Adult+Life

After Poe released from West Point, he returned to Baltimore, and stayed with relatives in the city. One of Poe's cousins robbed him in the middle of the night, but another one of his relatives, Maria Clemm, his aunt, cared for him like a mother. Maria had a daughter named Virginia, and later in Edgar's life, Virginia became the girl that he wanted to marry and spend the rest of his life with. During the time in Baltimore, Allan died, also the worst part for Poe is that he was not in Allan's will. Since Edgar did not have the right to have Allan's money and house, he was still in poverty. But lucky enough, he was still publishing his short stories, and one of his stories won a contest that was sponsored by the "Saturday Visiter". After winning that contest Poe had great connection and it allowed him to publish more stories and to eventually gain an editorial position at the "Southern Literary Messenger" in Richmond. After this big promotion for Edgar, he finally found his life as a magazine writer. Within a year Edgar was helping make the most popular magazine in the south called the "Messenger". Poe was now known as a fearless critic who attacked authors work and also insulted authors of northern literary establishment. When he was 27 years of age, he brought Maria and Virginia to Richmond and married little Virginia, she wasn't even 14 yet. Virginia loved Edgar so much and Edgar loved her back, she proved it by writing a Valentine's poem for him, and which is now in the collection of the Enoch Pratt Free Library, the Edgar went right back and wrote the poem "Eulalie". After they got married Poe was sick of his low pay and lack of editorial control working for the messenger. They then moved in to New York City hoping to find a magazine company needing help. The whole country was in a financial crisis known as the "Panic of 1837". Since he couldn't find a magazine company Poe started on his only novel, "The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym". After only a year in New York, they move in to Philly in 1838, he wrote a number of different magazines. He served as a an editor of Burton's and Graham's magazines, during his selling point of his article "Alexander Weekly Messenger and other journals. Even though Poe was growing in fame he was still barely able to make a living. For the publication of his first book, which had many short stories in them, "Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque", and he was only awarded 25 free copies of the book. In 1842 tragedy struck on the Poe family, Edgar's wife picked up tuberculosis, the same disease the affected his biological mother, his brother, and killed his foster mother. In search of better pay again he moved back to New York. He then wrote a book about a balloon that traveled across the ocean. This book created a huge public rush, every person wanted this book and to read everything about it. He then revealed it was just a hoax to get money, he fooled them all. Then in 1945 Poe's publication of, "The Raven" made Poe a a major household name. This book was such a hit, he had lectures about it, and a lot of people actually came, he was then demanding better pay for all his great work. Meanwhile he published two books in that same year, and then his dream came true, of running his own magazine when he bought out the owners of the "Broadway Journal". Virginia was still battling tuberculosis, but there were rumors about Edgar having a relationship with a different married woman. This news drove him out of the city in 1846. He then moved out in to the country to a little cottage just him and Virginia. It was the winter of 1847 when Virginia passed away at the age of 24. Poe couldn't have been more devastated, he was unable to write for months, there were rumors that his critics said he was going to be dead. They were all right, Poe only lived another two years, he spent those two years traveling to cities and giving lectures of his proposed magazine that was going to be called "The Stylus".

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