Westminster Presbyterian Cemetery or “Baltimore Catacombs”

Baltimore Maryland

The internet, social media and glossy magazines are easy sells for historical destinations with beautiful tourist seeking views. I am sure few have a bucket list with Baltimore   Maryland on it through and please no one take this as a dig against this wonderful city. It is just not a tourist hotspot in our now. It is however the resting places of one of America's most famous authors and what brings us to historic Baltimore. Edgar Allen Poe, the father of gothic fiction and romanticism in literacy. He is not the only historical figure on the grounds but more of a headliner in this burial ground.  Now known as Westminster Burial Ground its original name was Westminster Presbyterian Cemetery when established in 1786. The burial ground was established prior to the adjoining church Westminster Hall. In 1852, the church was constructed on brick piers above the graves. This created unique catacombs, feel and history for the grounds and became known as "Baltimore Catacombs" to locals. The cemetery gates located on the Greene Street side feature Egyptian Revival gates designed by Maximilian Godefroy. Godefroy designed many of the prominent and famous structures in the city of Balitmore. He also designed many of the monuments within too. The church however is no longer in service but able to rent out as hall after being taken over in 1977 by the Westminster Preservation Trust, a private, non-profit organization. Who have been caring for the graveyard and the reason behind the cemetery's restoration ever since. The gravestones throughout the Burying Ground includes decorated tablets, slabs, and granite vaults with a romantic gothic theme. Making it a worthwhile stop for a tidbit of American History and appreciation for its beauty. Permanent residents from the American Revolution and the War of 1812 are also buried within. American Senator and Representative from Maryland, a mayor of Baltimore, Maryland, and a general in the Maryland militia General Samuel Smith is interred. He served twice as President pro tempore of the United States Senate, first from 1805 to 1808 and later from 1828 to 1831. He was a driving force who became a Lieutenant Colonel in the Continental Army with a force of 200 soldiers in his regiment. Smith's regiment also had Major Robert Ballard of Virginia, Major Simeon Thayer of Rhode Island, and Captain Samuel Treat of the Continental Artillery.  Siege of Fort Mifflin which lasted from September 26 to November 16, 1777, was Smith's most famous achievement during the war. The defenders of the fort held out heroically against a bombardment by warships in the Delaware and by British batteries on the north bank. Several patriots, political and civic leaders from the American Revolution and War of 1812 are also within. the most notables being John Hollins, Robert Gilmor, John Stricker, Nathaniel Ramsay, James Stirling, John McDonogh, Robert Calhoun, Paul Bentalou, James McHenry, and James Buchanan (but not the former president Buchanan a different one). 15 of its permanent residents are generals alone which is very impressive and a huge resting place of America's historic heroes that few mentions in history books. James McHenry also calls these ground his forever home. McHenry's name hopefully should sound familiar as he was one of America's founding fathers. His story to America was a bit of a unique one too as his family originally sent him to North America in 1771 to recuperate from extensive studying to become a surgeon. They also had ulterior motives using him as scout to see if the rest of the family might want to make the jump across the pong and move permanently to America. Which of course they did a year later. McHenry did become a skilled physician finishing his studies in America. He then joined the Continental Army serving as a surgeon and member of the 5th Pennsylvania Battalion. He was captured after his commander Robert Magaw surrendered in Nov of 1776. He uniquely observed the British gave extremely poor medical care to prisoners attempting to report his findings, but no one cared at the time. In 1778 he was finally released in a prisoner exchange and then selected to be George Washington's assistant secretary. He remained in this position till 1780 when he was transferred to Lafayette's staff and then retired from the army in 1781. Afterward he then was elected to Maryland Senate and went on to become the Secretary of war in 1796 being appointed by Washington himself. McHenry's partake in America's establish was a big one a during his service as the Secretary of war he was responsible for reorganizing the United States Army into four regiments of infantry, a troop of dragoons, and a battery of artillery. He also was part of establishing the United States Department of the Navy, based on his recommendation that the "War Department should be assisted by a commissioner of marine" on March 8, 1798. As all politics play out McHenry's dislike of John Adams policies when he became president