The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-03-06
BURIED POE TWICE
CONTRAST BETWEEN THE EXERCISES
At THE TWO CEREMONIES.
Mystery Yelling the Death OF the Poet.
The Latest Account Given by q Man Who
Claims the Closest Personal knowledge.
Killed bv q Drag.

Claims the Closest Personal knowledge.
Killed bv DrnS.
In striking contrast were the first and
last burials of Edgar A. Poe On that
dTeary autumn afternoon IN 1912 when
the most original of American poets Was
laid to rest among his ancestors in West
minister chnrchyard. in Baltimore. Only
one carriage followed the body Of the poet
from the hospital where ne died The
ceremony was scant and the attendants
scaIter. tor eight persons only Were pres
emit Poe had died under cloud. His last
hours were passed in the charity ward Of
public hospital. He was hJ ried In
poplar coffin, stained in Imitation OF wal
nut. 1t was funeral such as poor mar,
with few friends and relatives, might have
had.
The mystery surrounding Poe's death
has never been satisfactorily explained
The account given by DR.. John j. Moran.
in his Defense Of Edgar y. Poe, p" is
known to be incorrect and misleading
For instance, he gives the names OF eight
persons as present at the funeral only
two OF whom were there. They were the
Rev. ". L. d. GLENN and Henry Her
ring, both Of whom were relatives OF Poe.
The other person who attended the first
burial were Il. Collins Lee afterward
judge of the superior court of Baltimore,
who lad been classmate of Pee at the
University Of Virginia; Nelson Poe, aft
erward chief judge of the orphans court
of Baltimore; Edmund Smith, well
known schoolteacheg in Baltimore 90
years ago, and his wife, who was a first
cousin of the poet; DR.. j. K. Snodgrass,
the last editor of the Baltimore Saturday
Visitor, the paper from which Poe received
the 500 prize offered for the best story.
Another of Dr.. Moran's missratements
Is that the body of the poet was laid in
state In the large room in the rotunda Of
the college building adjoining the hOspi-
tai; that hundreds of his friends and ac-
ouaintances came 10 see him: that at least
so ladies received locks of his hair. Poe
had few friends in Baltimore-nOt a dozen
and If 80 ladies received locks of his
hair" they existed only In DIR. Mcran's
vivid Imagination.
Poe was mystery TO the word during
life, his death was mysterious, ana, al
though he has been dead IS years, no re-
mains a mystery still. Nine lives OF the
poet have been written. but the time and
place of his birth have been differently
mentioned by different biographers. The
place of his burial was long "A disputed
point; the cause OF his death and the cir
cumstances attending il have not vet been
definitely settled.
An old resident of San Francisco, for
Eerly of Baltimore gives what he says is a
true account Of Poe's last days and death.
His story is:
Il was an intimate associate of Edgar
Allan Poe for years. Much that has been
said and written about his death Is false.
His habitual resort in Baltimore was the
Widow Meagher's, an oyster stand and
liquor bar down on the wharf much fire.
quented by journalists. 1t was a respecta-
BILE place where parties could enjoy a
game of cards or engage in social CONVEX
satiOn.
Poe was a sort of pet Of the old worn-
an. and he had fayorite seat just be-
hind the stand. He went by the name q
THE Bard, and when parties came into
the place it was Bard. come up and take
a nip or Bard, come and take hand ia
this game
1T was in the Widow Neegber's little
shop that Poe's attention was called 10 an
advertisement In a Philadelphia newspaper
of "A prize for the best original story, and
it was there that he wrote bis famous
story, The Gold Bug, which carried of
the 500 prize. The Bard had been shift
ing for several years between Baltimore,
Philadelphia and New York. lie had not
been in Baltimore for several months when
he turned up one evening at the Widow
Me.gher's I was there when be came in.
He privately told me that he had been
10 Richmond and was on his way north
to get ready for his wedding IL was the
night before an election, and about 10
O'Clock four OF Us, including Poe, started
up town We had not gone half dozen
squares when we were nahbcd by gang
of men who were on the lookout for voters
10 coop IL was the practice in those
DAYS to seize men, whether drunk or sober,
lock them up until the polls were open,
then march them around 20 every precinct,
where they were made 70 vote the ticket
of the party that controlled the COOP Our
coop was i'm the rear Of an engine house,
either on North or Calvert street.
1T was part OF the game TO stupefy the
prisoners with dragged liquor Well, the
next day we were voted at 81 different
places and over and over again, IL being
a. much as mans life was worth TO re-
fuse. Poe was so badly dragged that after
lie was carried on two or three different
rounds the leader 81 the gang said that 10
was no use 10 vote dead man any longer.
50 they showed him into cab and sent
him 70 a hospital to get him out OF the
way.
The commonly accepted story that Poe
died from the effects OF dissipation Is al
b0sh Il wos nothing Of The kind lie
died from laudanuIn OF something Of the
kind that was forced upon him IN the
coupe He was in q dying condition when
he was being taken around the city. The
story by Griswold Of Poe having been on
a week : spree and being picked up on the
street il false / saw hiIn showed into the
cab rnvself. and be told me that be hbd
jus. arrived In che city"
The abOve account OF Poe's las. bours
agrees in several r. poets with the account
which the late Chief Justice Nelson ho7
gave 70 the present writer
The second burial Il Edgar A Poo tock
place on Nov. Il, 1873 The OCCASION was
interesting ard remarkable A iulraccs -
assem- bly,, representing the education and
future q Baltimore, was Drawn together
d DO honor - an American pet WHOSE
time had gone abroad and wkosc geDias
was a subject OF native Trids. he cere-
monies tJok piare in the large hall q TIE
We-cern Female ~ school - Vest Fay
etc street. e9j0iping W Westminster church,
in the graveyard q wbiCh the body q the