1808-Edgar Allan Poe is Born

On this day in history, famous poet and author Edgar Allan Poe is born in Boston, Massachusetts.  Both of Poe’s parents died when he was three years old, so he was left under the care of his grandfather, John Allen, a tobacco merchant. Poe entered the University of Virginia (UVA), but after only eight months there he was forced to leave because of large amounts of debt due to Poe’s gambling problem. He served in the US Army for two years. After another falling-out, his grandfather cut him off completely and Poe was expelled from school for rule infractions. He published three poems, but none of them got much attention.

At the age of 28, Poe married his 13-year old cousin, Virginia Clemm. He worked as an editor at the Southern Literary Messenger in Richmond, Virginia. He released his first full work of fiction, Arthur Gordon Pym, then lost his job as an editor due to heavy drinking.

He released many other works, such as “The Fall of the House of Usher”, “The Tell-Tale Heart,” “The Purloined Letter” and “The Murders in the Rue Morgue.” in 18844, Poe moved to New York City, where he wrote the poem “The Raven.” Virginia became ill and died of tuberculosis in 1847. The death of his wife landed Poe deeper in a rut of alcoholism and drug abuse. He returned to Richmond in 1849 and got engaged to an old lover, but died suddenly before the wedding. Nobody is certain how he died, but he was at a party in Baltimore, then disappeared suddenly. He was found three days later in a gutter, still alive but incoherent. He was brought to a hospital, but died shortly after on October 7, 1849, at age 40.