1 00:00:02,480 --> 00:00:05,840 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday. Edgar Allan Poe died one hundred and seventy 2 00:00:05,840 --> 00:00:08,959 Speaker 1: four years ago today, so we are bringing out past 3 00:00:09,039 --> 00:00:12,719 Speaker 1: hosts episode on the death of Poe as today's Saturday classic. 4 00:00:13,119 --> 00:00:15,920 Speaker 1: This originally came out June thirteenth, twenty twelve. 5 00:00:16,320 --> 00:00:22,360 Speaker 2: Enjoy Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a 6 00:00:22,400 --> 00:00:29,480 Speaker 2: production of iHeartRadio. 7 00:00:30,680 --> 00:00:33,920 Speaker 3: Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm to blinga chuckerboarding. 8 00:00:33,360 --> 00:00:34,280 Speaker 4: And I'm Sarah Dowdy. 9 00:00:34,600 --> 00:00:38,000 Speaker 3: And we usually save our spookier subjects for the fall 10 00:00:38,159 --> 00:00:41,440 Speaker 3: in Halloween, of course, but summer is also a great 11 00:00:41,479 --> 00:00:44,640 Speaker 3: time to curl up with a good mystery, and today's subject, 12 00:00:45,159 --> 00:00:51,040 Speaker 3: Edgar Allan Poe definitely offers that. A famous nineteenth century writer, poet, critic, 13 00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:54,920 Speaker 3: and editor known for dabbling in moody and macabre topics, 14 00:00:55,360 --> 00:00:58,680 Speaker 3: Poe almost really needs no introduction, but of course we're 15 00:00:58,680 --> 00:00:59,720 Speaker 3: going to give you one anyway. 16 00:00:59,720 --> 00:01:03,080 Speaker 4: Can just skip this whole part, now, that's what we do. 17 00:01:03,720 --> 00:01:06,280 Speaker 3: So chances are you've at least heard of Poe, and 18 00:01:06,360 --> 00:01:09,199 Speaker 3: if you've taken any sort of post grade school level 19 00:01:09,280 --> 00:01:12,320 Speaker 3: literature class, you've probably read his work too, or at 20 00:01:12,360 --> 00:01:15,880 Speaker 3: least The Eerie The Raven, which is his most famous piece. 21 00:01:15,840 --> 00:01:18,679 Speaker 4: Or even grade school. I think I memorized the Raven 22 00:01:18,800 --> 00:01:20,280 Speaker 4: sometime in elementary school. 23 00:01:20,360 --> 00:01:23,200 Speaker 3: Well you're very advanced, Sarah, so I don't know about that. 24 00:01:23,760 --> 00:01:27,160 Speaker 4: I did it dramatically, That's why I chose it. But 25 00:01:28,200 --> 00:01:31,920 Speaker 4: Poe is also often credited with creating the first modern 26 00:01:31,959 --> 00:01:36,200 Speaker 4: detective story with his Murders of the Room Morgue, and ironically, 27 00:01:36,720 --> 00:01:39,680 Speaker 4: some of the aspects of his own life, particularly the 28 00:01:39,840 --> 00:01:43,039 Speaker 4: end of his life, are really worthy of the type 29 00:01:43,040 --> 00:01:44,000 Speaker 4: of fiction he wrote. 30 00:01:44,640 --> 00:01:47,640 Speaker 3: Yeah, Basically, in the fall of eighteen forty nine, Poe 31 00:01:47,680 --> 00:01:50,920 Speaker 3: disappeared for a few days, and when he reappeared, he 32 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:54,040 Speaker 3: was in really bad shape. He was delirious, and he 33 00:01:54,080 --> 00:01:57,440 Speaker 3: appeared to a lot of people to be severely intoxicated, 34 00:01:57,480 --> 00:02:01,160 Speaker 3: and he died just a few days later that Initially, 35 00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:05,520 Speaker 3: many people assumed alcoholism is what ultimately killed Poe, but 36 00:02:05,680 --> 00:02:08,120 Speaker 3: it really didn't take long for others to start stepping 37 00:02:08,200 --> 00:02:11,840 Speaker 3: up with alternate theories, some of which seemed just as 38 00:02:12,040 --> 00:02:16,000 Speaker 3: if not more plausible, than the alcoholism one. And these 39 00:02:16,040 --> 00:02:18,840 Speaker 3: theories are still debated today. And I mean I should 40 00:02:18,880 --> 00:02:21,000 Speaker 3: go back and say I mean that, you know, I 41 00:02:21,040 --> 00:02:22,800 Speaker 3: mentioned that it didn't take long for people come up 42 00:02:22,840 --> 00:02:24,960 Speaker 3: with theories. It took a few years. I mean, it 43 00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:28,360 Speaker 3: really wasn't investigated at the time. Alcoholism was really the 44 00:02:28,440 --> 00:02:29,320 Speaker 3: prevailing thought. 45 00:02:29,960 --> 00:02:32,400 Speaker 4: So today, though, we're going to take a look a 46 00:02:32,480 --> 00:02:36,840 Speaker 4: closer look at Poe's mysterious disappearance and his death and 47 00:02:37,320 --> 00:02:40,680 Speaker 4: discuss some of those theories about what ultimately led to 48 00:02:40,720 --> 00:02:44,600 Speaker 4: his demise. But before we can really talk about Poe's death, 49 00:02:44,680 --> 00:02:46,320 Speaker 4: you know, we said we had to do this introduction, 50 00:02:46,400 --> 00:02:48,640 Speaker 4: We've got to do more than that. Really, we really 51 00:02:48,680 --> 00:02:51,160 Speaker 4: need to tell you at least a little bit about 52 00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:53,680 Speaker 4: his life, because it's pretty interesting too, it is. 53 00:02:53,720 --> 00:02:57,560 Speaker 3: He was born Edgar Poe January nineteenth, eighteen oh nine, 54 00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:02,680 Speaker 3: in Boston, Massachusetts, to ruggling actor parents, David and Elizabeth 55 00:03:02,760 --> 00:03:06,760 Speaker 3: Arnold Poe. Edgar was actually the second of their children. 56 00:03:06,800 --> 00:03:09,640 Speaker 3: His older brother, William Henry Leonard, ended up living with 57 00:03:09,680 --> 00:03:13,720 Speaker 3: their grandparents because of their parents' constant financial struggles, and 58 00:03:13,760 --> 00:03:16,320 Speaker 3: Poe also had a sister, Rosalie, who was a year 59 00:03:16,360 --> 00:03:19,239 Speaker 3: younger than him, and Poe had to face hardship and 60 00:03:19,320 --> 00:03:22,320 Speaker 3: a lot of sadness really early on. His father abandoned 61 00:03:22,320 --> 00:03:25,280 Speaker 3: the family around the time of or even before his 62 00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:28,200 Speaker 3: sister's birth, at which point Poe, his sister, and his 63 00:03:28,280 --> 00:03:31,320 Speaker 3: mom all moved to Virginia, and his mom got ill 64 00:03:31,360 --> 00:03:34,000 Speaker 3: and died the year after his sister was born. So 65 00:03:34,639 --> 00:03:36,960 Speaker 3: that happened when Poe was only about two years old. 66 00:03:37,280 --> 00:03:41,840 Speaker 4: So Poe and Rosalie, now basically orphans, were taken in 67 00:03:41,880 --> 00:03:45,120 Speaker 4: by family friends in Richmond, and Poe ended up living 68 00:03:45,160 --> 00:03:48,560 Speaker 4: with the merchant John Allen and his wife Francis, who 69 00:03:48,560 --> 00:03:51,760 Speaker 4: didn't have any kids, while Rosalie went on to live 70 00:03:51,840 --> 00:03:55,240 Speaker 4: with a neighboring family called the Mackenzies, and the Allen's 71 00:03:55,280 --> 00:03:58,720 Speaker 4: basically treated Poe as their own child. They never legally 72 00:03:58,760 --> 00:04:02,680 Speaker 4: adopted him, but they educated him and treated him like 73 00:04:02,920 --> 00:04:05,800 Speaker 4: their son. He started his education in Richmond, and then 74 00:04:05,840 --> 00:04:08,560 Speaker 4: at age six, he was taken abroad for a bit 75 00:04:08,640 --> 00:04:11,960 Speaker 4: and continued studying in England and Scotland for about five 76 00:04:12,040 --> 00:04:15,920 Speaker 4: years before he returned to Virginia with the Allens, where 77 00:04:15,960 --> 00:04:19,520 Speaker 4: he continued his schooling. And lets you start thinking of 78 00:04:19,560 --> 00:04:23,440 Speaker 4: a little adolescent strange Poe. He seemed like a pretty 79 00:04:23,480 --> 00:04:25,760 Speaker 4: normal kid. He made friends, was doing all right in 80 00:04:25,800 --> 00:04:26,640 Speaker 4: school and everything. 