1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:03,200 Speaker 1: You think our politics are dirty? Have you ever heard 2 00:00:03,320 --> 00:00:06,200 Speaker 1: of cooping? It was a really common method of voter 3 00:00:06,360 --> 00:00:09,840 Speaker 1: fraud back in the eighteen hundreds. Imagine being grabbed off 4 00:00:09,880 --> 00:00:13,160 Speaker 1: the street, drugged, and forced by your kidnappers to vote 5 00:00:13,200 --> 00:00:17,800 Speaker 1: for their candidates at various polling places around town. It happened, 6 00:00:17,920 --> 00:00:19,599 Speaker 1: and may have been what killed one of the most 7 00:00:19,640 --> 00:00:23,600 Speaker 1: famous authors of the nineteenth century. I'm Patty Steele. The 8 00:00:23,640 --> 00:00:28,080 Speaker 1: mysterious death of Edgar Allan Poe. That's next on the backstory. 9 00:00:32,200 --> 00:00:36,080 Speaker 1: The backstory is back. The election process is getting a 10 00:00:36,120 --> 00:00:39,280 Speaker 1: lot of negative press these days, right, the anger coming 11 00:00:39,280 --> 00:00:42,400 Speaker 1: from all fronts and all political ideologies, and a lot 12 00:00:42,479 --> 00:00:45,559 Speaker 1: of folks think it's never been this bad. But guess what, 13 00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:49,760 Speaker 1: it's just the latest iteration of politics as usual in 14 00:00:49,800 --> 00:00:53,280 Speaker 1: the US. Let's go back to the early eighteen hundreds. 15 00:00:53,560 --> 00:00:56,560 Speaker 1: How we voted and who got to vote changed dramatically. 16 00:00:57,080 --> 00:00:59,959 Speaker 1: Starting in the late seventeen hundreds, the only people who 17 00:01:00,280 --> 00:01:05,440 Speaker 1: were allowed to vote were white male landowners, mostly Protestants. Now, 18 00:01:05,480 --> 00:01:08,840 Speaker 1: alcohol always played a huge role in elections, which were 19 00:01:08,840 --> 00:01:12,240 Speaker 1: seen as social occasions that chanced to discuss the topics 20 00:01:12,240 --> 00:01:14,559 Speaker 1: of the day with your pals, and also to party 21 00:01:14,600 --> 00:01:17,800 Speaker 1: with them. In fact, George Washington, running for office in 22 00:01:17,880 --> 00:01:22,759 Speaker 1: Virginia before the Revolutionary War, spent his entire campaign budget 23 00:01:22,840 --> 00:01:26,360 Speaker 1: on booze, handing out to voters twenty eight gallons of rum, 24 00:01:26,520 --> 00:01:29,880 Speaker 1: fifty gallons of rum punch, thirty four gallons of wine, 25 00:01:30,040 --> 00:01:33,600 Speaker 1: forty six gallons of beer, and two gallons of cider Royal. 26 00:01:34,200 --> 00:01:36,760 Speaker 1: That was all for just three hundred and ninety one 27 00:01:36,840 --> 00:01:40,679 Speaker 1: male landowner voters, about a half a gallon apiece. His 28 00:01:40,800 --> 00:01:44,160 Speaker 1: campaign even rolled barrels of liquor to polling places on 29 00:01:44,319 --> 00:01:48,800 Speaker 1: election day, a custom very popular then known as swilling 30 00:01:48,840 --> 00:01:53,880 Speaker 1: the planters with bumbo. The heck is bumbo? Well, actually, 31 00:01:53,920 --> 00:01:56,800 Speaker 1: it seems it was a drink made from rum. But 32 00:01:57,080 --> 00:02:01,600 Speaker 1: by eighteen hundred, states started to remove the land owning qualification, 33 00:02:02,120 --> 00:02:04,760 Speaker 1: meaning you no longer had to own property in order 34 