Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1872-09-05
Edgar A. Poe at West Point

Foe entered West Point in June. 1870.
and left some time in 1881. NV authority
for this statement is General George w
Cullum, who adds, in answer to some in
quiries with which | troubled him CAS-
Poe was of the succeeding class, to mine
at West Point, | remember him very well
as cadet. He was a slovenly, heedlss
boy, very eccentric, inclined to dissipa-
tion,.and Of course preferrd making YER
Ses to solving equations. While at the
Academy he published a small volume of
poems, didicated to Bulwer in long.
rambling letter. These verses were the
source of great merriment with us bows,
who considered the author cracked. and
the verses ridiculous doggerel Even af-
Ter the lapse Of forty years | can now re-
call these absurd lines from Isabel
''Was not that farie ray, Isabel?
How Enthusiastically it fell;
With spiral twist and IA swell
And over the wet grass rippled away
J. ike the tinlling of bell"
When Poe resigned from West Point.
as he claimed, or whether he was expell-
ed, as DR.. Griswold declared, am ena-
hled to settle at the last moment by the
following note from Brevet Major and
Adjutant Edward G. Boynton, dated West
Point, May -, 1871:
The records of The Military Academy
shows that Edgar A. Poe was brought
before a general courtmartal at West
Point on the 18th day of January, 1881,
under the following charges:
9 Charge l. Gross neglect ofall duty
"'Charge H. Disobedience of orders
The specifications set forth time. place.
etc, etc. To both charges the accused
1o1 1,o ri
and sentenced him 50 be dismissal tie ser
gice ofhe United States,' which sentence
was afterward approved at the war de-
partment, and carried into effect March 6
1891 "-R. H. SToDDARD, in Hdrper's
Mtgasine for September
DEATH OF EDGARA PoE-Ie started
from Richmond on the I'd of Octcb
What happened during the next four or
five days is involved in considerable OBJ
scurity, bu, the facts, as far as they can
be ascertained. appear to be these: He
arrived at Baltimore, safely but between
trains unfortunately took drink with
friend. the consequence ofwhich was that
he was brought back from Havre de Grace,
by the conductor of the Philadelphia
train, in a state of deiirium 1t was the
eve Of an exciting municipal election, and
as ne wandered up and down the streets
of Baltimore he was seized by the Tawless
agents OF some political club and shut up
all night in cellar The next morning he
was taken out in a state of frenzy. drug
ed, and made to vote in eleven different
wards. The following day he was found
in the back room of head quarters" and
removed to a hospital on Broadway, north
of Baltimore street He was inSenSible
when found, and remained so until Sun
day morning, October T. A doctor and
nurse ~vere-Tvith him when he nrst show
ed consciousness Where am | ~ he
asked The doctor answered. g You are
cared for by your friends" After pause,
in which he appeared to realize his situa-
ton, Poe replied, My best friend would
be the man who would blow out nv
brains" Within ten minutes he was
dead,
ooh let him pass he hates him
That would upon the rack of this rough world
Stretch him out longer.
He was buried on the Sth day of Oc-
tober in the burial ground of the West
MINISTER Church, at the corner of Fayette
and Greene streets The funeral was at
tended by cousin, a member of the Balti-
more bar, classmate, who was atterward
Judge OF tne superior court, ana meth
odist minister, relative by his marriage.
The spot selected for his grave was near
the gave of his grandfather. General
David Poe. There was vacant place left,
but it was filled several months since by
the body Of Mrs GLENN, who died up
ward of eighty years old, in the same hos
pital where her dear Eddie" expired
some twenty-five years before and was
buried, at her own request, by his side.
f'Out are the lights-out allt
And over each quverieg form
The curtain-a funeral pail
Comes down with the rush of Storm
And the angels, all palid and wan,
Uprising, unveiling, affirm
That the play is the TRACED Man,
And its hero the conqueror Worm.n
R. H SToDDARD, in Ha,per's for Sep
tenlJer.