Susan Amper's Blog: Bookcrazie - Posts Tagged "death"

It has been 173 years since Edgar A. Poe died in Baltimore. He did not, however, die as a result of haunting demons as many have suggested. In fact, the cause of his death remains unknown. Not that people haven’t surmised: laudanum, alcohol, rabies, a brain fever, cholera, epilepsy, brains lesion, tuberculosis or cooping. All have been put forward.
What is known for certain is that Edgar A. Poe died on October 7, 1849 at the age of 40. The only contemporary public reference to a specific cause of death was from the Baltimore Clipper, a somewhat cryptic “congestion of the brain” (The Poe Log, p. 851). Dr. Moran wrote to Poe’s mother-in-law, Maria Clemm saying, “Presuming you are already aware of the malady of which Mr. Poe died . . .”
Thanks, but not helpful. Death certificates were not required at the time, and none is known to have been filed for Poe. The U.S. did not start maintaining vital records until 1900.
The events prior to his death began on June 29, 1849, when Poe began a lecture tour to raise money for his projected magazine the Stylus. He went first to Philadelphia, then to Richmond and Norfolk.
His definite movements can be traced up until September 28, 1849, when Poe arrived in Baltimore. Nothing from then is certain until he is found incoherent on October 3. The Edgar Allan Poe Society has an excellent page compiling the facts of Poe’s death which includes the letter below.
On October 3, Joseph W. Walker sent the following note to Dr. J. E. Snodgrass:
“Dear Sir, — There is a gentleman, rather the worse for wear, at Ryan’s 4th ward polls, who goes under the cognomen of Edgar A. Poe, and who appears in great distress, & he says he is acquainted with you, and I assure you, he is in need of immediate assistance, Yours, in haste, Jos. W. Walker.”
At the hospital, Poe was admitted and lapsed in and out of consciousness. He did not recover and died on October 7.
He was buried in an unmarked grave until a movement for a monument came to fruition in 1875. Dedicated on November 17, Walt Whitman was one of the very few who attended.
One hundred and seventy-three years later, we know now what we knew then: Edgar A. Poe, age 40, died we know not how.
Adapted from my essay: The Death of Edgar A. Poe: “A Tissue of Malevolent Blasphemies”