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University of Maryland in Baltimore, Maryland — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
 

Among Family: Poe’s Original Burial Place

 
 
Among Family: Poe’s Original Burial Place Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Christopher Busta-Peck, March 26, 2008
1. Among Family: Poe’s Original Burial Place Marker
Inscription.
He lies buried amongst his kindred … and no stone or monument yet marks his resting-place."
J. Thomas Scharf's Chronicles of Baltimore, 1874

Edgar Allan Poe was buried here on October 8, 1849, a day after his lingering death in Baltimore's Washington College Hospital, some 20 blocks east on Broadway. A handful of friends and family gathered on a cold and camp overcast Monday afternoon for a brief graveside ceremony presided over by Rev. William T.D. Clemm, Poe's cousin: Neilson, nother cousin; Poe's uncle, Henry Herring, a lumber dealer who provided the mahogany coffin; Z. Collins Lee, an old friend and former University of Virginia classmante; and, Dr. J.E. Snodgrass, a former teacher. The church sexton, George W. Spence, would later install a stone marked "80" on Poe's unmarked grave.

[photograph]
Championing Poe Baltimore resident Orrin C. Painter got permission in the 1920s to install a stone marking Poe's original burial place. Painter was a lifelong Poe champion whose many efforts included the construction of the entrance adjacent to the Poe Monument.

Orrin C. Painter with the Poe marker, early 1920s
Copyright 1920s, reprinted with permission of the Baltimore Sun

My dear Madam:
I would to God I could console you with
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the information that your Dear son Edgar A. Poe is still among the living. The newspapers, in announcing his death, have only told a truth, which we may weep over & deplore, but cannot change. He died on Sunday morning, about 5 o'clock, at the Washingotn Medical College, where he had been since the Wedensday preceding. At what time he arrived in this City, hwere he spent the time he was here, or under what circumstances, I have been uable to ascertain.

...I shall not attempt the useless task of consoling you under such bereavement. Edgar had seen so much of sorrow - had so little reason to be satisfied with life that, to him, the change can scarcely be said to be a misfortune.


Neilson Poe writing to Maria Clemm, October 10, 1849
Enoch Pratt Free Library Special Collections, Baltimore, Maryland

[photograph]
From Life This photograph, the so-called Painter daguerrotype, was taken in June 1849, only months before Poe's death.

Daguerrotype of Edgar A. Poe by an unknown photographer, 1849
The Maryland Historicadl Society

Poe's of Baltimore

David Poe, Edgar's grandfather, was one of the original lot owners at Westminster. A native of Londonderry, Ireland, David came to the American colonies as an infant, and moved with his family to Baltimore around 1755.

David Poe served the revolutionary cause
Among Family: Poe’s Original Burial Place Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Christopher Busta-Peck, March 26, 2008
2. Among Family: Poe’s Original Burial Place Marker
as a militia man, Continental Army soldier, and quartermaster, earning the gratitude and respect of his fellow citizens who later bestowed upon him the honorific title of "General." During Lafayette's celebrated American tour of 1824, the Marquis stopped by here to pay his respects at David's grave.

David and his wife, Elizabeth, had seven children, two of whom died in infancy. David Poe, Jr., Edgar's father, was their fourth child.

[document[
Revolutionary War Service David Poe and two younger brothers, George and John, served together during the Revolutionary War. They joined McClelland's Company after fighting at the Battle of Germantown in October 1777 as part of Cox's Company. John Poe was captured at Germantown and later died aboard the British prison ship Jersey.

Muster Roll of Cat. John McClellan Company, 1778-1779 (detail)
Courtesy of Enoch Pratt Free Library, Central Library / State Library Resource Center, Baltimore, Maryland
 
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Arts, Letters, MusicCemeteries & Burial Sites. In addition, it is included in the Lafayette’s Farewell Tour series list. A significant historical month for this entry is June 1849.
 
