Edgar Allen Poe was born on January 19, 1809 to two struggling actors, David and Elizabeth Poe. When his father died at the age of 36, Edgar was left alone with his pregnant mother. He traveled with his mother and sister from theatre to theatre, often sleeping backstage. When his mother died of Tuberculosis on December 11, 1811 at the young age of 24, Edgar and his sister, Rosalie, were orphaned. Edgar was only two years old. His sister was sent to live with Mrs. Mackenzie when she was one, Edgar went to live with John and Frances Allen, and Edgar's older brother, William, was already living with their grandfather, David Poe, Sr., because at the time of his birth, David and Elizabeth could not afford to care for him.
Edgar moved to Richmond, Virginia with the Allens, where he had many luxuries that he had never had before. He had his own bedroom in the apartment above John Allen's store, Ellis & Allen, and even servants to help him wash before bed and put away his clothes.
1848 Daguerreotype of Edgar Allan Poe at 39, a yea...
Facsimile of Edgar Allan Poe's original manuscript...
Illustration by Aubrey Beardsley of "The Murders i...Growing up, Edgar never got along with his foster father, often arguing with him, and rarely showing his affection. John Allen once even described his son as "miserable, sulky, and ill-tempered". There was also the matter of Edgar's alcoholism, which brought shame upon his foster family and friends, even his beloved first fiancee, Sarah Elmira Royster, eventually refused to see him. One night after a particularly bitter argument with Mr. Allen, he decided to leave his home and go to Boston.
After an unpleasant month in Boston, Edgar was once again on the road. After having a few poems published and withdrawing from a millitary academy he eventually wound up in Baltimore, Maryland, penniless. He soon found that his relatives there...