EDGAR ALLEN POE

Famed author & poet

Though born in Boston in 1809, Edgar Allen Poe spent much of his childhood in Richmond, Virginia. His mother, Elizabeth Arnold Poe, died when he was barely 2-3 years of age. When Mrs. Poe died in 1811, Poe was taken in by tobacco merchant John Allan.

Poe attended school in England and Richmond; his schooling was stopped after a few months at the University of Virginia. It is believed that John Allan did not approve of Poe's poetical ambitions.

After traveling to Boston, Poe had his first volume of poetry published. In 1831, he moved to his aunt's home in Baltimore and began writing prose tales.

Returning to Richmond in 1835, Edgar Allen Poe became an editor of the Southern Literary Messenger. A year later, he married his 13-year-old cousin Virginia Clemm before moving north. Soon after his move, he published The Fall of the House of Usher and other horror stories. Around 1841 - 1842, he introduced detective stories such as The Murders in the Rue Morgue, followed by The Gold Bug. In 1844, The Raven appeared in print, giving Poe national fame.

Poverty was a constant threat to Poe, and he barely managed to support his wife and her mother. Poe died two years after his wife(she died in 1847) in Baltimore. How he died still remains a mystery.