Craig Callahan
Lillie Munford
English 112
25 April 2011
Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19th, 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts. His father David Poe Jr. died in 1810 and his mother Elizabeth Hopkins Poe died in 1811, leaving three children. Edgar was taken into a home of a successful wealthy Richmond merchant named John Allan and the remaining children were cared for by others. Edgar had a brother named William who died at a very young age and a sister named Rosalie who became later insane. In 1815 Edgar was brought up partly in England where he attended Manor School at Stoke Newington. He learned Latin and French, as well as math and history. He later returned to school in America and continued his studies. In 1826 Edgar attended the University of Virginia, but he soon was expelled for not paying his gambling debts. Edgar had no money, no job skills, and had been shunned by John Allan. In 1827 Edgar went to Boston and joined the U.S. Army as a common soldier under the assumed name, Edgar A. Perry. He did reasonably well in the Army and attained the rank of sergeant major. In 1831, Edgar went to New York City where he had some of his poetry published. He submitted stories to a number of magazines and they were all rejected. Edgar had no friends, no job, and was in financial trouble. He sent a letter to John Allan begging for help but none came. In 1834 John Allan died and did not mention Edgar in his will. In 1835 he lived with his father’s sister Mrs. Maria Clemm in Baltimore, where he started a career as a staff member of various magazines. As the editor for the Southern Literary Messenger, Edgar successfully managed the paper and increased its circulation from 500 to 3500 copies. Despite this, he left the paper in early 1836, complaining of the poor salary. In 1836 he married his 13 year old cousin named Virginia Clemm, who soon