Virginia Eliza Clemm was just 13 years old when she married 27-year-old Edgar Allan Poe — who was also her first cousin.
Wikimedia CommonsThe only known verified portrait of Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe, rendered shortly after her death at age 24.
When seven-year-old Virginia Eliza Clemm met her first cousin Edgar Allan Poe, the year was 1829 — and he’d just left the U.S. Army. He was hopeful his dream career as an author and poet would follow.
Indeed it did — but so did a scandalous marriage between the two cousins, when a still-struggling, 27-year-old Poe married 13-year-old Virginia in 1836. Although the history books mainly portray Virginia as a controversial side note in the life of her famous husband, she was more than a child bride.
Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe was a gifted singer, musician, and linguist. Animated and bright, she was known for her kindness and humble nature. Many thought of her as a comforting, yet somehow “unearthly” presence. She remained childlike in her nature even as she grew older.
Tragically, most of her life was not well documented unless it pertained to her husband. In fact, the only verifiable likeness captured of Virginia is a post-mortem painting created after her untimely death at age 24.
The Early Years Of Virginia Eliza Clemm
The Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington/Wikimedia CommonsAn alleged portrait of Virginia Eliza Clemm, which has been subjected to questions about its authenticity.
Virginia Eliza Clemm was born to a couple in mourning, entering the family just 10 days after the tragic death of her two-year-old sister.
William Clemm Jr. and Maria Poe Clemm named their new baby, arriving on August 15, 1822, after their recently deceased child.
Virginia’s father died in 1826 when she was just four, and her mother was soon put in charge of supporting the family at their home in Baltimore, Maryland. Others in the home included Virginia’s grandmother Elizabeth Cairnes Poe, who was paralyzed and bedridden, and Virginia’s brother, Henry.
Despite having a tragic start to life and a lack of formal education, Virginia Eliza Clemm soon found joy in singing and playing various musical instruments. She especially excelled at playing the piano.
Edgar Allan Poe And Virginia Eliza Clemm’s Relationship As First Cousins
Wikimedia CommonsA photo of Edgar Allan Poe, taken just months before the writer’s death at age 40 in 1849.
In 1831, Edgar Allan Poe was two years removed from the U.S. Army, and had just left a brief stint at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Homeless and destitute, he reached out to his brother, who happened to be living with his aunt Maria, his grandmother Elizabeth, and his now nine-year-old cousin Virginia. Before long, Poe had moved into the Baltimore household.
Poe soon began to spend a lot of time with Virginia. He tutored her, went on walks with her, and even instructed her to leave notes for a neighbor whom he was interested in. Poe called Virginia “Sissy,” and she called him “Eddie.” Clearly, the newly reunited cousins had become very close.
But before long, tragedy struck. First, Edgar Allan Poe’s brother died. And then, his grandmother died in 1835, ending the family’s only dependable income, the annual $240 pension of her deceased husband (who had served in the American Revolution). The loss of Elizabeth Cairnes Poe made the family’s already precarious financial situation even more dire.
That same summer, Poe made a career move to Richmond, Virginia to write for the Southern Literary Messenger. He reportedly missed his cousin Virginia greatly during this time period, and some of his family members began to suspect that he had intentions of marrying the young girl.
Another cousin of Virginia’s, Neilson Poe, reportedly believed that Virginia was far too young to get married. He offered his home to her so that she could attend school and perhaps have a better chance of escaping poverty.
When Edgar Allan Poe learned of Neilson’s offer, he wrote hysterical letters to his aunt Maria, one reading: “I am blinded with tears while writing this letter — I have no wish to live another hour… you know I love Virginia passionately… Oh Aunty, Aunty you loved me once — how can you be so cruel now? You speak of Virginia acquiring accomplishments, and entering into society — you speak in so worldly a tone. Are you sure she would be more happy — Do you think any one could love her more dearly than I?”
Shortly thereafter, Poe either lost his new job or quit, and then promptly returned to Baltimore — determined to wed his young cousin Virginia.
The Marriage Of Edgar Allan Poe And Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe
Wikimedia CommonsA copy of Edgar Allan Poe and Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe’s marriage bond.
Though it wasn’t taboo for first cousins to marry in the 1830s, Virginia Eliza Clemm was considered an extremely young bride — even for the time. Nonetheless, Poe applied for a marriage license on September 22, 1835.