00:02:04,800 --> 00:02:07,720 Speaker 1: to vote, which led to the right of working classmen 35 00:02:07,840 --> 00:02:10,720 Speaker 1: to vote. That's when it became a free for all 36 00:02:10,800 --> 00:02:14,720 Speaker 1: because there were lots more people voting, lots more opinions, 37 00:02:15,080 --> 00:02:19,040 Speaker 1: but still plenty of booze. Political parties of all sorts 38 00:02:19,080 --> 00:02:22,040 Speaker 1: began to show up, and everybody wanted their candidates to 39 00:02:22,080 --> 00:02:25,240 Speaker 1: win at all costs. Plus you no longer had to 40 00:02:25,280 --> 00:02:29,320 Speaker 1: cast a voice vote. Now it was election by anonymous 41 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:32,959 Speaker 1: written ballot, and that's where the practice of cooping came 42 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:37,560 Speaker 1: into play. Cooping victims again were kidnapped by gangs, drugged 43 00:02:37,639 --> 00:02:41,280 Speaker 1: or forced to drink, and disguised several times, including a 44 00:02:41,360 --> 00:02:44,880 Speaker 1: change of clothes, in order to cast several votes at 45 00:02:44,919 --> 00:02:48,240 Speaker 1: the same or different polling places. In most cases, they 46 00:02:48,240 --> 00:02:52,120 Speaker 1: were given already filled out ballots to hand in. Often 47 00:02:52,200 --> 00:02:55,560 Speaker 1: they were already people who had alcohol or drug problems, 48 00:02:55,560 --> 00:02:58,959 Speaker 1: so they were easily persuaded to do what they were told. 49 00:02:59,840 --> 00:03:03,960 Speaker 1: The most popular theories about Edgar Allen Poe's mysterious death 50 00:03:04,440 --> 00:03:07,200 Speaker 1: has to do with cooping. It stems from the fact 51 00:03:07,240 --> 00:03:10,519 Speaker 1: that Poe was found on election day in a gutter 52 00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:15,680 Speaker 1: outside of a polling location, delirious and wearing somebody else's clothing. 53 00:03:16,280 --> 00:03:20,360 Speaker 1: He died without ever regaining his sensibilities. We all know 54 00:03:20,520 --> 00:03:24,360 Speaker 1: Edgar Allan Poe right, the master of dark, creepy fantasy. 55 00:03:24,960 --> 00:03:28,320 Speaker 1: He was famous for his terrifying poems and short stories 56 00:03:28,360 --> 00:03:32,919 Speaker 1: about death, like The Raven Annabelle Lee, The Telltale Heart, 57 00:03:33,240 --> 00:03:35,840 Speaker 1: The Pit and the Pendulum, and Murders in the Room 58 00:03:35,960 --> 00:03:39,040 Speaker 1: more just to name a few, but as terrifying as 59 00:03:39,080 --> 00:03:42,760 Speaker 1: those poems and stories were, his own death, though less 60 00:03:42,760 --> 00:03:46,840 Speaker 1: well known, was equally as spooky. He had a tragic life. 61 00:03:46,920 --> 00:03:50,320 Speaker 1: His father and actor abandoned the family when Poe was 62 00:03:50,520 --> 00:03:52,720 Speaker 1: just a year old, and his mother died when he 63 00:03:52,760 --> 00:03:55,760 Speaker 1: was only two. He and his older brother and younger 64 00:03:55,840 --> 00:03:59,120 Speaker 1: sister were split up and taken in by different families. 