Visitor's Guide to Edgar Allan Poe's Grave | Hotel at Arundel (2024)

FAQs

Why was Edgar Allan Poe's grave unmarked? ›

In 1860, Edgar Allan Poe's cousin ordered a proper marble headstone to mark his grave; however, that headstone was destroyed in a freak train accident while it was being fabricated. A replacement was never ordered, leaving the lackluster sandstone slab as Poe's official tombstone for another fifteen years.

At the site of Poe's original grave—which is marked with a commemorative stone—he would pour a glass of Martell cognac and raise a toast. He then arranged three red roses on the monument in a distinctive configuration and departed, leaving the unfinished bottle of cognac.

The three-foot high, white Italian marble tablet was inscribed with the following epitaph: “Hic Tandem Felicis Conduntur Reliquae. Edgar Allan Poe, Obiit Oct. VII 1849.” (This epitaph has been translated as “Here, at last, he is happy.

Poe was moved because he was originally set in unmarked earth, and a few decades after his death, people finally started to get way into him. So they moved him to a more prominent spot, one that could fit the large memorial they designed as an apology for ignoring him in life. Now, you can't miss his grave.

Poe was originally buried in an unmarked grave towards the back of the cemetery. In 1875, the school children of Baltimore raised money through a "Pennies for Poe" project and a monument was dedicated to Poe at the entrance of the cemetery.

Every year since 1949, on Jan. 19, the anniversary of Poe's birth, cognac and roses have appeared under mysterious circ*mstances in the small walled-in Westminster Cemetery in Baltimore where the body of the celebrated writer is buried.

Theories as to what caused Poe's death include suicide, murder, cholera, hypoglycemia, rabies, syphilis, influenza, brain tumor and that Poe was a victim of cooping. Evidence of the influence of alcohol is strongly disputed. After Poe's death, Rufus Wilmot Griswold wrote his obituary under the pseudonym "Ludwig".

On October 7 he died. A Baltimore newspaper reported enigmatically that the cause had been “congestion of the brain.” Several theories about Poe's cause of death have emerged. The most prominent is that he died from complications of alcoholism.

Brain tumor

When Poe died, he was buried, rather unceremoniously, in an unmarked grave in a Baltimore graveyard. Twenty-six years later, a statue honoring Poe was erected near the graveyard's entrance. Poe's coffin was dug up, and his remains were exhumed in order to be moved to the new place of honor.

Ironically, Poe's death was as mysterious and controversial as his stories and his life. Poe was found dishevelled in Baltimore—he was living in New York—and was taken unconscious to hospital. He lapsed in and out of consciousness for several days, until, with the words, “Lord help my poor soul,” Poe died aged 40.

Did Edgar Allan Poe have children? ›

No, Edgar Allan Poe never had any children with his wife Virginia, or any illegitimate children that we know of. It's impossible to know exactly why Edgar and Virginia didn't have kids, but a number of possible reasons spring to mind: They may have had some knowledge of birth control.

Since 1949, an unidentified visitor known as the Poe toaster has visited Edgar Allan Poe's grave in Baltimore, Maryland, on the anniversary of the writer's birthday, leaving behind three red roses and a bottle of French cognac as a tribute to the master of the macabre.

As offensive as the marriage may be to modern mores, it appears to have been motivated by Poe's understandable desire to unite what little family he had, while his aunt, Maria Clemm—Virginia's mother—consented to the union, and always lived with the couple afterward.

Edgar and Virginia were married in 1836. She was 13 years old and he was 27 years old. In 1842, Virginia became ill with tuberculosis. She died of the disease on January 30, 1847, at the age of 24.

Along with other family members, Virginia Clemm and Edgar Allan Poe lived together off and on for several years before their marriage. The couple often moved to accommodate Poe's employment, living intermittently in Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York.

Sadly, none of Poe's medical records or even the actual death certificate survives. He was only 40 years old. To this day, the cause of Poe's death or even how he came to die in Baltimore remains a mystery worthy of the man who invented the detective story.

The duration of his final illness and the fact that he seemed to recover slightly in the hospital before worsening and dying also seemed inconsistent with alcohol withdrawal. A number of diseases have been proposed as possible causes of Poe's death, including diabetes, heart disease, epilepsy, and tuberculosis.

One of the most popular theories about Poe's death stems from the fact that Poe was found on Election Day, and Gunner's Hall was a polling location. It is possible that on that day, Poe fell victim to cooping, a common method of voter fraud in the 19th century.

Guests have the opportunity to explore one of Baltimore's oldest cemeteries which contains tombs of prominent political, military and business leaders, four of the city's earliest mayors, a number of generals from the American Revolution and War of 1812 and the grave of Edgar Allan Poe!