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Poe Born
Edgar Poe was born in Boston to Elizabeth Arnold Poe and David Poe, Jr., both traveling actors. The couple already had one son named Henry. -
Sister Born
Poe's sister Rosalie was born. Shortly after her birth, or possibly even before it, David Poe deserts the family, leaving Poe's mother alone with three children. Making matters worse, Elizabeth Poe soon falls ill with tuberculosis. -
Parents' Death
Elizabeth Arnold Poe dies of tuberculosis in Richmond, Virginia. Within days, David Poe also dies of tuberculosis. A Richmond couple, John and Frances Allan, take in Edgar as a foster child. -
England
The Allan family sails to London, where Edgar enrolls in school. -
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In the UK
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Back to the USA
Five years after leaving America for England, the Allans return to Richmond, Virginia. -
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." -
College
Poe enrolls midway through the academic year at the University of Virginia, which had opened less than a year before. -
Soldier and Published Author
Poe enlists in the U.S. Army under the name "Edgar A. Perry." Shortly after, his first book is published. The author is listed only as "A Bostonian". -
Death of Foster Mother
Poe's foster mother, Frances Allan dies in Richmond. Poe obtains leave to travel to her funeral. -
West Point
Poe is appointed to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. A few months later he publishes his second book of poetry, Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems. -
Death of Brother
Edgar's older brother Henry dies of either tuberculosis or cholera at the age of 27. -
Marriage
Poe (now 27 years old) marries his thirteen-year-old cousin, Virginia Clemm, at a ceremony in Richmond, Virginia. -
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Married to Virginia
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Moves North
Poe moves his new wife and mother-in-law to New York and then to Philadelphia. -
First Novel
Poe's first novel, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym, is published. -
Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque
Poe's story collection Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque is published in two volumes. -
Lecturer
Poe begins delivering lectures on poetry. He is a popular lecturer, frequently speaking to packed audiences. -
New York Bound
Poe, his wife, and her mother move to New York City, where he gets a job at the New York Evening Mirror. -
"Nevermore"
Poe publishes the poem, The Raven, in the New York Evening Mirror. It is wildly successful, bringing the writer the fame and fortune that have long eluded him. He soon becomes editor and owner of a magazine called the Broadway Journal. -
Death of Wife
Poe's wife Virginia dies of tuberculosis at their home in the Bronx. Poe has been so despondent during the final months of her illness that friends thought he was going insane. The loss of his wife sends Poe into a downward spiral of alcoholism. -
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Married to Elmira
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Engaged Again
Poe travels to Richmond and convinces his childhood sweetheart, Elmira Royster Shelton, to become his fiancée. He joins the Sons of Temperance, an organization that forbids drinking (sort of like a nineteenth-century equivalent of Alcoholics Anonymous). The next month, Poe travels to Baltimore. -
Death
After being found unconscious in a Baltimore gutter, Edgar Allan Poe is taken to the hospital and pronounced dead of causes still unknown. He is buried at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Baltimore.