65 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:03,800 Speaker 1: His foster father was extremely wealthy, but Poe was a 66 00:04:03,840 --> 00:04:07,200 Speaker 1: difficult guy. He went to the University of Virginia, but 67 00:04:07,360 --> 00:04:11,000 Speaker 1: he drank, gambled, and neglected his study, sounds like a 68 00:04:11,040 --> 00:04:14,800 Speaker 1: typical college kid, and finally his foster family broke with 69 00:04:14,880 --> 00:04:18,680 Speaker 1: him and he left school unable to support himself. He 70 00:04:18,800 --> 00:04:22,400 Speaker 1: joined the army at eighteen and by twenty entered West Point, 71 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:26,559 Speaker 1: but the academy wasn't exactly his cup of tea either, 72 00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:30,359 Speaker 1: and he left after just six months. He began spending 73 00:04:30,400 --> 00:04:33,200 Speaker 1: more time writing, and within a couple of years and 74 00:04:33,240 --> 00:04:36,240 Speaker 1: with the help of a wealthy sponsor, he started to 75 00:04:36,279 --> 00:04:39,520 Speaker 1: find some modest success, and he began working for a 76 00:04:39,520 --> 00:04:43,520 Speaker 1: small newspaper, but once again his demons caught up with 77 00:04:43,640 --> 00:04:46,560 Speaker 1: him and he was quickly fired for being drunk on 78 00:04:46,600 --> 00:04:50,680 Speaker 1: the job. It's eighteen thirty five and Poe is twenty six. 79 00:04:51,120 --> 00:04:54,560 Speaker 1: He heads to Baltimore to marry his thirteen year old 80 00:04:54,600 --> 00:04:58,159 Speaker 1: cousin Virginia. Yes, I said thirteen. They were married for 81 00:04:58,240 --> 00:05:02,120 Speaker 1: eleven years before her death in January of eighteen forty seven, 82 00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:06,480 Speaker 1: and that sent him into a deep alcohol fueled depression 83 00:05:06,920 --> 00:05:10,600 Speaker 1: from which he never recovered. Now it's September of eighteen 84 00:05:10,720 --> 00:05:14,240 Speaker 1: forty nine and Poe is forty years old. He'd had 85 00:05:14,279 --> 00:05:18,880 Speaker 1: some literary success, but it wasn't always financially rewarding. For instance, 86 00:05:19,400 --> 00:05:22,200 Speaker 1: you know his poem The Raven. Everybody knows that when 87 00:05:22,480 --> 00:05:26,640 Speaker 1: made him a household name quoth the Raven Nevermore, but 88 00:05:26,839 --> 00:05:29,920 Speaker 1: he was only paid a total of nine bucks for 89 00:05:29,960 --> 00:05:33,520 Speaker 1: it by the newspaper that published it. So, in search 90 00:05:33,560 --> 00:05:36,520 Speaker 1: of a few extra bucks, he heads from Virginia to 91 00:05:36,600 --> 00:05:41,000 Speaker 1: Philadelphia to help a poet edit her work. But somehow 92 00:05:41,120 --> 00:05:44,440 Speaker 1: he stops off in Baltimore, maybe to see his dead 93 00:05:44,480 --> 00:05:47,880 Speaker 1: wife's family. Well, next thing, you know, a man who 94 00:05:47,920 --> 00:05:52,080 Speaker 1: recognizes him finds Poe in the gutter again outside a 95 00:05:52,080 --> 00:05:56,120 Speaker 1: polling place on election day, wearing ratty clothes that don't 96 00:05:56,120 --> 00:05:59,320 Speaker 1: seem to belong to him. The guy contacts a friend 97 00:05:59,320 --> 00:06:04,000 Speaker 1: of Poe's, doctor Joseph Snodgrass, who finds Poe delirious and 98 00:06:04,200 --> 00:06:07,359 Speaker 1: unable to explain what happened to him. He stayed that 99 00:06:07,440 --> 00:06:10,800 Speaker 1: way in the hospital for four days. During those days, 100 00:06:10,880 --> 00:06:14,719 Speaker 1: he kept repeating