81 00:04:26,920 --> 00:04:30,040 Speaker 3: However, by his mid teens or so, Poe discovered that 82 00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:34,400 Speaker 3: his foster father wasn't exactly being faithful to his foster mother, 83 00:04:34,600 --> 00:04:37,320 Speaker 3: and this really upset Poe and it kicked off a 84 00:04:37,440 --> 00:04:41,200 Speaker 3: very strained relationship between Poe and John Allen and they 85 00:04:41,279 --> 00:04:44,480 Speaker 3: argued a lot about that topic. And around this time, 86 00:04:44,520 --> 00:04:47,080 Speaker 3: Poe also fell in love with a local girl named 87 00:04:47,120 --> 00:04:50,320 Speaker 3: Sarah Elmira Royster, and she was in love with him too. 88 00:04:50,480 --> 00:04:52,640 Speaker 3: But in eighteen twenty six, Poe went off to the 89 00:04:52,760 --> 00:04:53,960 Speaker 3: University of Virginia. 90 00:04:54,080 --> 00:04:56,839 Speaker 4: So Poe was only at the University of Virginia for 91 00:04:56,880 --> 00:05:00,279 Speaker 4: about eleven months though, and according to a bag trophy 92 00:05:00,320 --> 00:05:04,080 Speaker 4: of Edgar Allan Poe by Veronica Loveday, Alan wouldn't give 93 00:05:04,160 --> 00:05:07,920 Speaker 4: Poe the money he needed to buy school basics like books, 94 00:05:07,960 --> 00:05:11,240 Speaker 4: so Poe started gambling, ended up racking up a lot 95 00:05:11,279 --> 00:05:14,359 Speaker 4: of debt, and he also started drinking while he was there, 96 00:05:14,440 --> 00:05:17,480 Speaker 4: and unfortunately for him, he had a very low tolerance 97 00:05:17,480 --> 00:05:22,920 Speaker 4: for alcohol. So Alan ultimately refused to let Poe continue 98 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:24,480 Speaker 4: spending time at the university. 99 00:05:25,080 --> 00:05:28,320 Speaker 3: In the meantime, realizing that Poe's future was really uncertain 100 00:05:28,360 --> 00:05:32,600 Speaker 3: because of this contentious relationship with his foster father, Royster's 101 00:05:32,640 --> 00:05:35,880 Speaker 3: parents decided to put a stop to her relationship with Poe. 102 00:05:36,200 --> 00:05:39,200 Speaker 3: They made sure, for example, that she never received Poe's 103 00:05:39,320 --> 00:05:42,880 Speaker 3: letters from school, and by the time Poe returned to Richmond, 104 00:05:43,200 --> 00:05:45,719 Speaker 3: his beloved Sarah was engaged to someone else. 105 00:05:46,120 --> 00:05:49,960 Speaker 4: So Poe was understandably devastated by this turn of events, 106 00:05:50,040 --> 00:05:52,480 Speaker 4: and he decided to go to Boston in the spring 107 00:05:52,520 --> 00:05:56,600 Speaker 4: of eighteen twenty seven, where he tried his hand at 108 00:05:56,640 --> 00:05:59,600 Speaker 4: making a living as a writer, and he did publish 109 00:05:59,640 --> 00:06:02,720 Speaker 4: some stuff. He published his first volume of poetry, Tamberlaine 110 00:06:02,760 --> 00:06:06,159 Speaker 4: and Other Poems, and this was fairly well received, but 111 00:06:06,240 --> 00:06:08,320 Speaker 4: he could only print a few copies and at the 112 00:06:08,400 --> 00:06:11,640 Speaker 4: end of the day he was still destitute. So he's published, 113 00:06:11,680 --> 00:06:13,839 Speaker 4: but it didn't bring in the money he was hoping. 114 00:06:14,360 --> 00:06:16,920 Speaker 3: So to solve his money issues, he joined the army, 115 00:06:17,040 --> 00:06:20,560 Speaker 3: and he really actually thrived in the military, doing a 116 00:06:20,600 --> 00:06:22,520 Speaker 3: desk job for a couple of years. He was even 117 00:06:22,560 --> 00:06:26,000 Speaker 3: promoted from private to the rank of sergeant major and 118 00:06:26,040 --> 00:06:29,200 Speaker 3: Poe decided that he wanted to attend West Point, and 119 00:06:29,400 --> 00:06:32,039 Speaker 3: after a while Alan agreed to help him fund this. 120 00:06:32,200 --> 00:06:36,080 Speaker 3: He saw, Okay, my foster son is actually doing well 121 00:06:36,120 --> 00:06:39,760 Speaker 3: with me. Yes, maybe I should support this, So Poe 122 00:06:39,800 --> 00:06:42,000 Speaker 3: was released from the army, and he applied to the 123 00:06:42,000 --> 00:06:44,800 Speaker 3: military academy, and while he was waiting to be accepted 124 00:06:44,839 --> 00:06:47,440 Speaker 3: to West Point, he spent a little time in Baltimore 125 00:06:47,520 --> 00:06:50,919 Speaker 3: getting to know his Poe family again, his grandmother, his brother, 126 00:06:51,040 --> 00:06:54,520 Speaker 3: and his father's sister, who is his aunt, Mariah Clem. 127 00:06:54,960 --> 00:06:58,440 Speaker 3: Mariah Clem also had a very young daughter, Virginia, and 128 00:06:58,520 --> 00:07:01,560 Speaker 3: Poe also published another cluct of poems during this time. 129 00:07:01,960 --> 00:07:04,719 Speaker 3: Soon he was accepted to West Point, though in eighteen thirty, 130 00:07:04,760 --> 00:07:06,240 Speaker 3: so he had to put down the pen for a 131 00:07:06,240 --> 00:07:10,239 Speaker 3: little while. But he didn't stay at West Point long either. Again, 132 00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:13,480 Speaker 3: according to Loveday's article, he learned that John Allen had 133 00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:16,240 Speaker 3: had a pair of twins as a result of one 134 00:07:16,280 --> 00:07:19,360 Speaker 3: of his affairs, and even though his foster mother was 135 00:07:19,440 --> 00:07:22,120 Speaker 3: dead by this time, Poe pretty much realized there was 136 00:07:22,200 --> 00:07:25,880 Speaker 3: no future between him and his foster father, and in fact, 137 00:07:26,240 --> 00:07:29,040 Speaker 3: just as an aside, Alan did ultimately leave everything, the 138 00:07:29,040 --> 00:07:31,400 Speaker 3: whole inheritance to these twins that he had. 139 00:07:31,640 --> 00:07:34,160 Speaker 4: That might have been a good intuition he had there 140 00:07:34,240 --> 00:07:37,400 Speaker 4: so set on pursuing a writing career, you know, deciding 141 00:07:37,400 --> 00:07:39,120 Speaker 4: that this was going to have to be how he'd 142 00:07:39,160 --> 00:07:42,720 Speaker 4: make his future in his career, Poe took measures to 143 00:07:42,760 --> 00:07:45,840 Speaker 4: get himself expelled from West Point. He wasn't just going 144 00:07:45,920 --> 00:07:46,560 Speaker 4: to drop. 145 00:07:46,360 --> 00:07:48,520 Speaker 3: Out, yeah, and you couldn't just walk away. 146 00:07:48,400 --> 00:07:52,920 Speaker 4: No, no, So according to Encyclopedia Britannica, he just didn't 147 00:07:52,960 --> 00:07:55,680 Speaker 4: show up at any classes or any drills for a 148 00:07:55,720 --> 00:07:58,560 Speaker 4: week and he even tried to spread a rumor that 149 00:07:58,600 --> 00:08:01,920 Speaker 4: he was the grandson of Benedict Arnold. Probably not something 150 00:08:01,960 --> 00:08:04,480 Speaker 4: that's going to make you too popular at your military school. 