Edgar Allan Poe: A Biography

Edgar Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts on January 19th, 1809, to travelling actors, David Poe, Jr. and Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins Poe. David left the family when Edgar was only a year old, and the following year, Elizabeth succumbed to pulmonary tuberculosis.  John and Frances Valentine Allan, from whom he acquired his middle name, served as his foster parents, though they never formally adopted him.  Due to John Allan’s success as a merchant in Richmond, Virginia, Edgar attended prestigious schools, alternately spoiled and disciplined by his foster father. - See more at: http://thepoeconsequence.com/edgar-allan-poe-a-biography/#sthash.zr...