Edgar Allan Poe Biography: Wife, Age, Children, Net Worth, Books, Quotes, Works, Facts, Cause Of Death, Wikipedia, Height, Photos

Biography

Edgar Allan Poe (born Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was a renowned writer, poet, editor, and literary critic from the United States. 

He is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly dark and macabre tales. He is widely regarded as pivotal in American Romanticism and American literature. 

Edgar Allan Poe was one of the country’s first practitioners of the short story and is widely regarded as the creator of the detective fiction genre and a significant contributor to the emerging science fiction genre. He was the first well-known American writer to make a living solely through his writing, resulting in a financially difficult life and career.

Edgar Allan Poe was the second child of actors David Poe Jr. and Eliza Poe and was born in Boston. He was taken in by John Allan and Frances Allan of Richmond, Virginia, after his father abandoned the family in 1810. They never formally adopted him, but he stayed with them until he was young. 

He attended the University of Virginia but dropped out after a year due to financial constraints. He fought with John Allan about his education funds and gambling debts. After enlisting in the United States Army under an assumed name, he published Tamerlane and Other Poems in 1827, credited only to “a Bostonian.” After Allan’s father died, Edgar Allan Poe and John Allan reconciled for a time.

Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe: History • Bio • Photo
Wiki Facts & About Data
Real Name:	Edgar Allan Poe
Stage Name:	Edgar Poe
Born:	19 January 1809 (age 40 years old)
Place of Birth:	Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Died:	7 October 1849, Church Home & Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Nationality:	American
Height:	1.73 m
Parents:	Eliza Poe, David Poe Jr.
Siblings:	William Henry Leonard Poe, Rosalie Poe
Wife • Spouse:	Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe (m. 1836–1847)
Girlfriend • Partner:	Sarah Elmira Royster (ex.)
Children:	N/A
Occupation:	Writer • Author
Net Worth:	US$1.5 million

Early Life & Education

Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19, 1809, in Boston, Massachusetts, the second child of English-born actress Eliza Poe and actor David Poe Jr. 

He had an older brother named William Henry Leonard Poe and a younger sister named Rosalie Poe. Their grandfather, David Poe Sr., immigrated from County Cavan, Ireland, around 1750. 

Edgar Allan Poe could have been named after a character in William Shakespeare‘s King Lear, which the couple performed in 1809. His father abandoned the family in 1810, and his mother died a year later from consumption (pulmonary tuberculosis). 

Edgar Allan Poe was then taken to the home of John Allan, a successful merchant in Richmond, Virginia, who dealt with a variety of goods, including cloth, wheat, tombstones, tobacco, and enslaved people. 

The Allans baptized Edgar Allan Poe into the Episcopal Church in 1812. John Allan alternated between spoiling and harshly disciplining his foster son. The family arrived in the United Kingdom in 1815, and Edgar Allan Poe briefly attended the grammar school in Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotland (where Allan was born) before rejoining the family in London in 1816. 

He attended a boarding school in Chelsea until the summer of 1817. He enrolled at the Reverend John Bransby‘s Manor House School in Stoke Newington, a suburb four miles (6 kilometers) north of London.

Edgar Allan Poe returned to Richmond with the Allans in 1820. In 1824, he was the Richmond youth honor guard lieutenant during the Marquis de Lafayette’s visit to the city. Allan’s uncle and business benefactor William Galt died in March 1825, leaving Allan several acres of real estate. 

William Galt was said to be one of the wealthiest men in Richmond. The inheritance was valued at US$750,000 (the equivalent of US$18,000,000 in 2021). By the summer of 1825, Allan had celebrated his vast wealth by purchasing Moldavia, a two-story brick house.

Before enrolling at the University of Virginia in February 1826 to study ancient and modern languages, Edgar Allan Poe may have become engaged to Sarah Elmira Royster. The university was still in its early stages, founded on the ideals of its founder, Thomas Jefferson. 

It had strict prohibitions on gambling, horses, guns, tobacco, and alcohol, but these were mostly disregarded. Jefferson had established a system of student self-government that allowed students to choose their courses, make boarding arrangements, and report any wrongdoing to the faculty.

Career

Edgar Allan Poe could not support himself, so he enlisted as a private in the United States Army on May 27, 1827, under the name “Edgar A. Perry.” He claimed to be 22 years old even though he was only 18. He served at Fort Independence in Boston Harbor for the first five dollars a month. 

That same year, he published his first book, Tamerlane and Other Poems, a 40-page collection of poetry with the byline “by a Bostonian.” Only 50 copies were printed, and the book received little publicity. On November 8, 1827, Edgar Allan Poe‘s regiment was posted to Fort Moultrie in Charleston, South Carolina, and traveled by ship on the brig Waltham.

Edgar Allan Poe was promoted to “artificer,” an enlisted tradesman who prepared artillery shells, and his monthly pay was doubled. He served for two years and rose to the rank of Sergeant Major for Artillery (the highest rank a non-commissioned officer could attain); he then attempted to terminate his five-year enlistment early. 

Edgar Allan Poe revealed his true identity and circumstances to his commanding officer, Lieutenant Robert L. Howard, who would only release Poe if he reconciled with Allan. Poe wrote a letter to Allan, who was unconcerned and ignored Poe‘s pleas for several months.

Allan may not have even written to Edgar Allan Poe about his foster mother’s illness. Frances Allan died on February 28, 1829, and Poe visited her the next day.

After securing a replacement to finish his enlisted term for him, Edgar Allan Poe was finally discharged on April 15, 1829. Before enrolling at West Point, he returned to Baltimore to visit his widowed aunt Maria Clemm, her daughter Virginia Eliza Clemm (Poe’s first cousin), his brother Henry Poe, and his invalid grandmother Elizabeth Cairnes Poe. 

Edgar Allan Poe received “the very first words of encouragement I ever remember hearing” in a review of his poetry by influential critic John Neal in September of that year, prompting him to dedicate one of the poems to Neal in his second book Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems, published in Baltimore in 1829.

On July 1, 1830, Poe traveled to West Point and enrolled as a cadet. Allan married his second wife, Louisa Patterson, in October 1830. The foster father disowned Poe after the marriage and bitter quarrels with him over Allan‘s children from extramarital affairs. 

Edgar Allan Poe deliberately decided to leave West Point by being court-martialed. He was tried for gross neglect of duty and disobedience of orders on February 8, 1831, for refusing to attend formations, classes, or church. He pleaded not guilty on purpose to be dismissed, knowing full well that he would be found guilty.

Edgar Allan Poe moved to New York in February 1831 and published Poems, his third volume of poetry. The book was funded with the assistance of his fellow West Point cadets, many of whom donated 75 cents to the cause, raising a total of US$170. 

They might have expected verses like the satirical ones Poe had written about commanding officers. Elam Bliss of New York printed it, labeled it “Second Edition,” and included a page that said, “To the United States Corps of Cadets, this volume is respectfully dedicated.” 

The long poems “Tamerlane” and “Al Aaraaf” were reprinted, but so were six previously unpublished poems, including early versions of “To Helen,” “Israfel,” and “The City in the Sea.”

Personal Life

According to an online source, Edgar Allan Poe married Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe from 1836-to 1847. Edgar Allan Poe had no child.

Net Worth

According to Wikipedia, Forbes, and Business Insider, Edgar Allan Poe‘s net worth is estimated at US$1.5 million.