Poe Found in Gutter: The Mysterious Final Days
A printer named Joseph Walker found Edgar Allan Poe semiconscious outside Gunner's Hall tavern in Baltimore on October 3, 1849, wearing clothes that weren't his own. Poe was taken to Washington Medical College, where he drifted in and out of consciousness for four days, calling repeatedly for someone named 'Reynolds' before dying on October 7. He was 40 years old. No autopsy was performed. His medical records were lost. Theories about his death include rabies, alcoholism, carbon monoxide poisoning, heavy metal poisoning, and cooping, a form of voter fraud where victims were drugged, disguised, and forced to vote at multiple polling stations. The clothes he wore weren't his, and it was Election Day in Baltimore. The real answer died with him.
October 3, 1849
177 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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