and in his opinions of how he ran the country led eventual to McHenry's resignation. In the election of 1800 however, McHenry wasn't done with Adam's just yet. He persuaded Alexander Hamilton into releasing he airs against Adam's. These airs questioned Adams's loyalty and patriotism, sparking public quarrels over the major candidates, and helped Thomas Jefferson become elected as the next president and if you thought modern day politics was cutthroat imagine back then. Ouch. McHenry eventually bought 95 acres of land retiring from the public life passing away in 1816. For all the fun trivia listeners out there. Fort McHenry in Baltimore was named after him. Which the fort's significance in the War of 1812 was the battleground that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the nation anthem "The Star-Spangled Banner". Now for a little grimmer history with the father of gothic fiction Mr. Edgar Allan Poe. The resident you've all most likely been waiting to hear about. Poe's tale of life is not the happiest by any means and even in death it is very uniquely Poe. His grave was originally unmarked within the grounds at the very back of the cemetery in 1849. This all changed after a group of school children raised money through a project call "Pennies for Poe" and were able to dedicate a monument at the entrance of the cemetery. Also having him re-interment with his wife Virginia Clemm Poe and mother-in-law Maria Poe Clemm. Yet how does the author known as the father of gothic fiction die and become buried in an unmarked grave? It's best to start at Poe's beginning after being born in 1809 in Boston to actors David and Elizabeth or "Eliza" Poe. His father then only a year later abandoning the family with then his mother passing away a year later. Poe then was taken in by John and Frances Allan of Richmond, Virginia. whom never officially adopted him for some reason but considered them family. He then went on to attend University in Virginia but was troubled with drinking and gambling debts. Leading to fights with John Allan over his university expenses and funds. This did not last for Poe, and he then enlisted in 1827, under an assumed name Edgar A. Perry in the United States Army. He claimed to be 22 at the time but was really 18. Then publishing his first writing collections Tamerlane and Other Poems but it was accredited to a Bostonian not to Poe's name. During his years in service Francis Allan sadly passed away leading to a temporary rapprochement of her husband John and Poe. This was also due to Poe confessing his true name to his commanding officer and attempting to be discharged from the Army. His commanding office, after Poe found a willing replacement said he would only grant Poe's request if he reconciled with Allan. Poe then had been writing John Allan months up to Francis's death but with no reply till after her final passing.

After being discharged from the Army Poe decided to try his luck in being a cadet at West Point but it was just as disastrous as his other choices in life. Oddly enough during his brief service in South Carolina Poe became entangled into a present-day haunting. If your ever visiting Charleston a stop of one of the many city tours tells the tale of Poe and Annabel Lee of an unrequited love lost. Poe was rumored to have fallen in love with a prominent member of society's daughter named Ravenel who disapproved of the match to a penniless soldier. Meeting nightly in a local graveyard they continued to see each other regardless till Poe was stationed elsewhere. While awhile Annabel contracted yellow fever and passed away before he could return but he still tried to attend his beloved's funeral. Her father still against the match even with her death turned him away from her funeral and went to lengths to make sure her interment was a secret. The graveyard of their midnight rendezvous is claimed to be haunted by Poe seeking Annabel for eternity. No records officially support this story, but Poe did spend time on Sullivan's Island in South Carolina and did visit Charleston during the time Annabel was supposed to have taken a suitor making is a possibility. Poe deliberately had himself court marshalled out of West Point, on February 8, 1831, he was tried for gross neglect of duty and disobedience of orders for refusing to attend formations, classes, or church. After West Point Poe finally decided to turn his full focus on writing. He spent the next several years working for literary journals and periodicals, becoming known for his own style of literary criticism. Publishing in 1831 his third volume of poems title Poems. The book was financed with help from his fellow cadets from West Point. A page within is dedicated to their help saying, "To the U.S. Corps of Cadets this volume is respectfully dedicated".   