POE'S DOUBLE MARRIAGE.
How it was that Poe, when a mature man of twenty-seven, came to marry
his little cousin of twelve or thirteen has ever appeared something of a
mystery.
As understood by his Richmond friends, it appeared that when, in July of
1835, he left Baltimore to assume the duties of assistant editor to Mr.
White of the _Southern Literary Messenger_, Virginia, deprived of her
constant companion, so missed him and grieved over his absence that her
mother became alarmed for her health, and wrote to Poe concerning it;
and that in May of the following year the two came to Richmond, where
Poe and Virginia were married, she being at that time not fourteen years
of age. For this marriage Mrs. Clemm was severely criticised, the
universal belief being that she had "made the match."
Of any other marriage than this these friends never heard; since it was
only from a letter found among Poe's papers after his death, and the
reluctant admission of Mrs. Clemm, that it became known that a previous
marriage had taken place.
The marriage records of Baltimore show that on September 22, 1835, Edgar
A. Poe took out a license to marry Virginia E. Clemm. Mrs. Clemm, when
interviewed by one of Poe's biographers, admitted that there had been
such a marriage, and stated that the ceremony had been performed by
Bishop John Johns in Old Christ Church; though of this there is no
mention in the church records. Immediately after the ceremony, she said,
Poe returned to Richmond and to his editorial duties on the _Messenger_.
She vouchsafed no explanation, except that the two were engaged previous
to Poe's departure for Richmond.
A possible explanation of the mystery may be that Mrs. Clemm, having set
her heart upon keeping her nephew in the family, could think of no surer
means than that of a match between himself and her daughter. When he
left Baltimore for Richmond, in July, she doubtless had her fears; and
then came reports of his notorious love affairs, one of which came near
ending in an elopement and marriage. It was probably then that she
wrote to him about Virginia's grieving for him; following up this letter
with another saying that Neilson Poe had offered to take Virginia into
his family and care for her until she should be eighteen years of age.
This brought a prompt reply from Poe, begging that she would not consent
to this plan and take "Sissy" away from him.
This last letter is dated August 29. What other correspondence followed
we do not know; but two weeks later, on September 11, 1835, we find Poe
writing to his friend, Mr. Kennedy, the following extraordinary letter,
in which he clearly hints at suicide:
"I am wretched. I know not why. Console me--for you can. But let
it be quickly, or it will be too late. Convince me that it is worth
one's while to live.... Oh, pity me, for I feel that my words are
incoherent.... Urge me to do what is right. Fail not, as you value
your peace of mind hereafter.
"EDGAR A. POE."
This production, which, in whatever light it is viewed, cannot but be
regarded as an evidence of pitiable weakness. Some writer has chosen to
attribute Poe's anguish to the prospect of losing Virginia. But it does
not at all appear that such is the case; for, even if Neilson Poe did
make such an offer, Poe knew well enough that neither Mrs. Clemm nor her
daughter would ever consent to accept it. The whole thing appears to
have been simply a plan of Mrs. Clemm to bring matters to the
satisfactory conclusion which she desired. She possessed over her nephew
then and always the influence and authority of a strong and determined
will over a very weak one; and we here see that in less than two months
after Poe's leaving her house she had carried her point and married him
to her daughter. Having thus secured him, she was content to wait a more
propitious time for making the marriage public.
There is yet a little episode which may have influenced this affair and
may serve further to explain it.
When Poe first went to Richmond, Mr. White, as a safeguard from the
temptation to evil habits, received him as an inmate of his own home,
where he immediately fell in love with the editor's youngest daughter,
"little Eliza," a lovely girl of eighteen. It was said that the father,
who idolized his daughter, and was also very fond of Poe, did not forbid
the match, but made his consent conditional upon the young man's
remaining perfectly sober for a certain length of time. All was going
well, and the couple were looked upon as engaged, when Mrs. Clemm, who
kept a watchful eye upon her nephew, may have received information of
the affair, and we have seen the result.
Does this throw any light upon Poe's pitiful appeal, "Urge me to do what
is right"? Was this why the marriage was kept secret--to give time for a
proper breaking off of the match with Elizabeth White? And it is
certain, from all accounts, that Poe now, at once, plunged into the
dissipation which was, according to general report, the occasion of Mr.
White's prohibition of his attentions to his daughter. It was she to
whom the lines, "_To Eliza_," now included in Poe's poems, were
addressed.
When I was a girl I more than once heard of Eliza White and her love
affair with Edgar Poe. "She was the sweetest girl that I ever knew,"
said a lady who had been her schoolmate; "a slender, graceful blonde,
with deep blue eyes, who reminded you of the Watteau Shepherdesses upon
fans. She was a great student, and very bright and intelligent. She was
said to be engaged to Poe, but they never appeared anywhere together. It
was soon broken off on account of his dissipation. I don't think she
ever got over it. She had many admirers, but is still unmarried."
Recently I read an article written by Mrs. Holmes Cumming, of
Louisville, Kentucky, in which she spoke of persons and places that she
had seen in Richmond associated with Poe. Among others, she met with a
niece of Eliza White, who, when a child, had often seen Poe at the
latter's home. She remembered having at a party seen him dancing with
Eliza, and how every one remarked what a handsome couple they were. She
had never seen any one enjoy dancing more than Poe did; not but that he
was very dignified, but you could see in his whole manner and expression
how he enjoyed it." Perhaps it was because he had "little Eliza" for a
partner.
Previous to Poe's first marriage, he had boarded with a Mrs. Poore on
Bank street, facing the Capitol square, and with whose son-in-law, Mr.
Thomas W. Cleland, he held friendly relations. A few weeks after his
first marriage (which was still kept secret) he removed to the
establishment of a Mrs. Yarrington, in the same neighborhood, where,
being joined by Mrs. Clemm and Virginia, they lived together as
formerly, he--as he informed Mr. George Poe--paying out of his slender
salary nine dollars a week for their joint board. This continued until
May of the next year, when the public marriage of Poe and Virginia took
place.
On this occasion Mr. Thomas Cleland was obliging enough to consent to
act as Poe's surety, and he also secured the services of his own pastor,
the Rev. Amasa Converse, a noted Presbyterian minister. Late on the
evening of May 16, Mr. Cleland, with Mrs. Clemm, Poe and Virginia, left
Mrs. Yarrington's and, walking quietly up Main street to the corner of
Seventh, were married in Mr. Converse's own parlor and in the presence
of his family, Mrs. Clemm giving her full and free consent. The
clergyman remarked afterward that Mrs. Clemm struck him as being
"polished, dignified, and agreeable in her bearing," while the bride
"looked very young." The party then returned to their boarding-house,
where Mrs. Clemm invited the lady boarders to her room to partake of
wine and cake, when it was discovered that it was a wedding
celebration.[5]
[5] A letter to Mrs. Holmes Cumming, from a son of the Rev.
Amasa Converse, 1905.
It will be observed that, according to the marriage bond, Virginia was
married under her maiden name of Clemm, thus ignoring the former
ceremony; and that Poe subscribed to the oath of Thomas Cleland that she
was "of the full age of twenty-one years," when in reality she was but
thirteen, having been born August 16, 1822. Thus is shown how pliable
was Poe in the hands of his mother-in-law; and as regards Mr. Cleland,
who was a very pious Presbyterian, it can only be hoped that he never
discovered in what manner he had been imposed upon.