Edgar Allan Poe Timeline

Edgar Allan Poe is born

Jan 19, 1809

Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the second child of Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins Poe and David Poe, Jr..

Poe's sister is born

Dec 10, 1810

Possibly born in Norfolk, Virginia. there is no solid documentary evidence for her birth.

Poe's Parents die

Dec 8, 1811

David Poe Jr. abandoned the family in 1810 because they were running low on money and he was a hot headed alcoholic. Elizabeth died a year later from consumption (pulmonary tuberculosis).

Poe writes his first poem

Nov 29, 1824

A fifteen-year-old Edgar Allan Poe pens his first known poem: "Last night, with many cares & toils oppres'd,/ Weary, I laid me on a couch to rest."

Poe enlists in the U.S. Army and shortly after his first book is published

May 26, 1827

Enlists under the name "Edgar A Perry." Tamerlane and Other Poems is published.

Poe's older brother dies

Aug 1, 1831

Henry dies of either tuberculosis or cholera at 27 years old

Poe marries his thirteen year old cousin

May 16, 1836

Poe marries his thirteen year old cousin, Virginia Clemm in Richmond, Virgina at age 27

Poe writes his first novel

Oct 29, 1838

First novel, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym is published

Poe's story collection is published

Oct 29, 1840

Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque is published in two volumes.

Poe publishes The Raven

Oct 29, 1845

It is wildly successful, bringing the writer the fame and fortune that have long eluded him.

Poe's wife dies

Jan 30, 1847

Virginia dies of turberculosis at their home in the Bronx.The loss of his wife sends Poe into a downward spiral of alcoholism.

Edgar Allan Poe Dies

Oct 7, 1849

After being found unconscious in a Baltimore gutter, Edgar Allan Poe is taken to the hospital and pronounced dead of causes still unknown.