Edgar Allan Poe

Born: 19 Jan 1809, Boston, MA
Died: 7 Oct 1845, Baltimore, MD

American Poet
Common Ancestor:
Mercy (Mary) Rowley
7th Gr Grandmother
of Merle G Ladd		 3rd Gr Grandmother
of Edgar Alan Poe
 
Abigail Weeks William Weeks
Joseph Hatch Elizabeth Weekes
Miriam Hatch Elizabeth Cairnes
Corrin Ladd David Poe
Ira Ladd Edgar Allan Poe
Douglas C Ladd  
Irving L Ladd  
Allen D Ladd  
Merle G Ladd  
 
Relationship to Merle G Ladd:
4th Cousin, 4 Times Removed
Edgar Allan Poe (January 19 , 1809 - October 7 , 1849 ) was an American poet , short story writer , playwright , editor , literary critic , essayist and one of the leaders of the American Romantic Movement . Best known for his tales of mystery and of the macabre , Poe was one of the early American practitioners of the short story and a progenitor of detective fiction and crime fiction . He is also credited with contributing to the emergent science fiction genre.

Born in Boston , Edgar Poe's parents died when he was still young and he was taken in by John and Frances Allan of Richmond, Virginia . Raised there and for a few years in England , the Allans raised Poe in relative wealth, though he was never formally adopted. After a short period at the University of Virginia and a brief attempt at a military career, Poe and the Allans parted ways. Poe's publishing career began humbly with an anonymous collection of poems called Tamerlane and Other Poems (1827), credited only "by a Bostonian." Poe moved to Baltimore to live with blood-relatives and switched his focus from poetry to prose. In July of 1835, he became assistant editor of the Southern Literary Messenger in Richmond, where he helped increase subscriptions and began developing his own style of literary criticism. That year he also married Virginia Clemm , his 13-year old cousin.

After an unsuccessful novel The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket , Poe produced his first collection of short stories, Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque in 1839 . That year Poe became editor of Burton's Gentlemen's Magazine and, later, Graham's Magazine in Philadelphia . It was in Philadelphia that many of his most well-known works would be published. In that city, Poe also planned on starting his own journal, The Penn (later renamed The Stylus ), though it would never come to be. In February 1844 , he moved to New York City and worked with the Broadway Journal , a magazine of which he would eventually become sole owner.

In January 1845, Poe published "The Raven" to instant success but, only two years later, his wife Virginia died of tuberculosis on January 30 , 1847 . Poe considered remarrying but never did. On October 7 , 1849 , Poe died at the age of 40 in Baltimore.