151 00:08:04,960 --> 00:08:07,760 Speaker 4: And in the end he did finally get his wish 152 00:08:07,840 --> 00:08:10,600 Speaker 4: and he was dismissed, so he was freed up to 153 00:08:10,680 --> 00:08:13,400 Speaker 4: pursue this writing career that he was hoping. 154 00:08:13,160 --> 00:08:15,720 Speaker 3: To So Poe moved to New York in February of 155 00:08:15,720 --> 00:08:18,679 Speaker 3: eighteen thirty one, and he published a third collection called 156 00:08:18,720 --> 00:08:24,400 Speaker 3: Poems from there. He moved around between New York City, Baltimore, Richmond, 157 00:08:24,480 --> 00:08:27,680 Speaker 3: and Philadelphia for the next few years in pursuit of 158 00:08:27,760 --> 00:08:30,480 Speaker 3: his writing career, and four Purposes Here were just going 159 00:08:30,560 --> 00:08:32,760 Speaker 3: to cover some of the highlights of what he did 160 00:08:32,840 --> 00:08:35,960 Speaker 3: during that time. By March of eighteen thirty one, Poe 161 00:08:36,040 --> 00:08:38,320 Speaker 3: returned to Baltimore to live with his aunt, Mariah Clem 162 00:08:38,400 --> 00:08:42,080 Speaker 3: and his little cousin Virginia, and while there he still 163 00:08:42,160 --> 00:08:44,640 Speaker 3: struggled to earn a living, but he started to write 164 00:08:44,679 --> 00:08:46,040 Speaker 3: stories as well pros. 165 00:08:46,280 --> 00:08:48,520 Speaker 4: Yeah, and things did start to look up a little 166 00:08:48,559 --> 00:08:51,800 Speaker 4: bit in eighteen thirty three when his story manuscript Found 167 00:08:51,840 --> 00:08:54,800 Speaker 4: in a Bottle won a fifty dollars prize from a 168 00:08:54,840 --> 00:08:59,480 Speaker 4: Baltimore weekly newspaper, and that finally started to get him noticed. 169 00:08:59,880 --> 00:09:02,960 Speaker 4: He also started writing reviews and stories for the Southern 170 00:09:02,960 --> 00:09:06,439 Speaker 4: Literary Messenger, and by eighteen thirty five he even took 171 00:09:06,480 --> 00:09:09,960 Speaker 4: a position as an editor there and made even more 172 00:09:10,040 --> 00:09:11,120 Speaker 4: of a name for himself. 173 00:09:11,559 --> 00:09:14,480 Speaker 3: In the meantime, his brother and his foster father died, 174 00:09:15,120 --> 00:09:17,880 Speaker 3: so a little more tragedy in his life, and his 175 00:09:17,960 --> 00:09:20,680 Speaker 3: foster father, as we mentioned, left him nothing, so he 176 00:09:20,800 --> 00:09:23,240 Speaker 3: realized that he was really going to have to make 177 00:09:23,280 --> 00:09:26,319 Speaker 3: a living on his own. And on September twenty second, 178 00:09:26,440 --> 00:09:29,920 Speaker 3: eighteen thirty five, another life milestone, he married his first 179 00:09:29,960 --> 00:09:33,800 Speaker 3: cousin Virginia, clem And as you'll remember, we mentioned, she 180 00:09:33,920 --> 00:09:36,200 Speaker 3: was very young well. At the time of their marriage, 181 00:09:36,240 --> 00:09:40,720 Speaker 3: she was only thirteen and the marriage certificate listed her 182 00:09:40,760 --> 00:09:44,400 Speaker 3: as twenty one, but that was incorrect. According to Loveday's article, 183 00:09:44,480 --> 00:09:47,800 Speaker 3: Poe did wait for more than two years before consummating 184 00:09:47,840 --> 00:09:48,800 Speaker 3: their marriage, so. 185 00:09:48,920 --> 00:09:51,760 Speaker 4: Yeah, Poe would have been in his late twenties by then. 186 00:09:51,800 --> 00:09:54,160 Speaker 4: It's always one of those facts that sticks with you 187 00:09:54,320 --> 00:09:55,840 Speaker 4: about Edgar Allan Poe. 188 00:09:55,960 --> 00:09:57,360 Speaker 3: Yeah, big age difference. 189 00:10:06,559 --> 00:10:09,800 Speaker 4: But moving on to his career again, it's unclear whether 190 00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:12,880 Speaker 4: it was voluntary or not, but Poe left his job 191 00:10:13,000 --> 00:10:17,520 Speaker 4: at the Southern Literary Messenger, and according to Encyclopedia Britannica, 192 00:10:17,640 --> 00:10:21,400 Speaker 4: he was fired probably because of his drinking. Drinking really 193 00:10:21,400 --> 00:10:24,000 Speaker 4: seemed to become sort of a means of escape for him, 194 00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:26,600 Speaker 4: but as we mentioned, he also had a very low 195 00:10:26,679 --> 00:10:30,240 Speaker 4: tolerance for alcohol his entire life, so it didn't really 196 00:10:30,320 --> 00:10:33,920 Speaker 4: take that much to make him appear very intoxicated. And 197 00:10:34,280 --> 00:10:38,240 Speaker 4: even though he wasn't very intoxicated that often, again according 198 00:10:38,240 --> 00:10:43,480 Speaker 4: to Encyclopedia Britannica, he was unfortunately usually somewhere in public 199 00:10:43,559 --> 00:10:46,959 Speaker 4: when he was drunk, so he got this reputation as 200 00:10:47,040 --> 00:10:50,720 Speaker 4: being a public drunk. But after this, after leaving the 201 00:10:50,760 --> 00:10:55,720 Speaker 4: Southern Literary Messenger or being fired, he and Virginia moved 202 00:10:55,720 --> 00:10:58,600 Speaker 4: to New York City, where he reviewed articles for the 203 00:10:58,640 --> 00:11:02,000 Speaker 4: New York Review while still pursuing his own projects too. 204 00:11:02,720 --> 00:11:05,440 Speaker 3: By eighteen thirty nine, the couple had moved to Philadelphia, 205 00:11:05,480 --> 00:11:08,520 Speaker 3: where he published Tales of the Grotesque and the Arabesque 206 00:11:08,640 --> 00:11:12,040 Speaker 3: Short Story Collection. He also started working as an editor 207 00:11:12,040 --> 00:11:14,920 Speaker 3: for Burton's Gentleman's Magazine, and by the fall of eighteen 208 00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:18,040 Speaker 3: forty one he started working for kind of a successor 209 00:11:18,040 --> 00:11:21,720 Speaker 3: to that magazine, Graham's Ladies and Gentlemen's Magazine, and this 210 00:11:21,840 --> 00:11:26,439 Speaker 3: afforded him steady income finally, and it's where he published 211 00:11:26,440 --> 00:11:29,079 Speaker 3: The Murders in the Room Morgue. So at this point 212 00:11:29,120 --> 00:11:32,600 Speaker 3: Poe's notoriety is really starting to grow, but like most 213 00:11:32,640 --> 00:11:35,640 Speaker 3: of his jobs, the Grahams gig was short lived. He 214 00:11:35,720 --> 00:11:37,839 Speaker 3: quit by the middle of eighteen forty two to work 215 00:11:37,840 --> 00:11:40,720 Speaker 3: as a freelance writer and to also try to start 216 00:11:40,760 --> 00:11:43,040 Speaker 3: his own publication, which was something that he would try 217 00:11:43,080 --> 00:11:45,439 Speaker 3: to do here and there throughout the rest of his life, 218 00:11:45,480 --> 00:11:48,120 Speaker 3: but he was never really successful with that part of it. 219 00:11:48,160 --> 00:11:50,200 Speaker 3: With starting his own publication. 