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Disappearance - Before Joseph W. Walker found him on Election Day, nobody had seen or heard from Poe for six days. On September 27, 1849, Poe had left Richmond to edit a collection of poems by a writer in Philadelphia. But by all accounts, he never made it to Philly.

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Why was he in Baltimore? -

After his business trip to Philadelphia, Poe was supposed to stop by New York—where he had previously lived—to escort his aunt to Richmond where he was set to marry Sarah Elmira Royster Shelton.

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“Reynolds” - According to his physician, Poe repeatedly called out for “Reynolds” the night before his death, someone whose identity remains a mystery to this day.

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Official cause of death - His birth certificate states that he died from phrenitis, an inflammation of the brain. But the circumstances that led to his delusion and state of semi-consciousness have led many to speculate about the circumstances surrounding 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 - Biographer E. Oakes Smith speculated in 1867 that a woman summoned “ruffians” to beat Poe out of spite.

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1. Beating -

Smith’s theory contends that Poe must have become involved with a woman before his engagement to Shelton, who was not pleased about the news of the upcoming wedding.

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1. Beating - Writer Eugene Didier similarly believed Poe had been beaten by “ruffians.” In 1872, he wrote that while in Baltimore, Poe met with old friends for drinks. But given he had a problem with alcohol, he would normally become intoxicated after just a few drinks. Didier theorized that, after leaving the Irish tavern, a heavily drunk Poe was mugged and beaten by said “ruffians.”

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2. Cooping - Others have theorized that Poe fell victim of a voter fraud practice common in the 19th century known as "cooping."

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2. Cooping - The technique practiced by gangs consisted in kidnapping someone and then forcing the unsuspecting victim to wear multiple disguises in order to vote for a particular candidate multiple times.

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2. Cooping - Weirdly, Poe was found on Election Day near Gunner’s Hall, a place that served as a pop-up polling location. He was also wearing clothes that weren’t his.

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2. Cooping - Because of the coincidences, this theory has become one of the most popular in regards to Poe’s death. Additionally, coopers were known to give alcohol to their victims as a sort of payment. If the coopers had made Poe vote several times, this would mean he had quite a lot to drink. Given that Poe was known to struggle with alcohol, this could explain his confused state.

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3. Alcohol - Many writers believe that Poe suffered from a hereditary condition that made him more susceptible to the effects of alcohol. His sister reportedly suffered from it as well.

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3. Alcohol - Not long before his death, Poe fell severely ill in Richmond, but made an improbable recovery. His physician said he should abstain from alcohol to prevent further complications. As someone who suffered from alcoholism, Poe possibly failed to abstain, which could have led to health complications and even death.

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3. Alcohol -

Biographer Susan Archer Talley Weiss is one who believed this theory. In ‘The Last Days of Edgar A. Poe,’ she wrote that Poe told his physicians that “if people would not tempt him, he would not fall,” suggesting his previous illness was related to his alcoholism.

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3. Alcohol -

One of Poe’s close friends, J. P. Kennedy, also believed his dear friend drank himself to death. He wrote 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 - Because of Poe’s struggles with alcohol, this theory quickly became popular following his death. But this theory doesn’t explain his six-day absence or why he was wearing somebody else’s clothes on the day he was found.

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3. The alcohol theory: A modern twist - Modern analyses of Poe’s hair from after his death show low levels of lead, which suggests he was sober when he died.

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4. Carbon monoxide poisoning - Public health researcher Albert Donnay tested Poe’s hair and theorized in 1999 that he died from carbon monoxide poisoning from coal gas, which was commonly used in the 19th century for indoor lighting. But the lab tests were inconclusive, leading biographers and historians to largely discredit this theory.

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5. Heavy metal poisoning - While the samples of Poe’s hairs didn’t reveal relevant amounts consistent with carbon monoxide poisoning, they did show high levels of mercury.

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5. Heavy metal poisoning - Mercury is known to cause delusion, memory loss, and confusion, which would explain Poe’s behavior.

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5. Heavy metal poisoning - However, the mercury levels found in his hair samples—though high—are still 30 times lower than fatal levels.

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6. Rabies - In 1996, Dr. R. Michael Benitez, a Maryland cardiologist, proposed that Poe’s death was a consequence of rabies, which was fairly common in the 19th century.

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6. Rabies - According to Poe’s supervising physician, the author’s symptoms included delirium, hallucinations, wide variations in pulse rate, and rapid, shallow breathing—all consistent with rabies.

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6. Rabies - However, this theory has its downfalls. For example, those afflicted by rabies were known to develop a fear of water, and Poe was reportedly drinking water at the hospital 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 - The curator of the Poe House Museum in Baltimore, Jeff Jerome, has said he agrees with the diagnosis because Benitez had no agenda and was uninfluenced by the common knowledge that Poe suffered from alcoholism.

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7. Brain tumor - A more recent theory revolves around the idea that the author suffered from brain cancer. Poe’s body was exhumed 26 years after his death as he had been unceremoniously buried in an unmarked grave. One of the men moving Poe’s coffin noticed something strange about Poe’s skull.

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7. Brain tumor - At the time, newspapers reported that the mass the workers found in Poe's coffin was his brain, which 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 contacted a forensic pathologist to discuss the issue and the professional reported that the clump could have been a calcified tumor.

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7. Brain tumor - The tumor could have affected Poe’s behavior, explaining his delusions and confusion. The growing tumor could also explain why Poe reacted so poorly to the effects of alcohol.

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8. Flu - Some have theorized that Poe might have simply died from the flu. Poe had been ill before his death, and his fiancée reported that he had a weak pulse and a fever, and suggested he refrained from traveling to Philadelphia. Since it was raining that day in Baltimore, Poe could have developed pneumonia and the high fever would explain his hallucinations.

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9. Murder -

John Evangelist suggested in his 2000 book ‘Midnight Dreary: The Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe’ that the poet was murdered by his fiancée’s three brothers, who disapproved of their marriage. His theory suggests that Poe did make it to Philly, where he was ambushed by the brothers. Frightened, he used a disguise to hide, which would explain his strange clothes.

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9. Murder -

Poe was to return to Richmond by way of Baltimore, where he was intercepted by the brothers who beat him and force-fed him whiskey. However, his hair samples have shown he was likely sober when he died. Although not impossible, Evangelist’s theory hasn’t gained much traction with historians and biographers.

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