alcoholic liquors. ...

Cholera is another possibility. While in Richmond during the summer of 1849, Poe wrote letters to his aunt, Maria Clemm (July 7th), and to a newspaperman, E.H.N. Patterson (July 19th and August 7th), in which he confided that he may have contracted Cholera in Philadelphia. Cholera is also a theme in three of his short stories (The Masque of the Red Death, The Sphinx, Bon-Bon). Cholera (frequently called Asiatic cholera or epidemic cholera) is a severe diarrheal disease caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. ... The Masque of the Red Death is a short story written by Edgar Allan Poe and first published in the May 1842 edition of Grahams Ladys and Gentlemans Magazine as The Mask of the Red Death. The story was adapted in 1964 by Roger Corman into a...

Numerous other theories have been proposed over the years, including several forms of rare brain disease, diabetes, various types of enzyme deficiency, syphilis, the idea that Poe was shanghaied, drugged, and used as a pawn in a ballot-box-stuffing scam (cooping) during the election that was held on the day he was found,^[15] and, more recently, rabies. The rabies death theory was proposed by Dr. R. Michael Benitez, and is based upon the fact that Poe's symptoms before death are similar to those displayed in a classic case of rabies.^[16] Cats play a prominent part in many of his stories, and it has been conjectured that he was bitten by a rabid pet. This article is about the disease that features high blood sugar. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... The 19th century clipper ships in the China trade required a great deal of labor to operate. ... Cooping was a practice by which unwilling participants were forced to vote often several times over for a particular candidate in an election: Political gangs were willing to go to great extremes to ensure the success of their candidates. ...

In the absence of contemporary documentation (all surviving accounts are either incomplete or published years after the event; even Poe's death certificate, if one was ever made out, has been lost), it is likely that the cause of Poe's death will never be known.

Funeral

Poe's funeral was a simple one, held on Monday afternoon, October 8, 1849. Very few people attended the ceremony. Poe's uncle, Henry Herring, provided a simple mahogany coffin and cousin Neilson Poe supplied the hearse. The funeral was presided over by the Reverent W. T. D. Clemm, cousin of Poe's wife Virginia. Also in attendance were Dr. Snodgrass, Baltimore lawyer and former University of Virginia classmate Z. Collins Lee, Poe's first cousin Elizabeth Herring and her husband, and former schoolmaster Joseph Clarke. The entire ceremony lasted only three minutes in the cold, damp weather.^[17] Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe (August 15, 1822 — January 30, 1847), born Virginia Eliza Clemm, was the wife of Edgar Allan Poe. ... The University of Virginia (also called U.Va. ...

Burial and Reburial

Poe is buried on the grounds of Westminster Hall and Burying Ground,^[18] now part of the University of Maryland School of Law^[19] in Baltimore. The Westminster Hall and Burying Ground, is located on the corner of Fayette and Greene Streets on the west side of downtown Baltimore. ... University of Maryland, Baltimore, (also known as UMB) was founded in 1807. ...

Edgar Allan Poe's reburial celebration on November 17, 1875 at Westminster graveyard.

Even after his death, Poe has created controversy and mystery. Because of his fame, school children collected money for a new burial spot closer to the front gate. He was reburied on October 1, 1875. A celebration was held at the dedication of the new tomb on November 17. Likely unknown to the reburial crew, however, the headstones on all the graves, previously facing to the east, were turned to face the West Gate in 1864.^[20] Therefore, as it was described in a seemingly fitting turn of events: Image File history File links From the Maryland Historical Society web site, [1] File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links From the Maryland Historical Society web site, [1] File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... 17 November is also the name of a Marxist group in Greece, coinciding with the anniversary of the Athens Polytechnic uprising. ... 1875 (MDCCCLXXV) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... is the 274th day of the year (275th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1875 (MDCCCLXXV) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... 17 November is also the name of a Marxist group in Greece, coinciding with the anniversary of the Athens Polytechnic uprising. ...

