On This Date - Kevin LaZur

Famous poet Edgar Allen Poe died on Oct. 7, 1849. On Sept. 27, Poe had left Richmond, VA on his way to his home in New York. The next time anyone saw him was when a bystander found him delirious in the streets of Baltimore, MA on Oct 3. Poe was in a pitiful condition, and was found in shabby clothes that might not even have been his. He was never coherent enough to explain how he got into his state. He was taken to a hospital, and was taken care of by his personal physician Dr. John Joseph Moran, who was the only one to see him until his death. Moran claims that the night before his death, Poe repeated the name Reynolds.

No one knows what happened to Poe, or what the name Reynolds means. This mystery certainly isn't a good thing, but I think it's the coolest way for someone as awesome as Edgar Allen Poe to die. The man who wrote dark stories all of his life received a dark ending. His grand finale. One of Poe's rivals, Rufus Wilmot Griswald, gave Poe's obituary. He then published a biography on Poe which tore down Poe's reputation, claiming he was a drunk madman. That was all Poe was seen as by society when he died.