Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts on January 19, 1809. Poe's work, including his poetry and short stories are perhaps more popular today as when he first wrote them.
He died in Baltimore, Maryland on October 7, 1849 at age 40. The cause of Poe’s death has been the subject of debate for the last 160 years. Here are some theories about who or what killed Edgar Allan Poe.
Edgar Allan Poe Died From Alcoholism
Perhaps the most widely known explanation for Poe’s death is that he was found face down in a gutter in front of Ryan’s Saloon, a Baltimore bar. He was taken, raving and delirious, to Washington College Hospital where he died three days later from the ravages brought on by long term drinking. However, there are sources that say that Poe had given up liquor six months prior to his death and that he would not accept alcohol when it was offered to him in the hospital.
Edgar Allan Poe Died of Rabies
Another popular theory of how Poe died was put forth in 1996 in an article by Dr. Michael Benitez who posited that Edgar Allan Poe died of rabies. Benitez based his article on the observations of Dr. John Joseph Moran, Poe’s attending physician at Washington College Hospital.
According to the Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore, Maryland, Benitez also used as a reference an article by Charles Scarlett Jr. that was published in The Maryland Historical Magazine in 1978 which said in part, “Poe was given a drink of water to determine if he could swallow freely, but he did this with difficulty” According to The Poe Society’s website site, “Benitez takes this as evidence of hydrophobia, a fear of water, that is crucial to his argument of rabies.”
Poe Died of a Disease
Many different diseases have been credited as causing Poe’s death. None can be proven to be the reason Poe died. Some ailments he is said to have suffered from include:
- Diabetes
- Epilepsy
- Bi Polar Disease
- Syphilis
- Digestive disorders
Poe was Murdered
Some theorists believe that Poe was beaten, robbed and left to die. One scenario that fits this theory is that a woman who was angry at Poe hired men to beat him up.
Edgar Allan Poe was the Victim of Cooping
The night that Poe was found delirious on the streets of Baltimore was an election night. In his article "The Murder of Edgar Allan Poe" on the trutv website, Douglas MacGowan explains that cooping was a practice where, on election day, gangs of men picked up men off the streets, confined them in a small room called a coop, forced then to drink and possibly take drugs until they were no longer in control of their senses. Many times these men were beaten. They were then taken to the polls and forced to vote many times over.
An argument for the cooping theory in Poe’s death is that when he was found he was not wearing his own clothes but was clothed in a cheap suit and hat. The argument goes that the coopers changed his clothes so that he wouldn’t be recognized when he voted.
An argument against this assumption is that Edgar Allan Poe was well known in Baltimore and would have been recognized no matter what.
Poe’s Death Remains a Mystery
No death certificate has ever been found for Poe and it is likely that one was never filed for him. Without one, there is no definitive answer to the question of how Edgar Allan Poe died. The day after he died Poe was buried in an unmarked grave in a Baltimore cemetery. His grave was finally marked in 1874.
One final piece of the puzzle that is Edgar Allan Poe’s death is that every year on January 19th, Poe’s birthday, a hooded man visits the cemetery and leaves on Poe’s grave three roses and a half full bottle of cognac. His identity is unknown.
Poe has been remembered by the Mystery Writers of America who annually present the Edgar Awards. He is considered by many to be the father of the modern horror genre, paving the way for authors like Stephen King and Peter Straub.
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