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Edgar Allen Poe is Born
On January 19, 1809, Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts. Poe’s father and mother, both professional actors, died before the poet was three years old, and John and Frances Allan raised him as a foster child in Richmond, Virginia -
Edgar Allan Poe's sister is born
Rosalie Mackenzie Poe (1810-1874), born Rosalie Poe, was best known as the younger sister of American author Edgar Allan Poe.
After the deaths of their parents, the children were split up. While Henry lived with family in Baltimore, Maryland, Rosalie and Edgar were placed in the care of adopted families. Rosalie was adopted by William Mackenzie and his wife in Richmond, Virginia, who gave Rosalie her middle name -
Poe's Parents Die
Elizabeth Arnold Poe dies of tuberculosis in Richmond, Virginia. Within days, David Poe also dies of tuberculosis. With no parents to take care of them, the three children of the family are split up -
Poe writes his first poem
A fifteen-year-old Edgar Allan Poe pens his first known poem: "Last night, with many cares & toils oppres'd,/ Weary, I laid me on a couch to rest. -
Poe enlist into Army after his first book is published
Poe enlists in the U.S. Army under the name "Edgar A. Perry." Shortly after, his first book—a poetry collection entitled Tamerlane and Other Poems—is published -
Poe's older brother dies
Edgar's older brother Henry dies of either tuberculosis or cholera at the age of 27 -
Poe marries his 13 year old cousin Virginia Clemm
He began to devote his attention to Virginia, who became his literary inspiration as well as his love interest. The couple married in 1836 when she was only 13 years old. In 1847, at the age of 24 -
Poe writes his first novel The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym
Poe found the germ of the story he would develop into ARTHUR GORDON PYM in 1836 in a newspaper account of the shipwreck and subsequent rescue of the two men on board. Published in 1838 -
Poe's story collection Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque is published into 2 volumes
In late 1830s, Poe published Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque, a collection of short stories. It contained several of his most spine-tingling tales, including "The Fall of the House of Usher," "Ligeia" and "William Wilson -
Poe publishes the poem, The raven
Edgar Allan Poe’s poem "The Raven," published in 1845 in the New York Evening Mirror, is considered among the best-known poems in American literature and one of the best of Poe's career. An unknown narrator laments the demise of his great love Lenore and is visited by a raven, who insistently repeats one word: “nevermore.” In the work, which consists of 18 six-line stanzas -
Poe's wife of tuberculosis at their home in the Bronx
Virginia passed away from tuberculosis. -
Edgar Allen Poe dies
Edgar Allen Poe died on October 7, 1849. His final days remain somewhat of a mystery. Poe left Richmond on September 27, 1849, and was supposedly on his way to Philadelphia. On October 3, he was found in Baltimore in great distress. Poe was taken to Washington College Hospital, where he died four days later. His last words were "Lord, help my poor soul."