the name Reynolds. Who was Reynolds one 101 00:06:14,720 --> 00:06:17,920 Speaker 1: of the cooping gang members? Was it an explorer and 102 00:06:18,040 --> 00:06:22,400 Speaker 1: journalist that Poe admired named Jeremiah Reynolds? But then why him? 103 00:06:22,800 --> 00:06:28,080 Speaker 1: It's another mystery surrounding Poe's final days. Finally, October seventh, 104 00:06:28,120 --> 00:06:32,039 Speaker 1: eighteen forty nine, Edgar Allen Poe spoke his last words, 105 00:06:32,640 --> 00:06:37,200 Speaker 1: Lord helped my poor soul, and then this tormented genius 106 00:06:37,279 --> 00:06:43,359 Speaker 1: was gone. Is it possible Poe was a victim of cooping? 107 00:06:43,640 --> 00:06:46,839 Speaker 1: Sure seems like it, and due to his alcoholism, he 108 00:06:46,839 --> 00:06:49,480 Speaker 1: would have been a really easy mark for those guys. 109 00:06:50,040 --> 00:06:53,440 Speaker 1: But others have suggested maybe he was beaten and robbed, 110 00:06:53,839 --> 00:06:56,640 Speaker 1: or even that he somehow got rabies, but he had 111 00:06:56,680 --> 00:06:59,840 Speaker 1: no bite marks. Maybe he had some other illness, some 112 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:03,400 Speaker 1: people say, or maybe he simply drank himself to death. 113 00:07:04,160 --> 00:07:07,360 Speaker 1: The idea of him being used to some political end 114 00:07:07,800 --> 00:07:11,120 Speaker 1: seems not only probable, but kind of chilling when you 115 00:07:11,160 --> 00:07:14,840 Speaker 1: think about our own political climate, but it's fascinating to 116 00:07:14,920 --> 00:07:18,760 Speaker 1: think about his mysterious death. In fact, he couldn't have 117 00:07:18,800 --> 00:07:22,760 Speaker 1: written a more fitting end to a life completely dedicated 118 00:07:22,800 --> 00:07:27,120 Speaker 1: to tragedy, mystery, and death. Edgar Allan Poe was a 119 00:07:27,160 --> 00:07:30,640 Speaker 1: literary genius who gave us a peek into the darkest 120 00:07:30,720 --> 00:07:34,320 Speaker 1: corners of the human mind, and his death only adds 121 00:07:34,360 --> 00:07:42,360 Speaker 1: to his legend. Hope you're enjoying The Backstory with Patty Steele. 122 00:07:42,640 --> 00:07:47,080 Speaker 1: Follow or subscribe for free to get new episodes delivered automatically, 123 00:07:47,600 --> 00:07:49,720 Speaker 1: and feel free to dm me if you have a 124 00:07:49,720 --> 00:07:52,560 Speaker 1: story you'd like me to cover. On Facebook, It's Patty 125 00:07:52,600 --> 00:07:58,680 Speaker 1: Steele and on Instagram Real Patty Steele. I'm Patty Steele. 126 00:07:58,960 --> 00:08:02,800 Speaker 1: The Backstory is a production of iHeartMedia, Premiere Networks, the 127 00:08:02,880 --> 00:08:06,720 Speaker 1: Elvis Durand Group, and Steel Trap Productions. Our producer is 128 00:08:06,760 --> 00:08:10,520 Speaker 1: Doug Fraser. Our writer Jake Kushner. We have new episodes 129 00:08:10,520 --> 00:08:13,600 Speaker 1: every Tuesday and Friday. Feel free to reach out to 130 00:08:13,640 --> 00:08:17,320 Speaker 1: me with comments and even story suggestions on Instagram at 131 00:08:17,360 --> 00:08:20,840 Speaker 1: Real Patty Steele and on Facebook at Patty Steele. Thanks 132 00:08:20,880 --> 00:08:24,080 Speaker 1: for listening to the Backstory with Patty Steele. The pieces 133 00:08:24,080 --> 00:08:26,560 Speaker 1: of history you didn't know you needed to know.