Richmond, VA at MP 74

Did you know this about Edgar Allan Poe?

Edgar Poe was born in 1809, the same year as Abraham Lincoln (24 days apart). His mother Eliza was a successful English actress who, by the age of 24, birthed three children, married twice, contracted tuberculosis and died. Her final breath came in Richmond, Virginia after months of illness.

During her last weeks, the Richmond Theater held a benefit performance for Eliza Poe. Eighteen days after her death, the Richmond Theater – where she had performed – burned to the ground. Virginia governor George Smith died in the blaze along with several other Richmond residents.

Patrick Henry was the first post-colonial governor of Virginia. In fact, in March of 1775 he delivered a rousing speech to the Virginia Convention encouraging the state's leaders to send men into battle against Britain. A month later, Paul Revere sounded the alarm that the British were coming, signaling the start of the Revolutionary War. 

Patrick Henry's speech, delivered in the same church where Eliza Poe would be buried 36 year later, ended famously with the words, “Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!" George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were in the crowd listening to the speech in St. John’s Episcopal Church.

After her death, Eliza’s three children were taken in by various families. Edgar, almost age three, became part of the Allan household in Richmond. Their last name became his middle name. He grew up in Richmond and started studies at the University of Virginia. Although he was very young at the time, it is certain that experiences surrounding his mother’s death troubled him. It is conjecture but likely that those early times shaped his dark writings and odd life choices.

This is weird:

• Edgar Allan Poe’s mother was Elizabeth (Eliza) who married David Poe, Jr.
• David’s sister was Maria Poe Clemm.
• Maria (Edgar Allan Poe’s aunt) had three children
  • Henry Clemm, born 1818
  • Virginia Marie Clemm, born 1820 but died 1822 – age less than two
  • That same year, 1822, Maria had another child who was named Virginia Eliza Clemm – apparently named for her aunt Eliza (Edgar’s mother) who died 11 years before her birth
• At the age of 27, Edgar married his 13 year old cousin Virginia Eliza Clemm.
• Virginia died in 1847 at age 24, the same age as Edgar's mother when she died.

At age 40, Edgar died in 1849 (the same year the California Gold Rush started).