Edgar Allan Poe (September 15, 1871 – November 29, 1961) was Attorney General of the State of Maryland from 1911 to 1915. He was born in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, the son of former Maryland Attorney General John Prentiss Poe. He was named for his great uncle and second cousin, twice removed, the celebrated author

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wide ...

, who died in 1849.("Edgar Allan Poe 1891 was quarterback and captain in his junior and senior years. He was named All-American in 1889.")

Early life and education

Edgar Allan Poe was born on September 15, 1871, in

, Maryland, to Anne Johnson (née Hough) and John Prentiss Poe. He was educated at George G. Carey's private school. Poe was the great nephew of famous poet

. Poe attended

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

, where he played varsity

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

. He was the

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

of the 1889 team, which finished with a perfect 10–0 record. After that season, Poe was named the quarterback of the very first

1889 College Football All-America Team The 1889 College Football All-America team was the first College Football All-America Team. The team was selected by Caspar Whitney and published in ''This Week's Sports''. The team selected by Whitney in 1889 marked the origin of the "All-Amer ...

. After Princeton beat Harvard, 41–15, a Harvard man reportedly asked a Princeton alumnus whether Poe was related to the great Edgar Allan Poe. According to the story, "the alumnus looked at him in astonishment and replied, 'He ''is'' the great Edgar Allan Poe.'" He also played men's lacrosse at Princeton and was team captain. Poe was given the title of "one of 'the Poe Brothers of Princeton'" throughout his life due to his football legacy at Princeton. Poe graduated

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...

in 1891 with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree. He next attended the

University of Maryland School of Law The University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law (formerly University of Maryland School of Law) is the law school of the University of Maryland, Baltimore and is located in Baltimore City, Maryland, U.S. Its location places Maryland ...

, where he received a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

degree in 1893.

Career

After traveling for more than a year in Europe, Poe joined his father and brothers in the family's law firm, John P. Poe & Sons. He was with the law firm from 1895 to 1909. Poe was a lecturer at the

University of Baltimore School of Law The University of Baltimore School of Law, or the UB School of Law, is one of the four colleges that make up the University of Baltimore, which is part of the University System of Maryland. The UBalt School of Law is one of only two law schools i ...

from 1897 to 1901. He was appointed as the Deputy State's Attorney for Baltimore in 1900, a position he held until 1903. Poe served as

state's attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a loc ...

from 1903 to November 1903. He was a lecturer at the University of Maryland School of Law from 1901 to 1913. He was with the firm Bartlett, Poe, Clagett & Bland in 1911. He also served as deputy city solicitor from 1903 to 1908 and as city solicitor from 1908 to 1911 for Baltimore City before being elected as Attorney General of the State of Maryland, a position he held from 1911 to 1915. As city solicitor, he defended an ordinance that would enshrine segregation between blacks and whites in housing. Poe was a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

Personal life

In 1895, Poe married Annie T. McKay, and they had a son, Edgar Allan Poe, Jr. His son, who also graduated from Princeton, was severely wounded in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

while serving as a U.S. Marine Corps second lieutenant in France. His wife died in 1928. In 1932, Poe married Mrs. Marie L. McIlhenny of Philadelphia. The Poe family lived at Stemmer Run in Green Spring Valley in Baltimore. Poe enjoyed sailing and sailed in

Jamestown, Rhode Island Jamestown is a town in Newport County, Rhode Island in the United States. The population was 5,559 at the 2020 census. Jamestown is situated almost entirely on Conanicut Island, the second largest island in Narragansett Bay. It also includes the u ...

. He owned a summer home in

Northeast Harbor, Maine Northeast Harbor is a village on Mount Desert Island, located in the town of Mount Desert in Hancock County, Maine, United States. The original settlers, the Someses and Richardsons, arrived around 1761. The village has a significant summe ...

. He was an

Episcopalian Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the l ...

. He was a vestryman at Old St. Paul's Church in Baltimore and later became a vestryman at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in

Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania Chestnut Hill is a neighbourhood, neighborhood in the Northwest Philadelphia section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is known for the List of highest-income urban neighborhoods in the United States, high incomes of its residents and high real e ...

. Poe died on November 29, 1961, at his home in Chestnut Hill. He was buried at the church cemetery of St. Thomas Church in Baltimore.

References

External links

*
About the office and list of Attorneys General of Maryland, from the Maryland Archives.
1871 births 1961 deaths 19th-century players of American football All-American college football players Poe family (United States) Maryland lawyers Maryland Attorneys General Politicians from Baltimore Princeton Tigers football players Princeton Tigers men's lacrosse players University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law alumni Lawyers from Baltimore Players of American football from Baltimore American football quarterbacks 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American lawyers Maryland Democrats {{Maryland-politician-stub