The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1877-10-18
Where ss The Raven. was Written.

Gills q Life of Poe" which is full of |
interesting "reminiscences Of this gifted |
genius, has the following description of |
the house where "The Raven" was
written:
The house where "The Raven" was
written stands on a rocky and command
ing eminence, a few hundred feet from
the corner of Eighty-fourth Street and
the ST. Nicholas Boulevard, formerly the
Bloomingdale road New York City,.
1t is plain, old-fashioned, double
| framed dwelling, two stories high, with
eight windows on each side and one at
| either gable. 1t has a pointed roof,
| fanked by two tall brick chimneys,
Old and weather-beaten, it now arrests
the passer by in a neighborhood where
most of the houses are of modern con-
struction.
No date can be found for the erection
of this quaint building, but it is known
that nearly hundred years ago it gave
shelter to General Washington and his
| officers.
A Mrs. Mary Brennan, who occupied
the house for forty-seven years, knew it
as bearing a reputation for antiquity
before she moved into it.
To Mrs Brennan it was that Poe, in
the early part of the Spring of 1874, ap-
piled for rooms for the season.
AT that time the house was located
among the picturesque surroundings of
primeval trees, and the beauty of the
trees had not then been marred by rock
blasting and street cutting.
Virginia and Mrs Clemm were, Of
course, with the poet (his wife and
mother-in-law). They received no Wis.
itors, and lived togetherin &c the Raven y
room during the day, and at night the
t mother-in-law retired to a small chamber
down stairs.
: Poe called Virginia "Diddy," anc
e Mrs. GLENN Muddic."
His landlady recalls the poet as a shy
], solitary, taciturn person, fond of ram
S bling alone through the woods or of sit
: ting on favorite stump of tree dow
$ near the banks of the Hudson River
y There she has often observed him ges
S ticulating wildly, and loudly and ex
S citedly soliloquizing. She speaks of hin
e as eccentric, and yet as a very quiet an
it and gentlemanly in his manners. H
n wore at this time small mustache
II which he had habit of nervously twis
( ing.
2, The Craven" room had two window
n in front and two at the back, facing tn
woods.
,r When not at his favorite seat by tn
n rivers brink, he would place himself {
tie one of the front windows, and with vi
h ginia a. his side, watch for hours tt
lie fading glories of the summer evenin
rs skies.
g At this time, although engaged upo
id "The Mirror" and writing for sever
le magazines, his revenues were pitiful
ce small. He was able to pay for h
IS. board, but, beyond that, his needs we
m but scantily met.
If The Craven" room is but little altere
w since the time Poe occupied, it. 1t h
lis a modern mantel piece, painted bla'
he and most elaborately carved. Poe
or name may be found in fine letters C
lie upon one side of it. His writing tab
lis stood by one of the front windows, an
or while seated before it, he could lo'
III down upon the rolling waters of t
Hudson, and over at the Palisades /
ie- yond. 1t was a fitting dwelling for
he poet, and though not far from the cit,
re- busy hum, the atmosphere of solitu
on and remoteness was as actual as if t
ias spot had been in the heart of the Roc
nd Mountains.
est Poe finished "The Raven" in t
he winter of 1874, and remained with M
re- Brennan most of the time until
middle of the following summer, VIII
| is he removed to the city proper.