They held the wedding in Richmond on May 16, 1836. Virginia’s age was listed as 21 on the marriage bond, but she was really only 13 years old at the time. And Poe was 27 years old. (Shockingly, they may have even had a secret private wedding before the ceremony that was held in public.)
Some say the wedding took place at Mrs. Yarrington’s boarding house, while others state it took place at the home of Amasa Converse. The Poes would then travel to the city of Petersburg, Virginia for a honeymoon.
From there, Poe biographers differ in their speculations and interpretations of the nature of Edgar Allan Poe’s relationship with his child bride.
Some say that Poe and Virginia’s relationship was purely platonic. Others suggest that the married couple did not consummate their union until Virginia was 16 years old. Yet others believe that Poe never had any sexual interest in women, and that his bride ultimately died a virgin.
Wikimedia CommonsA Valentine poem that Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe wrote in 1846.
Still, Poe biographer Kenneth Silverman maintains: “Poe cared about the public impression he might create by marrying a child. He sometimes handled the problem by simply misrepresenting her age.” Silverman adds that Poe sometimes also claimed he was younger than his actual age.
After the wedding, Poe struggled to provide for Virginia and her mother. While living in New York, they were so impoverished that they couldn’t even afford blankets. Poe reportedly gave Virginia his old military jacket to keep her warm. He also made sure Virginia always had access to a piano.
By most accounts, Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe idolized her husband. She stayed close to him whenever he wrote, and kept his pens clean and his papers organized so that his workspace would always be tidy.
Poe was said to be enamored with his young wife, and one of his employers, George Rex Graham, remembered, “His love for his wife was a sort of rapturous worship of the spirit of beauty.” However, Poe was also accused of having extramarital affairs while he was married to Virginia, which reportedly caused Virginia a great amount of distress and anguish.
Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe’s Illness And Death
Wikimedia CommonsVirginia Eliza Clemm Poe’s final home was in the Edgar Allan Poe Cottage in the Bronx, New York.
The first sign of Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe’s health troubles occurred in January 1842. She began to cough up blood while singing one day. Poe initially believed the bloody cough was due to a broken blood vessel, but the truth soon became evident. Virginia had contracted tuberculosis.
Her condition worsened, and she was soon housebound. The family moved around to find a place where Virginia would be most comfortable, and her final home would be a cottage in the Bronx, New York (which still stands today and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places).
By the fall of 1846, Virginia’s condition had become even more severe. She struggled to eat, had an unstable pulse, and suffered from frequent fevers, night sweats, chest pains, and coughing up blood. Poe was reportedly beside himself with grief, as it was clear that she would not live much longer. Up until that point, with each slight remission of Virginia’s suffering, he wrote, “I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity.”
Virginia’s nurse, Marie Louise Shew, later remembered some of Virginia’s tragic final moments: “The day before Mrs. Poe died I left to make some arrangements for her comfort. She called me to her bedside, took a picture of her husband from under her pillow, kissed it, and gave it to me.”
Reportedly, Virginia’s final wishes were for Poe’s loved ones to look after him when she was gone, and she asked her mother to never leave his side. Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe died on January 30, 1847. She was just 24.
How The Death Of Edgar Allan Poe’s Wife Affected The Writer
Wikimedia CommonsVirginia Eliza Clemm Poe’s gravestone in Baltimore.
After Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe’s death, Edgar Allan Poe realized that he possessed no likeness of his wife from when she was alive, so he commissioned a watercolor portrait just after she perished.
To say that Virginia’s passing greatly affected Poe seems to be an understatement. Poe’s friend, Charles C. Burr, recalled his enduring grief: “Many times, after the death of his beloved wife, was he found at the dead hour of a winter-night, sitting beside her tomb almost frozen in the snow, where he had wandered from his bed weeping and wailing.”
Another friend of the author’s was quoted as saying, “The loss of his wife was a sad blow to him. He did not seem to care, after she was gone, whether he lived an hour, a day, a week, or a year.”
As Virginia had requested just before she died, her mother Maria stayed close to Poe. However, Poe himself would not live much longer. He died under mysterious circumstances after suffering from hallucinations in 1849 at the age of 40, just a couple of years after Virginia’s passing.
After learning about Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe, Edgar Allan Poe’s child bride, read about some more shocking examples of child marriages. Then, go inside some of the strangest deaths of famous and historical figures.
