Poe gets arrested... maybe

In a letter dated November 16, 1831, Poe wrote to his foster-father John Allan in need of assistance. Earlier in the year, he had gotten himself kicked out of West Point Military Academy. About three months earlier, his older brother (the sailor) died of tuberculosis. Lost and alone in the world, Poe was getting desperate, which led him back to John Allan, the foster-father who had lost all interest in him.

In fact, John Allan finally had a legitimate heir, a son born earlier that year to his second wife, Louisa Patterson Allan.

In the letter, Poe makes a startling revelation: "I was arrested eleven days ago for a debt which I never expected to have to pay." Whether this was a monetary debt or not is uncertain. He says part of the expense was on his brother Henry, dating to about two years prior. "I would rather have done any thing on earth than to apply to you again... If you will only send me this one time $80, by Wednesday next, I will never forget your kindness & generosity." There is no evidence that this arrest actually happened (police records of this incident, for example, do not exist). Further, Allan should find no evidence that Poe would have paid him back, having just said that his last debt was one he "never expected to have to pay."

Poe's request for aid was in vain. About four months after this letter was written, John Allan wrote the first draft of his will, in which he left absolutely nothing of his vast fortune for the boy he raised for nearly two decades.

The letter shows a transition period in Poe's young adulthood. He wanted to hold on to the hope that Allan, the man he once called "Pa," still had some concern for him. At the same time, however, he wanted to make it on his own. Rather than return home after his ordeal in jail (if it ever happened), he continued to live his life on his own terms.

A tale of two sailors

Herman Melville was born August 1, 1819 in New York City, just over ten years after Poe's birth. The two would never cross paths but they certainly have connections. Both were under-appreciated during their lifetime, especially for works they were particularly proud of (Moby-Dick for Melville, Eureka: A Prose Poem for Poe, for example). Both made substantial enemies, both literary and personal, and died relatively miserable. Most importantly, both were interested in the sea.

Melville's connection to the ocean is more obvious than Poe's; Melville served as a sailor and for a time lived amongst a cannibalistic tribe — an experience which would inspire his popular book Typee. That particular voyage left from New Bedford, Massachusetts in 1841 — three years after Poe published his own novel featuring a character named Arthur Gordon Pym who takes to the sea and later finds himself among a cannibalistic tribe. The literary connections between Melville and Poe don't end there. Though speculative, it's all but certain that Melville's white whale was largely inspired by the symbolism of the color white in The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket. Additionally, Poe and Melville were part of a subgenre of literature known as "Dark Romanticism" — a direct response to the Romantic movement's optimism and faith in the human experience (the third major Dark Romantic writer was Nathaniel Hawthorne, who easily connects to both Poe and Melville). I will be speaking about Poe's influence on Melville some time in September at New Bedford; date to be determined.

Perhaps ironically, August 1 has another interesting maritime connection. That date, in 1831, marked the death of William Henry Leonard Poe, the often-forgotten older brother of Edgar, who died of tuberculosis at age 24. In his short life, WHL Poe had traveled the world as a sailor. As a crewman aboard the frigate USS Macedonian, WHL Poe made it to South America, the West Indies, the Mediterranean, and Russia — all before the age of 20. When he returned to the United States, he became a writer (relatively unsuccessful; one notable work fictionalizes his younger brother's first true romance). After his death, WHL Poe was buried at Westminster Abbey in the Poe family plot (near where Edgar Poe was originally buried in 1849). Some say that the character of August Barnard in The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym might have been inspired by WHL Poe.

RIP, William Henry Leonard Poe... and happy birthday, Melville. Smooth sailing to you both.

Poe and the Polish?

After Poe was dismissed from West Point Academy, he was sort of unsure where to go next. By this point, he was not interested in returning to John Allan and was hoping to make his own fortune. Despite giving up on the Army and purposely getting kicked out of West Point, Poe still toyed with the idea of military success. On March 10, 1831, Poe wrote to Colonel Sylvanus Thayer, Superintendent of West Point, from New York: "I intend by the first opportunity to proceed to Paris with the view of obtaining , thro' the interest of the Marquis de La Fayette, an appointment (if possible) in the Polish Army." In his letter, Poe asked Thayer to attest to his good standing at the Academy or to contact any friends in Paris who could help him out. Poe claimed at this point to have "no longer any ties which can bind me to my native country -- no projects -- nor any friends."

There are so many stories to recount here!

For one, there is no sincere evidence that Poe ever went to Poland, though he did make occasional claims. Some fringe theorists in the studies of Poe claim it is absolutely true and, from his stint with the Polish Army, he became an international spy (some say he was partnered with Washington Irving) and his death 18 years later in 1849 was due to a government conspiracy. Think what you will.

What's more interesting to me is the connection to La Fayette. What made Poe think that this great American Revolutionary hero would give him the time of day?

The Marquis was in Richmond in October 1824 and a young Edgar Poe (age 15) was part of a volunteer company of Richmond boys known as the Junior Morgan Riflemen. It was this organization that rode in the procession for the celebrated La Fayette that led him to his hotel. Edgar, in uniform, was presented to La Fayette himself for inspection.

Two weeks earlier, in Baltimore, the Marquis asked about an old Baltimore friend. "I have not seen among these my friendly and patriotic commissary, Mr. David Poe, who resided in Baltimore when I was here." David Poe, Edgar's grandfather, was dead by this point, and La Fayette demanded he be shown the grave. There, he said, Ici repose un coeur noble ("Here rests a noble heart"). La Fayette did not ask about any others during that trip to Baltimore. Of all the people in that city, why would the great La Fayette single out David Poe?

During the American Revolution, from 1778-1779, David Poe was part of Captain John McClellan's Company of Baltimore troops. Appointed Assistant Deputy Quartermaster, he was authorized to purchase supplies for the colonial army. Seeing a need, David Poe used $40,000 of his own money to supply troops with items like boots. His self-sacrifice earned him a nickname, from the Marquis and others: "General Poe."

Edgar A. Poe often looked back with fondness that his grandfather had played a role in the Revolution. To some degree, his interest in joining the Army, attending West Point, and enlisting for the Polish cause may have been attempts at his own similar military glory.