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Key facts about Edgar Allan Poe

> Poe was born in Boston in 1809 to two actor parents.

> Before he was three, both parents were dead.

> He was taken in by a rich Richmond planter, John Allan and his wife Frances.

> They took him to Europe for five years where he studied languages and the classics.

> John Allan wanted him to be a businessman, but Edgar wanted to be a poet.

> He enrolled in the University of Virginia at age fifteen.

> Poe was never legally adopted by the Allans.

> John Allan refused to send Poe enough money, and he ended up leaving UVA after a year.

> He published his first book, Tamerlane and other Poems, at eighteen.

> He joined the Army that year.

> After the death of his (Allan's) wife, Allan helped Poe get into West Point.

> He was expelled after eight months.

> Poe returned to Baltimore and lived with his aunt, Maria Clemm and her daughter Virginia.

> Poe published several stories in magaziines, and found employment as editor and critic at the Southern Literary Messenger in Richmond.

> When he was twenty-seven, he moved Aunt Maria and Virginia to Richmond. He married Virginia (his first cousin) when she was thirteen.

> In 1837 he moved to New York City; in 1838 he moved to Philadelphia. He worked as a critic and wrote stories for magazines. 

> For nearly all of his adult life, he was very poor.

> In 1842, Virginia contracted tuberculosis.

> In 1844, Poe moved back to New York.

> In 1845, "The Raven" was published and was very successful; Poe made money going on lecture tours.

> In 1846, he moved his family to a cottage in the country; in 1847 his wife died.

> After her death, his work was uneven and erratic.

> In 1849, while on a trip from Richmond to Philadelphia, he disappeared en route. He was found unconscious outside a bar in Baltimore.

> He was taken to a hospital, but he died four days later.

> He is buried in Baltimore with his wife and his Aunt Maria.