The Death of Edgar Allan Poe | Ep. 57

This week, we discuss the famous writer and poet Edgar Allan Poe. While his life has been significantly documented, his death is up for debate.

Was alcohol the main culprit? Did he have dormant rabies? Or was he killed? And how does politics play into all of this (we know you LOVE to talk about politics, right?).

You’ll have to listen to find out! Will you be able to view his death the same after this episode? Nevermore!

What’s up Bizarros?! This week on our dive into the unknown and unusually we dive into the mysterious death of Edgar Allan Poe. 

January 19th, 1809 Edgar Allan Poe entered this world. His parents were both actors. His father walked out of his life around the time he turned one and at two years old his mother passed away. 

Orphaned, Poe was take in by the Allan family of Richmond, Virginia, which is where he adopted his nickname from.

The Allan family never officially adopted him but he remained with them well until early adulthood. 

Poe wrote from his teens until 1826 when he enrolled at the University of Virginia. He lasted only a year, dropping out due to lack of money. Poe was broke mostly due to his gambling debts. His efforts to dig out of his debt only made it worse, leading him to enroll at West Point. 

However, shortly after enrolling in West Point, Poe declared his wish to be a writer and a poet leading to a break with his foster parent John Allan, and leave the academy.

Poe had seen some modest success in writing already with his anonymous release of a collection of poems. 

In 1827 Poe had anonymously published Tamerlane and Other Poems collection, as “a Bostonian”. 

After his departure from formal education Poe began working for literary journals and periodicals, becoming known for his style of criticism. 

In 1845, Poe released “The Raven” to instant success, but this seemed to mark when things would begin to slowly unravel.

Poe had married his 13-year-old cousin, Virginia Clemm, in secret and then publicly in 1836. Virginia contracted tuberculosis in 1842 and eventually succumbed to the disease at the age of 24 in 1847. 

Soon after, on October 7th in 1849 Poe would die under mysterious circumstances. 

The week before he passed away Poe left Virginia on his way to Philadelphia to help another writer with editing.  On the way he vanished. A week later he was found in a disastrous state in the gutter of a street in Baltimore in clothes that weren’t his. 

He was weak, and extremely drunk.  He was rushed to the hospital. A few days later, in a delirous state, Poe died. 

He was buried in the corner of a graveyard in an unmarked grave.  Such a tragic end for one who wrote deeply of the macabre. But his death has been surrounded in mystery.  

What happened that week he was gone?  Where did he go?  Why was he wearing someone else’s clothes?  What caused his delirious state before his death?

There are several theories about what happened to Poe.  Let’s dive in and see if we can get to the heart of this mystery.

Beaten by Hooligans

His death was officially written as congestion of the brain, which means alcoholism. However, he was only ever seen socially drinking, and in a city he was unfamiliar with, how likely would it be for him to get that inebriated?

He was also known to be a lightweight. 

Some believe he had a couple drinks and was wandering the city, only to be found by a gang who saw an easy victim. As they tried to rob him he fought back leading them to beat him within an inch of life, literally. 

Dr. Moran, the last person to see him alive, said there was no sign of anything like that on his person (drug or alcohol related).  He was also a member of the Sons Of Temperance, a group that discouraged drinking. 

Is it likely that someone who wasn’t known to be a drinker, died from drinking or drugs? Or is it more likely that he was beaten by a group of people in an unfamiliar city?

Could Poe Have Had Rabies?

Some doctors believe Poe’s death was due to rabies.

First he was delirious with tremors and hallucinations, then slipped into a coma. He emerged from the coma, was calm and lucid, but the lapsed again into delirium, becoming combative and requiring restraints. 

And records showed that Poe had abstained from drinking for six months before his death.

So, again alcohol seems to not fit the bill for his death, but rabies can provide some answers to his behavior before hsi death. 

But it doesn’t explain the different clothes and showing up in the wrong city. 

Could Poe Have Been Murdered?

Poe had also been with a girl named Elmira Shelton. Poe had fallen madly in love with her. He had his cousin Virginia, who was 7 at the time, and the one he would eventually marry bring her a love poem and ask for a lock of her hair. 

Elmira was into it, but her father was not and forbade his daughter and Poe to see each other. 

Years later, after the death of Virginia, and Elmira’s husband died, they reunited. It was rumored that they were going to remarry, but, Elmira’s husband’s will stated that she would lose all of the money he had left her, amounting to almost three million today. 

Elmira’s family begged her to not marry Poe, in which she seemd to comply with, or did she?

Elmira seedmed to be set on marrying Poe, however, her brothers thought it unwise and found him in Philadelphia.

Shake, but undeterred, he donned someone else’s clothes to disguise himself, and took to a detour to Baltimore.  However, he was found by Elmira’s brothers in Baltimore, who beat him and left him for dead in the gutter. 

Voter Fraud

Some believe Poe’s death is related to voter fraud, known as cooping. 

Cooping was a voter fraud method practiced by gangs in the 1800’s, where an unsuspectiving victim would be kidnapped, disguised and forced to vote for a specific candidate multiple times, under multiple identities. Often times as a “reward” the victims would be given alcohol.  

This was well known in Baltimore, and the spot where Poe was found was known as the “dumping ground” for the “cooped” victims. Coupled with his state and different clothes Poe could have been a victim of cooping.

What do you think dear Bizarros?

The master of macabre died under mysterious circumstances.  Was he a lush that had just too much to drink?   But if that’s the case where did his clothes come from, and why was he in a different city?

Was it rabies, or possibly another condition that lead to his erratic behavior?  But that doesn’t answer his clothes. 

The cooping, while a far-fetched theory, does seem to cover all the bases and explain some of the more bizarre instances around Poe’s death.  

What do you think it was?  Do you think it was something listed here, or is there another theory that could explain his death?