The Irish standard., 1909-01-23
The Centenary Celebration of the Anniversary of the
Birth of Remarkable Genius Sprung From
Irish Ancestry.
EDGAR ALLAN POE'S GRANDFATHER AN FRESHMAN
Surname is Modification of De lie Poer, Family Name
of Normans Who Arrived in Ireland
With Strongbow.

Romantic as one Of his own weird
teles of fiction is the true story Of
the life of Edgar Allan Poe. the ono
hundredth anniversary Of whose birth
the nation celebrated III some measure
last Tuesday, January 10. In several
O.. the largest cities special evening
meetings were held IN honor OF this
author, who by many critics Is regard
ed as Americas greatest poet and a
leader among short story writer's.
Nearly every public and private school
in tho land had exercises Of some SOFT
In commelnoration; und countless
clubs and literary societies had pre-
pared Poe programs" says q writer
in the Kansas City Star.
Out of the many conflicting accounts
OF his life and character, from tho first
false and scandalous account PUBLISH
ed by Griswold to the last fulsome
laudations Of his too-ardent admirers,
1t is not easy to CLEAN the trutl, con-
corning Poe. The very date of his
birth is disputed point, some au-
tloritative writer's giving February as
the month and 1911 as the year. The
question seems to be settled beyond
dispute, however, by the statement Of
Mrs. GLENN, his aunt, and the mother
OF his first wife, echoed by Mrs. Whit
man, to whom he was for a time be-
trothed, and who wrote to friend:
II was born on tho 10Th Of January,
1903. Edgar Poe was torn OH the 10Th
Of January. 1909, being six years
younger to q day than L."
The name Poe Is n corruption Of LIE
Poer, an old Italian name, from which
the river Po took its name. From
Italy the family journeyed to Nor
mandy, and thence to England, then
through Wales into Ireland From
Ireland the Le Peers brought their
long inheritance of Latin and OF Cell
tic blood, of wild power and of black
melancholy, to America, in the middle
or the eighteenth century, where the
family name was soon altered into Poe.
Says Mrs. GLENN:
my father (Eddies grandfather)
was born in Ireland, but his parents
left there when he was only 6 weeks
old. My father was Sc patriotic that
he never would acknowledge he was
other than an American. He lived in
Baltimore from the time of the Revolu-
tion. He took my mother there a
bride, and they both lived and died
there. My father was an officer in
the army during the Revolution, and
was Intimate with Washington and
Lafayette.
my brother, David (Eddie's father)
never was in England. He was a stu
dent at law with William Gwynn Of
Baltimore. Sent to Norfolk, Va, on
professional business. he saw and low
ed a beautiful young actress Oittle
more than a child), and after q few
months he married her. He was not
10. My parents were SO indignant
they could not forgive him, conse-
Guently we knew nothing about her un-
til after the birth of their first child,
and as it was the first grandchild of
my parents, they were forgiven and
taken home to their hearts and house.
She was a. lovely little creature, and
highly talented. / loved her most de-
vctedly. They both died in early years
OF consumption.
Il have often heard my father say
his father was Of Italian descent and
their name was originally spelled Pc.
like the river Po in that country"
whether or no this account is true
iE every particular 1T seems certain
that Edgar Allen was not born in the
house Of his grandfather, nor ever re-
garded as a grandson by that gentle
man. Born in rented room, in
cheap theatrical boarding house, 9
Front street, Baltimore. he was left an
orphan at the age Of years, by the