Edgar Allan Poe Eesay
Edgar Allan Poe was born at 33 Hollis Street, Boston, Mass., on January 19, 1809, the son of poverty stricken actors, David, and Elizabeth (born Arnold) Poe. His parents were then filling an engagement in a Boston theatre, and the appearances of both, together with their sojourns in various places during their wandering careers, are to be plainly traced in the play bills of the time.
Paternal Ancestry
The father of the poet was one David Poe of Baltimore, Maryland, who had left the study of the law in that city to take up a stage career contrary to the desire of his family. The Poes had settled in America some two or three generations prior to the birth of Edgar. Their line is ...
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family, among them one David who was the grandfather of the poet. David Poe married Elizabeth Cairnes, also of Scotch-Irish ancestry, then living in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, whence, sometime prior to the outbreak of the American Revolution they moved to Baltimore, Maryland.
David Poe and his wife, Elizabeth Cairnes Poe, took the patriot side in the Revolution. David was active in driving the Tories out of Baltimore and was appointed "Assistant Deputy Quartermaster," which meant that he was a local purchasing agent of military supplies for the Revolutionary Army. He is said to have been of considerable aid to Lafayette during the Virginia and Southern campaigns, and for this patriotic activity he received the courtesy title of "General." His wife Elizabeth took an active part in making clothes for the Continental Army. David and Elizabeth Poe (Sr.) had seven children David, the eldest son, becoming the father of the poet. Two sisters of David, Eliza Poe (afterward Mrs. Henry ...
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Arnold Poe became mother of Edgar Allan Poe.
Maternal Ancestry
The young widow whom David Poe married in 1806 had been born in England in the spring of 1787. She was the daughter of Henry Arnold, and Elizabeth Arnold (born Smith) both actors at the Covent Garden Theatre Royal, London. Henry Arnold died apparently about 1773. His widow continued to support herself and her child by acting and singing, and in 1796, taking her young daughter with her, she came to America and landed in Boston. Mrs. Arnold continued her professional career in America at first with considerable minor success. Either immediately before, or just after arriving in the United States, however, she ...
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Edgar Allan Poe Eesay. (2011, May 21). Retrieved November 23, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Edgar-Allan-Poe-Eesay/99310
"Edgar Allan Poe Eesay." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 21 May. 2011. Web. 23 Nov. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Edgar-Allan-Poe-Eesay/99310>
"Edgar Allan Poe Eesay." Essayworld.com. May 21, 2011. Accessed November 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Edgar-Allan-Poe-Eesay/99310.
"Edgar Allan Poe Eesay." Essayworld.com. May 21, 2011. Accessed November 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Edgar-Allan-Poe-Eesay/99310.
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