Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1895-02-04
THE TWO BURlaLs OF POE.
CONTRAST nErwEms THE EVER
crsEs AT THE punrALs.
sry seii'nE the Death Of the
roe'-rhe Latest Account Given ny
n Man Who Claim. tho CLOSES, Per-
'onai knowledge.


una TO rest among his ancestors in woat-
minister churohyard, In baltimore. only
one carriage followed tho body OF tho poet
I'm inc hospital whore no died. Tho
eoieinohy was soant, md tho attendants
san'Sr Tor eight persons only were pres
guy, .ne roc mad aled under cloud His last
hours were passed In the clarity wnrd of
public hospital. He was buried An a
poplar coffin, stained in imitation OF wal.
nut. IL wasa funeral such as a poor man.
with few friends and relatives, might have
had
Tho mystery surrounding Pos,s death
has never boon satisfactorily explained
Inc account given by DR.. John j. Moran.
IN his Defense of Edgar A. Poe" is
known 10 be incorrect and misleading
for Instance, he gives tho names Of eight
persons as present at tho funeral, only
Two OF whom were there. They woro tho
rev. w. u. ID. Ciemm and Henry Hor-
rihRi Doth oil whom were relatives OF Poe
iho other person who attended the first
nnrini wero ~ Collins Leo, aftorward
Judge OF the superior court OF baltimore
VINO hhu boen olassmate OF Poe at tho
University OF Virginia; Nelson Poo, aft.
erward chief judge OF the orphans court
OF Baltimore; Edmund Smith. well
known schoolteacher in baltimore 10
years ago, and his wife, who was a arst
cousin Of tho poet; DR.. j. r. Snodarnsa.
tho last editor of the Baltimore Saturday
visitor, tho paper from which Poo received
tho 500 prize offered for the best story.
Another of DR.. Mornns misstatemcnts
~ that>the body Of the poet was laid In
state In the large room in tho rotunda OF
tho college building adjoining tho hospl.
tai; that hundreds Of his friends md 40.
qunintances came to see him; that at lcast
90 ladies received looks OF his hair. Poe
lind few friends In Baltimore-pot dozen
and II $50 ladies received locks OF his
han" they existed only in DR.. Moran's
vivid Imagination.
Foo was mystery to the world during
life, his death was mysterious. and. al.
though he has been dead 45 years, no 70.
mains mystery still Nine lives OF tho
poet have been written, but the time and
place OF his birth have been differently
mentioned by different blographers The
place of his burial was long disputed
point the cause OF his death md the OR.
oumstances attending it have not yet boon
definitely settled.
An old resident Of San Francisco, for.
merly Of Baltimore, gives what he says is
true account OF Poe's last days and DEATH
His story IL;
II was an intimate associate OF Edgar
Allan Poe for years, Much that has boon
said md written about his death is false
His hahitual resort in Baltimore was tho
Widow Meagher's, nm oyster stand and
liquor bar down on the wharf much fro.
quented by journalists. II was respoctn-
bic place, whore parties could enjoy
nf CarIa nre IN In,
sation.
pos was sort of pet of the old wom-
nm, and he had favorito seat Just be-
hind tho stand He went by tho name OF
The Bard. and when parties came into
the place 1t was Bard, come up and take
nipl' or Bard, come and take hand In
this game
st was in the Widow Meagher's little
shop that Poe's attention was called to an
advertisement In Philadelphia newspaper
of prize fer the best original story, and
1t was there that he wrote his famous
story, Tho Gold Bug, which carried of
tho 500 prize. The Bard hnd been shift
ing for several years between Baltimore,
Philadelphia and New York He had not !
been In Baltimore for several months when |
he turned up ono evening at the Widow |
Meagher's / was there when ho cnmo in, |
"Ho privately told me that ho had boon
to Richmond and was on his way north /
to got ready for his wedding, 1t was the
night before nm election, and about 10 /
O'Clock four of us, including Poo, started
up town. We had not gone half a doson
squares when We were nsbbed by gang
OF men who were ON tho lookout for voters
to coop, 1t was tho practice In those
days TO seize mon, whether drunk or sober,
lock them up until the polls were open,
then march thoin around to every precinct,
where they were made to vote tho ticket
Of the party that controlled the COOP Our
coop was In the rear OF mn engine house,
either on North or Calvert street.
ut was part of the game to stupofy the
prisoners with drugged liquor. Well, the
next day we were voted at 81 different
places and over and over again, 1t being
as much ms a mans life was worth TO re-
fuse Poe was 80 badly drugged Tint after
he was carried on two or three different
rounds tho leader OF the gang said TINT 1t
was no use to vote q dead man any longer,
30 they showed him into cab and sent
him to a hospital to get him out of the
way.
"Tho commonly accepted story that Poo
lied from the effects of dissipation Is all
DOsn. ~ wac Oh tuo kluu. III
lied from lnudhnum or something Of tho
Kind that was forced upon him In tho
,oupc. lie was IN dying condition whom
10 was boing taken around tho city, Tho
tory by Griswold Of Poo having boon on
weeks spree and being picked up on tho
treot Is false. / saw him showed into the
NIB myself, and no told me that he had
nst arrived In tho city"
Tho above account Of Poo's last hours
agrees In several ref poets with the account
which the late Chief Justice Nelson Poo
rave to the present writer
The second burial Of Edgar A. Poe took
,lnce on Nov. IL, 1876. The occasion was
and remarkable. An immonso
representing the education and
uIturc OF Baltimore, was drawn together
o do honor to an American poet whose
anne had gone abroad and whose genius
vas a subject OF native pride. Tho cere-
Monies took place in tbs large hall of the
Western Female high school, in West Fay
tie street, adjoining Westminster church,
n the graveyard OF which the body Of the
oct had rested for 90 years without a
tone to show that u was the grave OF tho
most unique genius that America had
lyen to the world.--New York Herald
Trait In Common
my dear" said the man who had boon
II 4. g.. -.