In digging on what they erroneously thought to be the right of the General Poe the committee naturally first struck old Mrs. Poe who had been buried thirty-six years before Edgar's mother-in-law; they tried again and presumably struck Mrs. Clemm who had been buried in 1876 only four years earlier. Henry's Poe's brother foot stone, it there, was respected for they obviously skipped over him and settled for the next body, which was on the Mosher lot. Because of the excellent condition of the teeth, he would certainly seem to have been the remains of Philip Mosher Jr, of the Maryland Militia, age 19.

The grave bears no epitaph, though many (including Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.) made suggestions for appropriate epitaphs. An earlier stone of white Italian marble had been carved with an epitaph, but it was destroyed before it reached the grave when a train derailed and plowed through the monument yard where it was being kept. Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. ...

Character assassination

Rufus Wilmot Griswold, Poe's literary executor.

After Poe's death, an obituary appeared signed by "Ludwig" and later revealed to be Rufus Wilmot Griswold. Calling Poe a "brilliant, but erratic" star, Griswold used the obituary as a starting point for his character assassination of Poe. He claimed Poe was known for walking the streets in delirium, muttering to himself. Griswold accused Poe of excessive arrogance, that he assumed all men were villains, and that he was quick to anger. First printed in the New York Tribune, the Ludwig obituary was soon reprinted throughout the country. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Wikisource-logo. ... The original Wikisource logo. ... Rufus Wilmot Griswold (February 15, 1815 - August 12, 1857) was an American anthologist, editor and critic, famous for his enmity with Edgar Allan Poe. ... Character assassination is the process of harming a persons reputation enough to cause rejection of that person from their community. ... The New York Tribune building - today the site of Pace Universitys building complex of One Pace Plaza in New York City The New York Tribune was established by Horace Greeley in 1841 and was long considered one of the leading newspapers in the United States. ...

Griswold had served as an agent for several American authors but it is unclear if Griswold was appointed by Poe to be his literary executor, if it were a trick on Griswold's part, or a mistake made by Poe's aunt and mother-in-law Muddy.^[21] Regardless, he presented a collection of Poe's work with a "Memoir" serving as a biography of Poe's life. Poe was depicted as a depraved, drunk, drug-addled madman. Many parts of it were believed to have been forged by Griswold and it was denounced by those who knew Poe, including Sarah Helen Whitman, Charles Frederick Briggs, and George Rex Graham.^[22] Griswold's account became a popularly accepted one, however, in part because it was the only full biography available and was widely reprinted, and in part because it seemed to accord with the narrative voice Poe used in much of his fiction. A literary executor is a person with decision-making power in respect of the literary estate of an author who has died. ... Sarah Helen Whitman was a poet. ... Charles Frederick Briggs (1804-1877) was an American journalist and author, born at Nantucket, Mass. ... George Rex Graham (1813-1894) was an entrepreneur and journalist from Philadelphia, most notable for the founding of Grahams Magazine. ...

No accurate biography of Poe appeared until John Ingram's of 1875. Years later, Arthur Hobson Quinn was able to discover that Griswold had forged and re-written a number of Poe's letters that were included in his "Memoir."^[23] By then, however, Griswold's depiction of Poe was entrenched in the mind of the public, not only in America but around the world. Griswold's madman image of Poe is still existent in the modern perceptions of the man himself.

The Poe Toaster

Main article: Poe Toaster

Beginning in 1949, Poe's grave has been visited every year in the early hours of Poe's birthday, January 19th, by a mystery man known endearingly as the Poe Toaster. It has been reported that a man or woman draped in black with a silver-tipped cane, kneels at the grave for a toast of Martell Cognac and leaves the half-full bottle and three red roses. One theory (of many) is that the three red roses are in memory of Poe himself, his mother-in-law, and his wife Virginia. The Poe Toaster is the nickname given to a mysterious figure who pays an annual tribute to American author Edgar Allan Poe. ... The Poe Toaster is the nickname given to a mysterious figure who pays an annual tribute to American author Edgar Allan Poe. ... This does not cite any references or sources. ...

See also

• Edgar Allan Poe in popular culture, the circumstances of his death have inspired a number of fictional retellings and investigations.

Edgar Allan Poe has appeared in popular culture as a character in books, films and comics. ...

References