"With me poetry has not been a purpose, but a passion."

October 3, 1849, Edgar Allan Poe was seen in public for the last time before he died on October 7th. He was found wandering the streets of Baltimore in someone else's clothing and very delirious. It was unclear as to how he got there or why he was incoherant and he was never cognizant enough to talk before he died. 

Photo: poets.org
Born in 1809 in Boston to two actors, Poe was orphaned at an early age and was taken in by John Allan of Richmond, Virginia. Due to issues with money, Poe left the University of Virginia and enlisted in the US Army but failed as an officer at West Point. At this point, Poe turned to writing. 

Photo: eapoe.org, 
Cover page of a proposed literary journal that Poe planned to publish but never did.

When Poe attempted to make a living on writing alone, he was one of the few Americans to do so. At the time, there were no international copyright laws and publishers in America were more likely to pirate British pieces than to pay American authors. He was also hampered by the Panic of 1837, a financial crisis during which many periodicals failed and writers like Poe were not paid.

Photo: columbia.edu

In 1845, "The Raven" was published in The Evening Mirror and vaulted Poe to being a household name practically overnight. However, he was paid only nine dollars for the poem so his financial troubles continued.  When he was found wandering the streets of Baltimore, his wife had died and he had turned to drinking. The cause of death that was reported in the newspapers was "congestion of the brain," which meant he was an alcoholic. However, all medical records have disappeared. 

Photo: paulelder.org

To add further mystery to the man, for many years, starting in 1949, on January 19, Poe's birthday, an unknown visitor known as "Poe's Toaster" would place three roses on Poe's grave and toast him with cognac. The last appearance of Poe's Toaster was in 2009, the bicentennial of Poe's birth.

Photo: baltimoresun.com