David Poe, Jr.

David Poe Jr.
Born July 18, 1784
Baltimore, Maryland
Died December 11, 1811 (aged 27) (disputed)
Occupation Actor
Spouse(s) Eliza Poe (1806-1811; her death)
Children William Henry Leonard Poe
Edgar Allan Poe
Rosalie Mackenzie Poe (?)
Parent(s) David Poe, Sr.
Elizabeth Cairnes

David Poe, Jr. (July 18, 1784 – December 11, 1811 [speculative]) was an American actor and the father of Edgar Allan Poe.

Biography

David Poe, Jr. was born in Baltimore, Maryland. His father, David Poe, Sr., was well known for his patriotic self-sacrifice as a quartermaster during the American Revolution, paying for supplies out of his own pocket, including $500 for clothing for the troops. Poe, Sr.'s commitment had earned the respect and friendship of the Marquis de la Fayette[1] and the honorary title of 'General'.[2] The younger David Poe, on the other hand, defied his family's wishes to become a lawyer and became an actor instead.

He fell in love with and married Elizabeth "Eliza" Arnold Hopkins, whose husband, Charles Hopkins, had died six months before. Poe was considered an inferior actor compared to his young wife, possibly due to stage fright.[3][4] One critic said of Eliza and David, "the lady was young and pretty, and evinced talent both as a singer and actress; the gentleman was literally nothing." The couple's eldest child, William Henry Leonard Poe, was born on January 30, 1807, in Boston, Massachusetts, just nine months after their wedding.

Playbill for The Curfew, May 27, 1807, presented "For the Benefit of Mr. and Mrs. Poe"

After the birth of their second son Edgar on January 19, 1809, the family ran low on money. A bad-tempered alcoholic for most of his adult life, David Jr. abandoned the stage and his family some time before July 1809, disappearing from historical record. In David's absence, Eliza gave birth to a third child, a daughter named Rosalie, in December 1810, but the true paternity of Rosalie Poe remains uncertain.[5]

According to author Susan Archer Talley Weiss, Poe died on December 11, 1811, only three days after Eliza's death.

After Eliza's death in 1811, the three children were split up. Henry lived with his paternal grandparents in Baltimore, Edgar was fostered by John and Frances Allan in Richmond, and Rosalie was adopted by William and Jane Scott Mackenzie, also in Richmond.

Notes

  1. ↑ Silverman, Kenneth. Edgar A. Poe: Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance. New York: Harper Perennial, 1991: 25. ISBN 0-06-092331-8
  2. ↑ Meyers, Jeffrey. Edgar Allan Poe: His Life and Legacy. New York: Cooper Square Press, 1992: 2. ISBN 0-8154-1038-7
  3. ↑ Mz Fish, 2009
  4. ↑ Christoffer Hallqvist (February 7, 2006). "Eliza". The Poe Decoder. Retrieved March 25, 2011.
  5. ↑ "The Other Poe". Edgar Allan Poe Museum. Retrieved 16 August 2014.

References