Today is the 165th anniversary of the death of Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809 - October 7, 1849). Impoverished in life, Edgar is one of the fortunate few to enjoy the luxury in death of more than one burial site, though in his case, both lie within Westminster Hall and Burying Ground in Baltimore, MD. He was originally interred, after a three minute funeral service due to the ministers disappointment at the poor turn-out, toward the back of the churchyard, near a grandfather. His grave remained unmarked except for a number block after a monument commissioned by a cousin was destroyed when a train derailed and crashed into the stonemasons yard where it was awaiting installation. in 1865, a campaign began to rebury Poe under an appropriate monument and in November of 1875, he was interred in a new location near the front of the church, under this impressive monument, designed by architect George A. Frederick and carved by Col. Hugh Sisson, with a portrait medallion of Poe by artist Adalbert Volck. In 1913, an admirer then placed another monument, a tablet bearing the image of a raven, on what he mistakenly thought was Poes original burial plot. It was soon moved to another spot, about which there has also been much debate, leading to a persistent local legend that the memorial committee exhumed and moved the wrong body to Poes new grave in 1875.
Posted on: Tue, 07 Oct 2014 23:02:23 +0000
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