220 00:11:50,120 --> 00:11:51,800 Speaker 4: Couldn't follow the Dickens model. 221 00:11:51,960 --> 00:11:52,080 Speaker 1: No. 222 00:11:52,520 --> 00:11:55,040 Speaker 3: In eighteen forty four, he returned to New York, where 223 00:11:55,040 --> 00:11:57,520 Speaker 3: he continued writing, and it was while there in eighteen 224 00:11:57,600 --> 00:12:01,199 Speaker 3: forty five that his poem The Raven was published, and 225 00:12:01,240 --> 00:12:04,320 Speaker 3: it was instantly successful, making Poe very famous. 226 00:12:04,720 --> 00:12:08,199 Speaker 4: But despite his successes in the literary world that were 227 00:12:08,200 --> 00:12:10,880 Speaker 4: happening around this time, this was still a very rough 228 00:12:11,000 --> 00:12:15,520 Speaker 4: period for a Poe. For one thing, Virginia became very ill. 229 00:12:15,640 --> 00:12:18,880 Speaker 4: She'd contracted tuberculosis at some point in the early eighteen 230 00:12:18,960 --> 00:12:22,240 Speaker 4: forties and her health never really got better after that. 231 00:12:22,400 --> 00:12:25,240 Speaker 4: And for his part, Poe wasn't doing so great either. 232 00:12:25,400 --> 00:12:29,440 Speaker 4: His drinking continued to get worse and this exacerbated his 233 00:12:29,640 --> 00:12:33,520 Speaker 4: own health issues, and according to Loveday's article, he almost 234 00:12:33,559 --> 00:12:38,000 Speaker 4: died in eighteen forty four from heart failure. So not 235 00:12:38,679 --> 00:12:41,119 Speaker 4: so great for mister and missus Poe at this point. 236 00:12:41,480 --> 00:12:43,920 Speaker 3: With the fame the Raven brought him, Poe started doing 237 00:12:44,080 --> 00:12:47,520 Speaker 3: lecture tours in the northeastern United States, and though he 238 00:12:47,640 --> 00:12:50,800 Speaker 3: still struggled financially, he had quite a lot of social 239 00:12:50,880 --> 00:12:54,280 Speaker 3: attention paid to him during this time. In eighteen forty five, 240 00:12:54,320 --> 00:12:57,360 Speaker 3: for example, he received the attentions of the poet Francis 241 00:12:57,360 --> 00:13:00,560 Speaker 3: Sargent Locke Osgoode, and they had an affair, which was 242 00:13:00,880 --> 00:13:04,079 Speaker 3: scandalous because she wrote poems about him, and so everybody 243 00:13:04,160 --> 00:13:06,560 Speaker 3: knew what was going on between them because it was 244 00:13:06,600 --> 00:13:07,760 Speaker 3: out there in print. 245 00:13:07,679 --> 00:13:09,600 Speaker 4: Kind of like writing about him on her blog or 246 00:13:09,640 --> 00:13:10,960 Speaker 4: something these days. 247 00:13:10,760 --> 00:13:13,680 Speaker 3: Yeah, kind of. Actually that's a pretty good comparison, I think. 248 00:13:13,760 --> 00:13:18,120 Speaker 3: But according to Encyclopedia Britannica, Poe's wife, for whatever reason, 249 00:13:18,200 --> 00:13:21,480 Speaker 3: did not object to this relationship with Ozgood. So people 250 00:13:21,520 --> 00:13:25,120 Speaker 3: were scandalized by it, but she was kind of okay 251 00:13:25,280 --> 00:13:28,040 Speaker 3: with it, and her health continued to deteriorate, and she 252 00:13:28,160 --> 00:13:31,520 Speaker 3: finally died in January of eighteen forty seven at the 253 00:13:31,559 --> 00:13:32,559 Speaker 3: age of twenty four. 254 00:13:33,080 --> 00:13:36,199 Speaker 4: So after his wife's death, Poe did publish a few things, 255 00:13:36,240 --> 00:13:40,079 Speaker 4: including a lecture called Eureka, some poems, including The Bells 256 00:13:40,160 --> 00:13:43,840 Speaker 4: and Annabelle Lee. He also tried to start a magazine again, 257 00:13:43,920 --> 00:13:46,520 Speaker 4: but once again that didn't work. He did not succeed 258 00:13:46,720 --> 00:13:50,120 Speaker 4: at running a magazine, but his final years are also 259 00:13:50,280 --> 00:13:53,400 Speaker 4: marked by some serious relationships that he had with a 260 00:13:53,400 --> 00:13:56,680 Speaker 4: couple of women. First, there was the Providence, Rhode Island 261 00:13:56,760 --> 00:14:00,920 Speaker 4: based poet named Sarah Helen Whitman. They actually him engaged 262 00:14:01,040 --> 00:14:03,360 Speaker 4: in eighteen forty eight, but she only agreed to marry 263 00:14:03,440 --> 00:14:07,040 Speaker 4: him on the condition that he quit drinking. According to 264 00:14:07,080 --> 00:14:11,160 Speaker 4: Loveday's article, Poe just couldn't control his feelings for her, 265 00:14:11,400 --> 00:14:14,720 Speaker 4: and he tried to commit suicide by taking laudanum in 266 00:14:14,800 --> 00:14:19,000 Speaker 4: November of eighteen forty eight. After that he relapsed, he 267 00:14:19,120 --> 00:14:23,400 Speaker 4: started drinking again, and so Whitman broke off the engagement. 268 00:14:24,040 --> 00:14:27,560 Speaker 3: In eighteen forty nine, continuing his lectures, he returned to 269 00:14:27,680 --> 00:14:30,000 Speaker 3: Richmond for a while, and while he was there he 270 00:14:30,120 --> 00:14:33,960 Speaker 3: ran into his old flame from his teenage years, Elmira Royster, 271 00:14:34,400 --> 00:14:36,640 Speaker 3: who just happened to be a widow by this point 272 00:14:36,680 --> 00:14:39,680 Speaker 3: by the name of missus A. B. Shelton, and they 273 00:14:39,840 --> 00:14:41,440 Speaker 3: rekindled their old romance. 