caption death_date death_place birth_place image_size birth_date spouse image article_title name
virginia poe , as painted after her death 30 january 1847 fordham , bronx , new york city baltimore , maryland 180px 15 august 1822 edgar allan poe virginiapoe.jpg virginia eliza clemm poe
 virginia eliza clemm poe
virginia eliza clemm poe

virginia eliza clemm poe -lrb- née clemm ; august 15 , 1822 -- january 30 , 1847 -rrb- was the wife of american writer edgar allan poe .
the couple were first cousins and married when virginia clemm was 13 and poe was 26 .
biographers disagree as to the nature of the couple 's relationship .
though their marriage was loving , some biographers suggest they viewed one another more like a brother and sister .
in january 1842 she contracted tuberculosis , growing worse for five years until she died of the disease at the age of 24 in the family 's cottage outside new york city .
along with other family members , virginia clemm and edgar allan poe lived together off and on for several years before their marriage .
the couple often moved to accommodate poe 's employment , living intermittently in baltimore , philadelphia , and new york .
a few years after their wedding , poe was involved in a substantial scandal involving frances sargent osgood and elizabeth f. ellet .
rumors about amorous improprieties on her husband 's part affected virginia poe so much that on her deathbed she claimed that ellet had murdered her .
after her death , her body was eventually placed under the same memorial marker as her husband 's in westminster hall and burying ground in baltimore , maryland .
only one image of virginia eliza clemm poe has been authenticated : a watercolor portrait painted several hours after her death .
the disease and eventual death of his wife had a substantial effect on edgar allan poe , who became despondent and turned to alcohol to cope .
her struggles with illness and death are believed to have affected his poetry and prose , where dying young women appear as a frequent motif , as in `` annabel lee '' , `` the raven '' , and `` ligeia '' .