Location. 39° 17.387′ N, 76° 37.388′ W. Marker is in Baltimore, Maryland. It is in University
From Life image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Allen C. Browne, September 5, 2015
3. From Life
This photograph, the so-called Painter daguerreotype, was taken in June 1849, only months before Poe's death.
Close-up of photo on marker
of Maryland. Marker can be reached from the intersection of West Fayette Street and North Greene Street. Marker is on the grounds of Westminster Hall and Burying Ground. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 509 W Fayette St, Baltimore MD 21201, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 26 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Original Burial Place of Edgar Allan Poe (here, next to this marker); Dugan-Hollins Family Vault (a few steps from this marker); A Beloved General (a few steps from this marker); Fame, Fortune and Financial Scandal (a few steps from this marker); Monumental Lives (a few steps from this marker); Rev. Patrick Allison (a few steps from this marker); Believe it or Not (a few steps from this marker); A Swashbuckling Merchant (a few steps from this marker); James McHenry (within shouting distance of this marker); James McHenry, M.D. (within shouting distance of this marker); A Mother’s Grief (within shouting distance of this marker); Bernard von Kapff (within shouting distance of this marker); Local Hero, National Leader (within shouting distance of this marker); Infusing Style and Sophistication: The Influence of Maximilian Godefroy (within shouting distance of this marker); “…a truly affectionate wife”
Championing Poe image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Allen C. Browne, September 5, 2015
4. Championing Poe
Orrin C. Painter with the Poe marker, early 1920s

Baltimore resident Orrin C. Painter got permission in the 1920s to install a stone marking Poe's original burial place. Painter was a lifelong Poe champion whose many efforts included the construction of the entrance adjacent to the Poe Monument.
Close-up of photo on marker
(within shouting distance of this marker); The Carriage Gates of Westminster Burying Ground (within shouting distance of this marker); The Gilmors (within shouting distance of this marker); The Sleep of Young Innocents (within shouting distance of this marker); An 18th-Century Burying Ground (within shouting distance of this marker); John McDonogh (within shouting distance of this marker); The McDonoghs of Baltimore (within shouting distance of this marker); Westminster Hall & Burying Ground: Where Baltimore's History Rests in Peace (within shouting distance of this marker); Westminster Church and Cemetery (within shouting distance of this marker); A Monument to the Memory of Edgar Allan Poe (within shouting distance of this marker); A La Memorie D’Edgar Allan Poe (within shouting distance of this marker); Poe’s Baltimore (within shouting distance of this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Baltimore.
 
Quoth the Raven, ’Nevermore‘ image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Allen C. Browne, September 5, 2015
5. Quoth the Raven, ’Nevermore‘
Original Burial Place of
Edgar Allan Poe
From
October 9, 1849.
Until
November 17, 1875
Mrs. Maria Clemm, his mother-in-law, lies upon his right and Virginia Poe, his wife upon his left. Under the monument erected to him in this Cemetery.
Quoth the Raven, ‘Nevermore’ image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Allen C. Browne, September 5, 2015
6. Quoth the Raven, ‘Nevermore’
David Poe, Sr. image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Allen C. Browne, September 5, 2015
7. David Poe, Sr.

Burial Place of
David Poe Sr.
Patriot
and Grandfather of
Edgar Allan Poe
Born in Londonderry Ireland
in 1743
Died in Baltimore
Oct. 17, 1816
The church yard near the Poe family plot image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Christopher Busta-Peck
8. The church yard near the Poe family plot
To the left, the Dugan-Hollins vault, in the center, the Calhoun-Buchanan vault (the pyramid), the William and Robert Smith vault and on the right, the Poe family plot, with the original burial place of Edgar Allan Poe.
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on February 20, 2021. It was originally submitted on March 26, 2008, by Christopher Busta-Peck of Shaker Heights, Ohio. This page has been viewed 3,970 times since then and 23 times this year. Photos:   1, 2. submitted on March 27, 2008, by Christopher Busta-Peck of Shaker Heights, Ohio.   3, 4, 5, 6. submitted on September 19, 2015, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland.   7. submitted on September 20, 2015, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland.   8. submitted on April 3, 2008, by Christopher Busta-Peck of Shaker Heights, Ohio.

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Mar. 19, 2024