He had a gambling problem...was expelled from UVA...lost his young wife (who was also his cousin)...was an alcoholic. He attended the Grammar School in Irvine, Scotland for a short period in 1815, before rejoining the family in London in 1816. He studied at a boarding school in Chelsea until the summer of 1817. He was then entered at Reverend John Bransby’s Manor House School at Stoke Newington, then a suburb four miles north of London. Poe moved back with the Allans to Richmond in 1820. After serving an apprenticeship in Pawtucket, Poe registered at the University of Virginia in 1826, but only stayed there for one year.
Reduced to destitution, Poe enlisted in the United States Army as a private, using the name Edgar A. Perry on May 26, 1827, and served at Fort Independence in Boston Harbor. The regiment was posted to Fort Moultrie, Charleston, South Carolina. After serving for two years and attaining the rank of sergeant major, Poe was discharged on April 15, 1829.
Returning to Baltimore, he secretly married Virginia, his cousin, on September 22, 1835. She was 13 at the time.
The evening of January 20, 1842, Virginia broke a blood vessel while singing and playing the piano. Blood began to rush forth from her mouth. It was the first sign of consumption, now more commonly known as tuberculosis. She only partially recovered. Poe began to drink more heavily under the stress of Virginia's illness.
Poe had a keen interest in the field of cryptography, as exemplified in his short story The Gold Bug. In particular he placed a notice of his abilities in the Philadelphia paper Alexander's Weekly (Express) Messenger, inviting submissions of ciphers, which he proceeded to solve.[14] His success created a public stir for some months. He later wrote essays on methods of cryptography which proved useful in deciphering the German codes employed during World War I.
Poe's success in cryptography relied not so much on his knowledge of that field (his method was limited to the simple substitution cryptogram), as on his knowledge of the magazine and newspaper culture. His keen analytical abilities, which were so evident in his detective stories, allowed him to see that the general public was largely ignorant of the methods by which a simple substitution cryptogram can be solved, and he used this to his advantage. The sensation Poe created with his cryptography stunt played a major role in popularizing cryptograms in newspapers and magazines.
Edgar Allan Poe was one of the most powerful and inspirational writers ever, he led a life filled with loss and misery, he even wrote many things no one will ever read, and no one seems to want to pay tribute to any of his great works.
