The "Poe Toaster"

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Edgar Allen Poe was born on January 19, 1809 and he died mysteriously on Election Day October 7, 1849. One theory of how he might of died is that he was beaten and left for dead as he was found at Ryan's Fourth Ward Polls. It was the voter fraud practice, called "cooping", in which unsuspecting victims were forced to vote at one polling spot after another after being drugged. Then they were just left for dead. No definitive cause of death has ever been found. Ravens, caskets,burials, death and disembodied heartbeats is probably what you think of when you think of Poe's works. But actually he could handle a mystery story like no one had ever seen before. As well as having the first detective in fiction he created the detective genre and is known as "Father of the Detective Story" for such story as "The Murders in the Rue Morgue". He influenced such greats as Agatha Christie's and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's works. One of the more interesting mysteries about the mystery man was the guy who left roses and cognac at Poe's grave between 1949 and 1998. No one ever approached the person although crowds would try to witness his appearance but only a picture of a man in hat wearing a scarf survived. A note appeared in 1999 stating that the man's sons would take over the tradition after his death but they never did. In 2016 the Maryland Historical Society held auditions for a "Poe Toaster" to take up the tradition.