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Disappearance -

No one had seen or heard from Poe for six days until Joseph W. Walker found him on Election Day. On September 27, 1849, Poe departed Richmond, Virginia, to edit a collection of poems in Philadelphia. However, it seems he never arrived there, according to reliable sources.

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Why was he in Baltimore? -

Following his trip to Philadelphia for business, Poe intended to visit New York, where he used to live. His plan was to collect his aunt there and escort her back to Richmond, where he was going to marry Sarah Elmira Royster Shelton.

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"Reynolds" -

Poe's physician reported that before his death, he consistently called for someone named "Reynolds," whose true identity remains unknown.

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Official cause of death -

According to his birth certificate, he passed away due to phrenitis, a brain inflammation. However, the events leading to his delusion and semi-conscious state have provoked numerous speculations regarding his death. The following are some of the theories that have arisen in the years since Poe’s mysterious demise.

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1. Beating -

In 1867, E. Oakes Smith, a biographer, suggested that a woman may have sent a group of thugs to attack Poe out of some personal spite.

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1. Beating -

According to Smith's theory, Poe likely had a relationship with the woman prior to his engagement to Shelton, and she became enraged when she heard the news. 

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1. Beating -

Writer Eugene Didier shared the opinion that Poe was attacked by "ruffians," but under different circumstances. In 1872, Didier wrote that Poe perhaps met with friends for a few drinks in Baltimore on his travels. However, due to his issues with alcohol abuse, he would quickly become drunk. Didier theorized that after leaving the Irish tavern, a highly intoxicated Poe was assaulted and beaten by the aforementioned "ruffians."

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2. Cooping -

Some believe that Poe may have been a victim of a 19th-century voter fraud technique called "cooping."

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2. Cooping -

Gangs would kidnap someone and force them to wear various disguises so they could fraudulently vote multiple times for a specific candidate.

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2. Cooping -

Poe was discovered on Election Day close to Gunner's Hall, a temporary polling spot, in an unusual manner. Interestingly, he was also found wearing attire that did not belong to him.

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2. Cooping -

This theory has gained popularity due to the coincidences surrounding Poe's death. It is worth noting that coopers often provided alcohol to their victims as a form of compensation. If the coopers had coerced Poe into voting multiple times, it suggests he consumed a significant amount of alcohol. Considering Poe's well-documented struggles with alcohol, this could offer an explanation for his state of confusion.

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3. Alcohol -

Some writers think Poe had a genetic condition that made him more vulnerable to alcohol's effects, and his sister also had the same condition.

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3. Alcohol -

Shortly before he passed away, Poe became significantly unwell in Richmond but miraculously managed to recover. His doctor advised him to avoid consuming alcohol to avoid any additional complications. Given that Poe struggled with alcoholism, it is likely that he disregarded this advice, potentially resulting in further health issues and, unfortunately, his eventual demise.

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3. Alcohol -

In 'The Last Days of Edgar A. Poe,' biographer Susan Archer Talley Weiss supports this theory by suggesting that Poe attributed his previous illness to his alcoholism, stating that he informed his physicians that "if people would not tempt him, he would not fall."

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3. Alcohol -

According to J. P. Kennedy, a close friend of Poe, he also shared the belief that Poe drank himself to death. Kennedy noted in his personal diary that Poe “fell in with some companion here who seduced him to the bottle, which it was said he had renounced some time ago. The consequence was fever, delirium, and madness, and in a few days a termination of his sad career in the hospital. Poor Poe! A bright but unsteady light has been awfully quenched.”

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3. Alcohol -

Following Poe's death, this theory gained popularity due to his known alcoholism. However, it fails to explain his six-day absence and the fact that he was discovered wearing attire that did not belong to him.

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3. The alcohol theory: A modern twist -

Analyzing Poe's post-mortem hair revealed low lead levels, implying sobriety at the time of his death, as per recent studies.

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4. Carbon monoxide poisoning -

In 1999, public health researcher Albert Donnay conducted a test on Poe's hair and proposed that his cause of death was carbon monoxide poisoning from coal gas, which was commonly utilized for indoor lighting during the 19th century. However, the lab tests did not yield definitive results, causing biographers and historians to largely dismiss this theory.

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5. Heavy metal poisoning -

While the analysis of Poe's hair samples failed to support the theory of carbon monoxide poisoning, they did detect high levels of mercury.

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5. Heavy metal poisoning -

Poe's behavior may be explained by Mercury, which causes delusion, memory loss, and confusion.

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5. Heavy metal poisoning -

Despite being elevated, the levels of mercury in his hair samples are still 30 times below the lethal threshold.

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6. Rabies -

Dr. R. Michael Benitez, a Maryland cardiologist, suggested in 1996 that Poe's death may have been due caused by rabies, a prevalent disease during the 19th century.

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6. Rabies -

As per the author's supervising physician, Poe exhibited symptoms such as delirium, hallucinations, pulse rate fluctuations, and rapid, shallow breathing, which align with rabies.

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6. Rabies -

However, this theory has its limitations. For example, individuals affected by rabies are known to develop a fear of water, and it has been reported that Poe drank water during his hospital stay until his death.

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6. Rabies -

One of the interesting things about Benitez’s diagnosis is that he didn’t know he was looking at Poe’s case when he made his diagnosis. The cardiologist was participating in a medical conference and was assigned Poe’s case anonymously.

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6. Rabies -

According to Jeff Jerome, the curator of the Poe House Museum in Baltimore, he concurs with Benitez's diagnosis. He acknowledges that Benitez arrived at his conclusion without any bias and was unaffected by the widely known fact of Poe's struggle with alcoholism.

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7. Brain tumor -

A newer hypothesis suggests that the author may have suffered from brain cancer. To confirm this, Poe's remains were exhumed 26 years after his death, as he had been unceremoniously buried in an unmarked grave. During the process, one of the individuals handling Poe's coffin observed something peculiar inside his skull.

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7. Brain tumor -

At the time, newspapers reported that the strange mass the workers saw in Poe's skull was his brain. We now know is impossible because the human brain is one of the first organs to rot.

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7. Brain tumor -

Author Matthew Pearl consulted with a forensic pathologist who suggested that the clump may have been a calcified tumor.

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7. Brain tumor -

It is possible that the tumor had an impact on Poe's behavior, which may have accounted for his delusions and confusion. Additionally, the tumor's growth could have contributed to Poe's adverse reaction to alcohol.

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8. Flu -

There are speculations suggesting that Poe's death may have been due to the flu. Prior to his death, Poe had been unwell, and his fiancée stated that he had a feeble pulse and a fever. She advised against his journey to Philadelphia. Considering the rainy weather in Baltimore at the time, it is plausible that Poe contracted pneumonia, resulting in a high fever and subsequent hallucinations.

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9. Murder -

John Evangelist's book 'Midnight Dreary: The Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe' published in 2000, proposes that Poe may have been murdered by his fiancée's three disapproving brothers. Evangelist's theory suggests that Poe had indeed arrived in Philadelphia where he was unexpectedly attacked by the brothers. In fear, he resorted to disguising himself, which could potentially explain the unusual garments he was found wearing. Although not impossible, Evangelist’s theory hasn’t gained much traction with historians and biographers.

See also: Read up on the world's rarest and most valuable books

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