274 00:14:42,000 --> 00:14:42,280 Speaker 4: Well. 275 00:14:42,560 --> 00:14:45,960 Speaker 3: Almira was a teetotaler too, and much like Sarah Whitman, 276 00:14:46,040 --> 00:14:49,520 Speaker 3: she would not have approved of Poe drinking. Luckily, though, 277 00:14:49,560 --> 00:14:52,800 Speaker 3: Poe decided to completely give up alcohol and may have 278 00:14:52,840 --> 00:14:56,440 Speaker 3: been successful at this for several months. According to an 279 00:14:56,520 --> 00:14:59,560 Speaker 3: article by Robert Hopkins in Southern Quarterly, Poe even took 280 00:14:59,560 --> 00:15:02,840 Speaker 3: a public oath on August twenty seventh, eighteen forty nine, 281 00:15:02,880 --> 00:15:05,560 Speaker 3: at a Son's of Temperance meeting, in which he swore 282 00:15:05,600 --> 00:15:08,400 Speaker 3: that he'd never touch another drop of liquor, and he 283 00:15:08,520 --> 00:15:10,520 Speaker 3: signed a document to that effect as well. 284 00:15:10,840 --> 00:15:14,680 Speaker 4: So I guess old Elmira was convinced by this display, 285 00:15:14,720 --> 00:15:18,200 Speaker 4: and so they became engaged and set their wedding date 286 00:15:18,280 --> 00:15:22,000 Speaker 4: for October seventeenth. This is where things start to get 287 00:15:22,040 --> 00:15:24,760 Speaker 4: a little weird in the story, though, Before the marriage 288 00:15:24,760 --> 00:15:27,640 Speaker 4: who was supposed to take place, post set off on 289 00:15:27,800 --> 00:15:30,800 Speaker 4: a business trip to Philadelphia and New York. And while 290 00:15:30,800 --> 00:15:33,320 Speaker 4: he was in New York, it's possible he was going 291 00:15:33,360 --> 00:15:35,880 Speaker 4: to pick up his aunt Mariah clem too and bring 292 00:15:35,920 --> 00:15:38,720 Speaker 4: her down to Richmond for the wedding. Well, I guess 293 00:15:38,520 --> 00:15:42,480 Speaker 4: his former mother in law as well. He probably set 294 00:15:42,520 --> 00:15:46,160 Speaker 4: off for this trip from Richmond around September twenty seventh, 295 00:15:46,240 --> 00:15:50,560 Speaker 4: eighteen forty nine, And what happened after that is what's 296 00:15:50,840 --> 00:15:51,800 Speaker 4: really uncertain. 297 00:15:52,440 --> 00:15:55,240 Speaker 3: Yeah, some say that he went straight to Baltimore and 298 00:15:55,320 --> 00:15:58,800 Speaker 3: called on a friend, doctor Nathan C. Brooks, but Brooks 299 00:15:58,840 --> 00:16:02,160 Speaker 3: wasn't at home, And if Baltimore is the only stop 300 00:16:02,200 --> 00:16:05,400 Speaker 3: that Poe made, then that still leaves several days unaccounted for, 301 00:16:05,520 --> 00:16:07,800 Speaker 3: because there doesn't seem to be any information on what 302 00:16:07,960 --> 00:16:10,080 Speaker 3: he was up to in town after that for the 303 00:16:10,120 --> 00:16:13,560 Speaker 3: following days after that, however, according to the Edgar Allan 304 00:16:13,640 --> 00:16:18,600 Speaker 3: Poe Society of Baltimore. A Philadelphia friend of Poe's, Thomas H. Lane, 305 00:16:18,680 --> 00:16:21,360 Speaker 3: who had worked for the Broadway Journal, later said that 306 00:16:21,400 --> 00:16:24,760 Speaker 3: he believed Poe had come to Philadelphia and seen mutual 307 00:16:24,800 --> 00:16:27,800 Speaker 3: friends of theirs while he was in town. Lane said 308 00:16:27,800 --> 00:16:30,720 Speaker 3: that Poe also fell ill while he was in Philadelphia, 309 00:16:30,760 --> 00:16:34,080 Speaker 3: but instead he still insisted on getting on a train 310 00:16:34,160 --> 00:16:36,880 Speaker 3: to New York after his brief visit. He had business 311 00:16:36,880 --> 00:16:38,840 Speaker 3: to do there. He was going to see Aunt Mariah, 312 00:16:38,880 --> 00:16:41,720 Speaker 3: so he was going to head out. So Lane's theory 313 00:16:41,840 --> 00:16:44,080 Speaker 3: is that Poe must have gotten on the wrong train 314 00:16:44,520 --> 00:16:47,680 Speaker 3: and ended up back in Baltimore. But even if this 315 00:16:47,840 --> 00:16:51,360 Speaker 3: Philadelphia visit did happen, and it's not clear whether it 316 00:16:51,360 --> 00:16:54,200 Speaker 3: did or not, the exact dates aren't known, so there's 317 00:16:54,240 --> 00:16:58,160 Speaker 3: a lot that's still very sketchy about this possibility. In 318 00:16:58,200 --> 00:17:01,880 Speaker 3: the story, a letter Poe to Aunt Mariah Clumb also 319 00:17:01,960 --> 00:17:04,480 Speaker 3: confirms that he at least had intentions of heading to 320 00:17:04,480 --> 00:17:08,080 Speaker 3: Philadelphia to meet another poet and edit her poems there, 321 00:17:08,440 --> 00:17:11,840 Speaker 3: and he'd also told Aunt Mariah to write him directly 322 00:17:11,880 --> 00:17:14,560 Speaker 3: in Philadelphia, as if he'd be there to receive it, 323 00:17:14,960 --> 00:17:17,960 Speaker 3: but he did tell her to address her correspondence instead 324 00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:20,840 Speaker 3: of just addressing it to Edgar Allan Poe address it 325 00:17:20,880 --> 00:17:25,160 Speaker 3: to est Gray Esquire. So kind of a shady vy 326 00:17:25,880 --> 00:17:27,560 Speaker 3: aspect to the story. 327 00:17:27,480 --> 00:17:30,320 Speaker 4: Yeah, for sure. So what is known though, What is 328 00:17:30,359 --> 00:17:34,080 Speaker 4: known for sure is that on October third, eighteen forty nine, 329 00:17:34,280 --> 00:17:37,760 Speaker 4: Poe was found in a very very bad way, lying 330 00:17:37,840 --> 00:17:41,600 Speaker 4: outside of Ryan's Fourth Ward Polls, Baltimore, which was basically 331 00:17:41,640 --> 00:17:45,000 Speaker 4: a saloon, but voting also would take place there too, 332 00:17:45,160 --> 00:17:47,760 Speaker 4: and an election was going on in the city at 333 00:17:47,800 --> 00:17:50,399 Speaker 4: the same time. It's hard to imagine bars doubling is 334 00:17:50,560 --> 00:17:54,200 Speaker 4: his polling stations today, But a man named J. W. 335 00:17:54,200 --> 00:17:59,320 Speaker 4: Walker found Poe outside of this bar slash polling station, 336 00:18:00,119 --> 00:18:05,720 Speaker 4: nearly unconscious and delirious, and strangely wearing somebody else's cheap, dirty, 337 00:18:05,920 --> 00:18:10,199 Speaker 4: ill fitting clothes. And according to Hopkins article, Walker immediately 338 00:18:10,240 --> 00:18:13,840 Speaker 4: sent a note to a doctor J. E. Snodgrass, who 339 00:18:13,920 --> 00:18:17,280 Speaker 4: was an acquaintance of Poe's, at Poe's own request, and 340 00:18:17,320 --> 00:18:20,000 Speaker 4: this is what the note said. Dear Sir, there is 341 00:18:20,040 --> 00:18:23,240 Speaker 4: a gentleman rather worse for wear at Ryan's Fourth Ward 342 00:18:23,280 --> 00:18:26,280 Speaker 4: Polls who goes under the name of Edgar A. Poe, 343 00:18:26,480 --> 00:18:29,600 Speaker 4: and who appears in great distress. And he says he's 344 00:18:29,640 --> 00:18:32,040 Speaker 4: acquainted with you, and I assure you he is in 345 00:18:32,080 --> 00:18:33,840 Speaker 4: need of immediate assistance. 346 00:18:34,280 --> 00:18:37,160 Speaker 3: Snodgrass and Henry Herring at that point, and Henry Herring 347 00:18:37,280 --> 00:18:39,800 Speaker 3: was someone who had married one of Poe's aunts, showed 348 00:18:39,880 --> 00:18:42,520 Speaker 3: up and took Poe to Washington College Hospital at about 349 00:18:42,560 --> 00:18:45,600 Speaker 3: five pm that day, and while there he was attended 350 00:18:45,600 --> 00:18:48,760 Speaker 3: to by a resident named doctor John Joseph Moran. So 351 00:18:48,800 --> 00:18:51,040 Speaker 3: Poe was pretty much unconscious until the next day, but 352 00:18:51,119 --> 00:18:54,160 Speaker 3: even when he was a little more coherent, he wasn't 353 00:18:54,160 --> 00:18:57,159 Speaker 3: able to exactly tell the doctor how he came to 354 00:18:57,200 --> 00:19:00,760 Speaker 3: be in his present state. After that, he became delirious 355 00:19:00,800 --> 00:19:03,000 Speaker 3: on and off for a few days, and according to 356 00:19:03,040 --> 00:19:06,040 Speaker 3: the Poe Society of Baltimore, at one point cried out 357 00:19:06,080 --> 00:19:08,640 Speaker 3: the name Reynolds. But no one's been able to figure 358 00:19:08,680 --> 00:19:11,000 Speaker 3: out who he was referring to by that. It's just 359 00:19:11,040 --> 00:19:13,880 Speaker 3: an interesting little detail we wanted to throw in. 360 00:19:13,960 --> 00:19:18,080 Speaker 4: Interesting indeed, But on Sunday, October seventh, four days after 361 00:19:18,160 --> 00:19:22,720 Speaker 4: he was found outside of the saloon, Poe finally passed away, 362 00:19:22,920 --> 00:19:26,080 Speaker 4: and that morning his last words were God, bless my 363 00:19:26,160 --> 00:19:30,160 Speaker 4: poor soul. He was only forty years old. So this 364 00:19:30,280 --> 00:19:33,679 Speaker 4: brings us to our big question what happened to Poe 365 00:19:33,680 --> 00:19:36,679 Speaker 4: before he died and what really caused his death. 