Celebrate Poe

Family, Alone, Holidays

Thanks for reading my blog – and I can see that dealing with the life of Edgar Allan Poe is going to be a great deal of work – but I look forward to the opportunity to learn more about “America’s Shakespeare

But before we get into Edgar’s life, I would like to talk a little about the writer’s family background. And I would like to start with one of the many myths about Edgar Allan Poe’s life – that he watched his mother die in the Richmond Theatre Fire in 1811.

There WAS a terrible fire on the day after Christmas in 1811 - the day of the year when I am writing the script for this podcast. The fire was an extremely dramatic event in the history of Richmond - 72 people died in the fire, including the governor. Monumental Episcopal Church was built on top of the ashes, and the bodies of many of those who died are in a crypt beneath the church. Surrounded by buildings of the Medical College of Virginia today, Monumental Episcopal was no longer used as a church after 1865, and is now owned by the Historic Richmond Foundation.

Edgar was like another creative American genius, the architect, Frank Lloyd Wright, in that they both made up facts about their lives to make them seem more interesting – stories that were accepted as true for years.

Edgar’s mother DID perform at the Richmond Theatre before her death, and DID die in Richmond, but not at the fire. But I am getting ahead of myself. Let’s look at Poe’s background – he was not a person born into luxury, and the poverty he experienced almost all his life influenced his wirings.

Edgar’s grandfather, David Poe, was born in Ireland in the 1740s and died in Baltimore. David Poe’s wife, Elizabeth was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and also died in Baltimore.

Edgar’s father was David Poe, Jr., born in Baltimore – a man who decided to become an actor when he was young instead of going into law like his family wanted. David Jr. later left his wife, Elizabeth, and two children, and we really don’t know where he is buried. Some scholars say that he died in Norfolk, Virginia.

Since we really don’t know that much about David Poe, Jr., it might be informative to look at the life and accomplishments of his wife, Elizabeth Arnold. A talented actress, she was married to the actor Charles Hopkins from 1802 until his death 3 years later.

Elizabeth was 18 years old and completely on her own. She met David Poe Jr., and they were married in 1806. Apparently David was very handsome, but not that talented. She became more and more popular, while he was ridiculed by the critics. She appeared in such Shakespearean roles as Ophelia from Hamlet, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, and Cordelia in King Lear, and was considered one of the most promising actresses on the American stage. David was hissed and criticized for mumbling in his parts. He appeared in a production of Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part 1, and a critic wrote that he “mutilated some of his speeches in a most shameful manner.”

Elizabeth was also an excellent singer, and frequently sang the humorous Nobody Coming to Marry Me – a song with which she became associated.

In my opinion, some aspects of the marriage of Elizabeth and David were a little bit like the plot of the movie A Star Is Born – there’s a version with Janet Gaynor and Frederick March, and a version with Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson. But I think the best version is the 1954 A Star Is Born with Judy Garland and James Mason where Judy Garland sings “the man that got away.” With Edgar’s parents, it was the same situation– she became more and more respected, and her husband became less and less popular. Like the husband in A Star Is Born, he couldn’t handle his wife’s success, and resorted to alcohol with tragic results. By the way, James Mason narrates one of the video versions of Poe’s The Tell Tale Heart that I plan to use on a future web site.

David and Elizabeth had two children before he deserted the family – William Henry Leonard, born in 1807, and Edgar, who was born in Boston in January 19, 1809 while Elizabeth was touring in that city. According to Kenneth Silverman’s Edgar A. Poe Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance. (the source for much of this material) David Poe’s personal property was assessed in 1808 at less than $300 (today it might be said that he had a net worth of $3000 – not that much at all.) The burdens of poverty, alcoholism, and a family he could not support were too much for him to handle, and Poe’s parents separated in 1810. We are not sure where David went, and his wife took the two children. In a future blog, I will go into Elizabeth’s illness and death in Richmond.

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