366 00:19:37,640 --> 00:19:40,800 Speaker 3: Of course, most people at the time, as we already indicated, 367 00:19:40,880 --> 00:19:43,679 Speaker 3: and even many people today, have believed that drinking was 368 00:19:43,960 --> 00:19:47,240 Speaker 3: what ultimately killed him. This theory was actually sort of 369 00:19:47,320 --> 00:19:50,320 Speaker 3: promoted at the time, even by Poe's acquaintance who helped 370 00:19:50,359 --> 00:19:53,960 Speaker 3: him out, doctor Snodgrass. According to Hopkins, though we should 371 00:19:53,960 --> 00:19:57,720 Speaker 3: take Snodgrass's perspective with a little grain of salt. He 372 00:19:57,800 --> 00:20:01,840 Speaker 3: was apparently super religious and kind of used Poe's fate 373 00:20:01,920 --> 00:20:04,840 Speaker 3: to illustrate what could happen to you if you indulged 374 00:20:04,840 --> 00:20:07,440 Speaker 3: in the sin of drinking, almost as a cautionary tale 375 00:20:07,440 --> 00:20:11,080 Speaker 3: of sorts, as Hopkins put it, Snodgrass went to quote 376 00:20:11,480 --> 00:20:24,160 Speaker 3: great lengths to support his temperance cause at Poe's expense, and. 377 00:20:24,200 --> 00:20:26,440 Speaker 4: A lot of the other people who spread the alcohol 378 00:20:26,440 --> 00:20:30,800 Speaker 4: abuse theory were either coming from similar perspective as the 379 00:20:30,840 --> 00:20:35,800 Speaker 4: Snodgrass or getting their information secondhand. But Hopkins and some 380 00:20:35,920 --> 00:20:39,040 Speaker 4: other sources say that it's unlikely that alcohol abuse is 381 00:20:39,160 --> 00:20:43,200 Speaker 4: ultimately what killed Edgar Allan Poe. So doctor Moran, for instance, 382 00:20:43,200 --> 00:20:46,600 Speaker 4: who attended to Poe in his final days, actually published 383 00:20:46,640 --> 00:20:49,760 Speaker 4: a book thirty years after the death called A Defense 384 00:20:49,800 --> 00:20:52,480 Speaker 4: of Edgar Allan Poe, in which he said quote, I 385 00:20:52,480 --> 00:20:55,000 Speaker 4: have stated to you the fact that Edgar Allen Poe 386 00:20:55,240 --> 00:20:58,680 Speaker 4: did not die under the effect of an intoxicant, nor 387 00:20:58,760 --> 00:21:01,360 Speaker 4: was the smell of liquor upon his breath or person. 388 00:21:02,040 --> 00:21:04,240 Speaker 4: Although we have to say too, a lot of people 389 00:21:04,359 --> 00:21:08,880 Speaker 4: discount Moran's opinions here because apparently he changed his story 390 00:21:09,200 --> 00:21:12,600 Speaker 4: quite significantly from what he said right after Poe's death, 391 00:21:12,680 --> 00:21:15,920 Speaker 4: and Hopkins even points out that Miran changed his opinion 392 00:21:16,480 --> 00:21:21,320 Speaker 4: only after certain key temperance promoters who were very closely 393 00:21:21,359 --> 00:21:24,240 Speaker 4: involved in the situation passed away, So there might have 394 00:21:24,359 --> 00:21:27,440 Speaker 4: been some sort of conspiracy involved there too. 395 00:21:27,680 --> 00:21:30,040 Speaker 3: Yeah, it makes you wonder was he just telling the 396 00:21:30,080 --> 00:21:31,119 Speaker 3: truth later in life. 397 00:21:31,119 --> 00:21:34,560 Speaker 4: Waiting for certain people to no longer be there, or 398 00:21:35,000 --> 00:21:38,040 Speaker 4: whether he just changed his story for something a new 399 00:21:38,160 --> 00:21:39,440 Speaker 4: interesting angle. 400 00:21:39,400 --> 00:21:43,280 Speaker 3: Right There are, however, some other more straightforward signs that 401 00:21:43,320 --> 00:21:46,160 Speaker 3: alcohol may not have been the cause of death. For example, 402 00:21:46,200 --> 00:21:50,080 Speaker 3: while in the hospital, Poe got better before he then 403 00:21:50,160 --> 00:21:53,640 Speaker 3: again got worse and died, which, according to the University 404 00:21:53,640 --> 00:21:58,960 Speaker 3: of Maryland Medical Center, isn't consistent with alcohol withdrawal, So 405 00:21:59,280 --> 00:21:59,720 Speaker 3: I think. 406 00:21:59,600 --> 00:22:01,679 Speaker 4: That's some medical background to. 407 00:22:01,720 --> 00:22:03,520 Speaker 3: Interesting little science background. 408 00:22:03,800 --> 00:22:06,719 Speaker 4: So still, though, if drinking too much didn't kill Poe, 409 00:22:06,760 --> 00:22:09,359 Speaker 4: what might have killed him? You don't usually just wind 410 00:22:09,400 --> 00:22:13,160 Speaker 4: up dead outside of a saloon, So some people believe 411 00:22:13,200 --> 00:22:15,720 Speaker 4: that he was the victim of a type of political 412 00:22:15,720 --> 00:22:19,119 Speaker 4: sabotage known as cooping. And as we mentioned, there was 413 00:22:19,200 --> 00:22:21,360 Speaker 4: an election going on at the time, and the saloon 414 00:22:21,480 --> 00:22:24,640 Speaker 4: did double as a place to go vote. So cooping 415 00:22:24,720 --> 00:22:30,360 Speaker 4: supposedly involved political gangs kidnapping bystanders and then holding them 416 00:22:30,400 --> 00:22:32,320 Speaker 4: for a while in a room called a coop, and 417 00:22:32,359 --> 00:22:34,879 Speaker 4: then forcing them, after they had gotten them kind of 418 00:22:34,920 --> 00:22:38,760 Speaker 4: liquored up or drugged up, to illegally vote in multiple 419 00:22:38,840 --> 00:22:42,479 Speaker 4: polling locations. And sometimes these gangs would even have their 420 00:22:42,560 --> 00:22:45,879 Speaker 4: victims change clothing so that they wouldn't be recognized when 421 00:22:45,920 --> 00:22:48,359 Speaker 4: they were voting multiple times in the same area. This 422 00:22:48,359 --> 00:22:50,720 Speaker 4: whole thing sounds kind of terrifying to me, the idea 423 00:22:50,760 --> 00:22:53,960 Speaker 4: of cooping. Some people, though, discount this theory for a 424 00:22:54,000 --> 00:22:58,040 Speaker 4: few different reasons. For one, Poe is a celebrity of 425 00:22:58,080 --> 00:23:00,760 Speaker 4: his day almost he was pretty well known, and he 426 00:23:00,960 --> 00:23:04,560 Speaker 4: probably would have been recognized even if he were wearing 427 00:23:04,760 --> 00:23:06,840 Speaker 4: these different ratty sort of clothes. 428 00:23:07,520 --> 00:23:10,000 Speaker 3: Also, some say that there is a lack of evidence 429 00:23:10,040 --> 00:23:12,840 Speaker 3: that the practice of cooping really existed in the first vow. 430 00:23:12,920 --> 00:23:15,280 Speaker 4: I don't need to be too worried. Maybe maybe not. 431 00:23:15,520 --> 00:23:18,360 Speaker 3: I'm not sure. I mean, there definitely was a lot 432 00:23:18,400 --> 00:23:21,040 Speaker 3: of plying with alcohol going on in general, I mean, 433 00:23:21,119 --> 00:23:24,359 Speaker 3: having polling places and bars, which was often the case, 434 00:23:24,480 --> 00:23:28,240 Speaker 3: kind of encouraged that. But there were accounts in contemporary 435 00:23:28,240 --> 00:23:32,440 Speaker 3: publications that were citizens were warned about the very real 436 00:23:32,480 --> 00:23:36,000 Speaker 3: possibility of cooping in the days right before leading up 437 00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:38,680 Speaker 3: to the election. So people at the time at least 438 00:23:38,680 --> 00:23:41,560 Speaker 3: believe that cooping was going on and was a real possibility. 439 00:23:41,640 --> 00:23:44,000 Speaker 4: So go vote with your friends, vote in a group. 440 00:23:44,200 --> 00:23:46,720 Speaker 3: Yeah, be careful. So go ahead and be scared, Sarah 441 00:23:47,080 --> 00:23:48,240 Speaker 3: could have happened. 442 00:23:47,880 --> 00:23:51,200 Speaker 4: All right, next time I go vote. But also Hopkins 443 00:23:51,280 --> 00:23:54,520 Speaker 4: points out a cryptic statement that was made by J. H. 444 00:23:54,640 --> 00:23:58,159 Speaker 4: Morrison after Poe's death, and in a letter to John Ingram, 445 00:23:58,359 --> 00:24:02,560 Speaker 4: Morrison suggests pos't cousin and Nelson might have known something 446 00:24:02,600 --> 00:24:06,600 Speaker 4: about the circumstances surrounding Poe's death, and he said, quote, 447 00:24:06,640 --> 00:24:10,160 Speaker 4: the story of Poe's death has never been told. Nelson 448 00:24:10,280 --> 00:24:13,200 Speaker 4: Poe has all the facts, but I am afraid may 449 00:24:13,240 --> 00:24:15,720 Speaker 4: not be willing to tell them. I do not see 450 00:24:15,760 --> 00:24:18,040 Speaker 4: why Poe came to the city in the midst of 451 00:24:18,080 --> 00:24:21,359 Speaker 4: an election, and that election was the cause of his death. 452 00:24:22,240 --> 00:24:25,480 Speaker 3: So one interesting point to make here about the involvement 453 00:24:25,480 --> 00:24:28,880 Speaker 3: of cousin Nelson is that Nelson was in fact elected 454 00:24:28,880 --> 00:24:33,480 Speaker 3: a judge in that eighteen forty nine election. Also, Nelson 455 00:24:33,480 --> 00:24:36,320 Speaker 3: and Poe did not get along well at all. Some 456 00:24:36,359 --> 00:24:39,320 Speaker 3: say that Nelson had had his own designs on marrying 457 00:24:39,359 --> 00:24:42,120 Speaker 3: Virginia Clem, but of course she ended up with Poe. 458 00:24:42,760 --> 00:24:47,800 Speaker 4: So those are some of the political type conspiracy theories. 459 00:24:47,840 --> 00:24:51,920 Speaker 4: But several diseases have also been suggested as the causes 460 00:24:51,960 --> 00:24:55,399 Speaker 4: of Poe's death, and some of the possibilities that folks 461 00:24:55,400 --> 00:24:59,400 Speaker 4: have thrown out over the years include brained humors, heart disease, 462 00:24:59,720 --> 00:25:03,560 Speaker 4: call stroke, and diabetes. And then in nineteen eighty four, 463 00:25:03,600 --> 00:25:07,160 Speaker 4: a biohistorian named arno'carlin came out with the theory that 464 00:25:07,200 --> 00:25:11,199 Speaker 4: Poe had this rare type of enzyme disorder called alcohol 465 00:25:11,400 --> 00:25:16,560 Speaker 4: dehydrogenase deficiency syndrome, and he had that perhaps in combination 466 00:25:16,720 --> 00:25:19,639 Speaker 4: with a brain tumor. So Hopkins says that the syndrome 467 00:25:19,840 --> 00:25:24,080 Speaker 4: is an interesting theory because it could perhaps explain Poe's 468 00:25:24,200 --> 00:25:28,080 Speaker 4: lifelong low tolerance of alcohol, as well as some of 469 00:25:28,119 --> 00:25:31,240 Speaker 4: his mental issues and of course his death too. 470 00:25:32,119 --> 00:25:35,320 Speaker 3: One of the more recent and popular medical malady theories, though, 471 00:25:35,440 --> 00:25:38,879 Speaker 3: is rabies. According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, 472 00:25:39,080 --> 00:25:43,199 Speaker 3: doctor R. Michael Benitez reviewed Poe's case and in nineteen 473 00:25:43,280 --> 00:25:46,200 Speaker 3: ninety six he proposed that Poe's symptoms in the final 474 00:25:46,280 --> 00:25:48,679 Speaker 3: days of his life were in fact consistent with the 475 00:25:48,680 --> 00:25:52,720 Speaker 3: progression of rabies. This could be possible even though there 476 00:25:52,760 --> 00:25:55,680 Speaker 3: weren't any apparent animal bites on Poe at the time. 477 00:25:55,840 --> 00:25:58,680 Speaker 3: Poe was known to be an animal lover. He loved 478 00:25:58,760 --> 00:26:02,840 Speaker 3: cats in particular, and he did keep pets, and people 479 00:26:02,920 --> 00:26:06,280 Speaker 3: can sometimes, according to the source, can have rabies up 480 00:26:06,280 --> 00:26:08,680 Speaker 3: to a year without showing symptoms, which I actually didn't 481 00:26:08,680 --> 00:26:09,080 Speaker 3: know before. 482 00:26:09,160 --> 00:26:11,840 Speaker 4: Another disturbing fact of the podcast. 483 00:26:12,080 --> 00:26:15,000 Speaker 3: One of the symptoms Beneathas was including in his assessment, though, 484 00:26:15,080 --> 00:26:19,200 Speaker 3: was hydrophobia, a fear of water that Poe supposedly exhibited 485 00:26:19,240 --> 00:26:22,479 Speaker 3: when he had trouble drinking in the hospital. However, that 486 00:26:22,600 --> 00:26:25,280 Speaker 3: account of Poe not drinking came from one of our 487 00:26:25,320 --> 00:26:29,200 Speaker 3: friend doctor Moran's many accounts of the situation, and he 488 00:26:29,640 --> 00:26:33,679 Speaker 3: contradicted it in another later account, So some discount this 489 00:26:33,800 --> 00:26:35,719 Speaker 3: Rabi theory because of that too. 490 00:26:35,760 --> 00:26:37,600 Speaker 4: It does make a good headline, though, you've got to 491 00:26:37,640 --> 00:26:40,160 Speaker 4: give it that. But finally, a lot of people think 492 00:26:40,280 --> 00:26:44,040 Speaker 4: Poe died as the result of some kind of conspiracy. 493 00:26:44,160 --> 00:26:46,680 Speaker 4: And of course it already sounds like we've discussed these 494 00:26:46,720 --> 00:26:50,200 Speaker 4: conspiracy theories because there's a touch of conspiracy mixed in 495 00:26:50,280 --> 00:26:53,399 Speaker 4: with some of the earlier theories like the alcohol line, 496 00:26:53,400 --> 00:26:57,800 Speaker 4: conspiracy by temperance movement folks to get their agenda across, 497 00:26:57,840 --> 00:27:01,320 Speaker 4: and the cooping, you know, the possible the involving Poe's 498 00:27:01,359 --> 00:27:04,959 Speaker 4: cousin who was running for office. But some think Poe's 499 00:27:05,119 --> 00:27:08,360 Speaker 4: romantic entanglements might have led to a plot against him 500 00:27:08,440 --> 00:27:13,320 Speaker 4: as well, and for instance, Elmira Royster Shelton's brothers might 501 00:27:13,359 --> 00:27:16,760 Speaker 4: not have been too happy about that impending marriage to 502 00:27:16,840 --> 00:27:20,320 Speaker 4: their sister, and some authors have tossed that out there 503 00:27:20,400 --> 00:27:21,520 Speaker 4: as a possibility. 504 00:27:21,840 --> 00:27:25,360 Speaker 3: Hopkins actually points to an account of Joseph Sartrein's as 505 00:27:25,680 --> 00:27:28,439 Speaker 3: potential evidence that something like this was in fact going on. 506 00:27:28,560 --> 00:27:32,320 Speaker 3: Joseph Sartrain had worked with Poe at Graham's magazine, and 507 00:27:32,680 --> 00:27:35,280 Speaker 3: after Poe's death, he had come out with kind of 508 00:27:35,280 --> 00:27:39,520 Speaker 3: a shocking account of his last encounter with Poe. According 509 00:27:39,520 --> 00:27:42,199 Speaker 3: to Sartren's account, he saw Poe in Philadelphia in eighteen 510 00:27:42,280 --> 00:27:45,280 Speaker 3: forty nine, and Poe was afraid for his life at 511 00:27:45,280 --> 00:27:49,080 Speaker 3: this time, asking for Sartrain's protection and saying that he 512 00:27:49,160 --> 00:27:52,720 Speaker 3: had overheard some men on the train plotting to kill him. 513 00:27:53,040 --> 00:27:56,040 Speaker 3: When Sartren asked, why would someone want to kill you, 514 00:27:56,520 --> 00:28:00,320 Speaker 3: Poe said, quote, it was for revenge for quote a 515 00:28:00,359 --> 00:28:01,160 Speaker 3: woman trouble. 516 00:28:02,800 --> 00:28:07,280 Speaker 4: So another intriguing possibility. But many people, though, believe that 517 00:28:07,359 --> 00:28:11,359 Speaker 4: the most likely conspirator against Poe was Rufus w Griswold. 518 00:28:11,440 --> 00:28:14,320 Speaker 4: And Griswold had aspired to be a fiction writer but 519 00:28:14,800 --> 00:28:18,000 Speaker 4: didn't really have the talent ended up becoming an editor instead, 520 00:28:18,160 --> 00:28:22,400 Speaker 4: and he and Poe brushed paths professionally on many occasions, 521 00:28:22,440 --> 00:28:25,320 Speaker 4: and the two men just didn't really like each other, 522 00:28:25,480 --> 00:28:29,520 Speaker 4: and Hopkins suggests that Griswold may have been perhaps jealous 523 00:28:29,600 --> 00:28:33,840 Speaker 4: of Poe's talent, though Griswold apparently claimed upon Poe's death 524 00:28:33,880 --> 00:28:37,040 Speaker 4: that Poe had made a promise that he wanted Griswold 525 00:28:37,080 --> 00:28:40,920 Speaker 4: to be his literary executor, but according to Hopkins, no 526 00:28:41,160 --> 00:28:45,480 Speaker 4: legal proof of this agreement exists. Still, though Griswold did 527 00:28:45,520 --> 00:28:49,920 Speaker 4: become Poe's executor and his first biographer and likely got 528 00:28:49,960 --> 00:28:54,600 Speaker 4: the opportunity to print some inaccuracies about Poe and profit 529 00:28:54,760 --> 00:28:55,600 Speaker 4: at the same time. 530 00:28:56,080 --> 00:29:01,400 Speaker 3: Yeah, he also printed this note after Poe's death in 531 00:29:01,440 --> 00:29:03,920 Speaker 3: a New York paper, and it was kind of scathing 532 00:29:04,560 --> 00:29:07,000 Speaker 3: about Poe. It just wasn't very flattering at all. So 533 00:29:07,040 --> 00:29:09,520 Speaker 3: he got a couple of opportunities after Poe's death to 534 00:29:09,600 --> 00:29:10,960 Speaker 3: kind of get inteople. 535 00:29:10,560 --> 00:29:11,280 Speaker 4: Hits in there. 536 00:29:11,480 --> 00:29:14,720 Speaker 3: Yeah. So there are a number of theories and sub 537 00:29:14,760 --> 00:29:17,440 Speaker 3: theories out there, as you can see, about why and 538 00:29:17,520 --> 00:29:21,160 Speaker 3: how Poe really died, But unfortunately no one knows for 539 00:29:21,240 --> 00:29:24,040 Speaker 3: sure what the real story is. And as you can 540 00:29:24,080 --> 00:29:26,360 Speaker 3: tell by what we've recounted so far, there are just 541 00:29:26,600 --> 00:29:30,360 Speaker 3: too many personalities and possible hidden agendas involved to really 542 00:29:30,680 --> 00:29:33,400 Speaker 3: get to the heart of what happened. It's just a 543 00:29:33,480 --> 00:29:38,680 Speaker 3: bunch of possibilities that we can sort of all over 544 00:29:38,800 --> 00:29:41,880 Speaker 3: for a while and debate about, but we can't really 545 00:29:41,920 --> 00:29:45,560 Speaker 3: get a definitive answer but in the end, despite his fame, 546 00:29:45,680 --> 00:29:50,000 Speaker 3: Poe was buried hurriedly in Westminster Presbyterian Churchyard in Baltimore, 547 00:29:50,040 --> 00:29:53,240 Speaker 3: with only a handful of people present. In two thousand 548 00:29:53,280 --> 00:29:55,560 Speaker 3: and nine, though, which was about one hundred and sixty 549 00:29:55,600 --> 00:29:59,000 Speaker 3: years after his death, Baltimore's Poe House and Museum through 550 00:29:59,040 --> 00:30:02,200 Speaker 3: Poe another large funeral too. In fact, I think that 551 00:30:02,240 --> 00:30:04,600 Speaker 3: had something like seven hundred people in attendance. 552 00:30:04,680 --> 00:30:09,040 Speaker 4: So yeah, people do continue, of course to celebrate the author, 553 00:30:09,080 --> 00:30:11,600 Speaker 4: to look into his life and his death. I mean, 554 00:30:11,640 --> 00:30:14,320 Speaker 4: I have to say one of my favorite po things 555 00:30:14,400 --> 00:30:18,560 Speaker 4: is the Simpsons Treehouse supports. It's a classic. But you know, 556 00:30:18,600 --> 00:30:22,000 Speaker 4: on whatever level, whether it's a cartoon like that or 557 00:30:22,080 --> 00:30:25,560 Speaker 4: whether it's a serious study of his work, people still 558 00:30:25,720 --> 00:30:29,760 Speaker 4: clearly appreciate his writing today and it still resonates with people. 559 00:30:35,320 --> 00:30:38,160 Speaker 1: Thanks so much for joining us on this Saturday. Since 560 00:30:38,160 --> 00:30:40,240 Speaker 1: this episode is out of the archive, if you heard 561 00:30:40,240 --> 00:30:43,080 Speaker 1: an email address or a Facebook RL or something similar 562 00:30:43,120 --> 00:30:46,000 Speaker 1: over the course of the show, that could be obsolete now. 563 00:30:46,440 --> 00:30:52,160 Speaker 1: Our current email address is History Podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. 564 00:30:52,560 --> 00:30:55,080 Speaker 1: You can find us all over social media at missed 565 00:30:55,160 --> 00:30:58,160 Speaker 1: in History, and you can subscribe to our show on 566 00:30:58,240 --> 00:31:02,440 Speaker 1: Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, the iHeartRadio app, and wherever else 567 00:31:02,520 --> 00:31:07,840 Speaker 1: you listen to podcasts. Stuff you Missed in History Class 568 00:31:07,880 --> 00:31:11,880 Speaker 1: is a production of iHeartRadio. 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