In 1836 Poe married his first cousin Virginia Clemm. Clemm was just 13 years old at the time. Some biographers suggest they viewed one another more like a brother and sister   living prior to their marriage together off and on for several years with family members. Due to his employment in various cities the couple lived in Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York jumping from city to city. Poe published stories, poems, started his own journal, novels, and an editor. He was the first writer to have an income alone from writing, but this of course was not a rich profession at the time by any means. This led Poe to repeatedly resorted to humiliating pleas for money and other assistance from not being paid or under-paid often from publishers. This was during the time of the Panic of 1837 when America experienced a fiscal crisis leading into a major depression till the 1840's. Finally on January 29, 1845, Poe's poem "The Raven" appeared in the Evening Mirror instantly finding fame. Yet with fame also came scandal. Edgar Allan Poe was caught writing letters to two women Frances Sargent Osgood and Elizabeth F. Ellet in the literary society with many of them becoming flirtatious or immoral in nature. In fact, Poe was rumored to have authored several poems about Osgood one being "A Valentine". The writer however continuously seemed plagued with drunken behavior throughout leading to the loss of jobs and causing emotional turmoil for Poe. In January 1842, his wife Virginia showed the first signs of tuberculosis a common killer in their time. Causing even more instability for Edgar Allan who continued drinking heavier from her declining health. The Poe's moved to a cottage in the Bronx soon after where Virginia would live out her final years. Eventually on January 30, 1847, passing away. The only known painting of Virginia Poe is a watercolor portrait painted several hours after her death. The themes in Poe's writing are thought to be influenced by his continuous loss of beautiful woman in his life. First his mother, then Francis Allan who was like a foster mother to him, Annabel-Lee then his wife Virginia. The unraveling of Poe's life after his wife death was a quick but dark one. He attempted to court poet Sarah Helen Whitman of Rhode Island but it was over before it even began with Poe's erratic and drunken behavior. He then went to Richmond Virginia and resumed a relationship with his childhood sweetheart Sarah Elmira Royster. Just 3 years after Virginia's passing in 1849, Poe was found semiconscious in Baltimore, "in great distress, and... in need of immediate assistance", according to Joseph W. Walker, who found him outside a tavern. He found wearing clothes that were not his own, crying out "Reynolds", and was thought to be intoxicated. Edgar Allan Poe died 4 days later Sunday, October 7, 1849, at 5:00 in the morning his last words saying, "Lord help my poor soul." Leading to more mystery than anything. Yet, in even death the world was not done with Edgar Allan Poe. In fact, things were about to look even grimmer. His cause of death even today remains a mystery, but the speculation has included delirium tremens, heart disease, epilepsy, syphilis, meningeal inflammation, cholera, carbon monoxide poisoning, and rabies or even cooping. Somehow his literary rival Rufus Wilmot Griswold was also able to write Poe's high-profile obituary but under a pseudonym Ludwig. He described Poe as a lunatic, and which described him as a person who "walked the streets, in madness or melancholy, with lips moving in indistinct curses, or with eyes upturned in passionate prayers, (never for himself, for he felt, or professed to feel, that he was already damned)". Griswold made it is job to ruin Poe even in death and somehow became his literary executor. Authoring a biographical article of Poe called "Memoir of the Author", which he included in an 1850 volume of the collected works. There he depicted Poe as a depraved, drunken, drug-addled madman and included Poe's letters as evidence. This of course was all complete falsehood by those who knew Poe and seriously disputed. Griswold did not get the exact reaction he was looking for as many wanted to read Poe's works being thought to be reading works by an "evil" man. Edgar Allan Poe even in death was able to outlast his bitter rivals attempts of slander and Griswold eventually was guilty of forgery. His legacy continues with his writing featuring recurring themes with questions of death, including its physical signs, the effects of decomposition, concerns of premature burial, the reanimation of the dead, and mourning. He also is considered the father of detective fiction leading to inspire Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and then horror great P. Lovecraft. Poe's format and details into his stories and analytical abilities allowed him to see details that the public was ignorant of. The methods by which a simple substitution cryptogram can be solved, and he used this to his advantage for his writing. He also a deep interest in cryptography. Writing "The Gold-Bug" he incorporated ciphers as an essential part of the story. In 1841 Poe published two ciphers under the name W.B. Tyler that had remained unsolved till 1992 and 2000. His abnormal death to a paupers like grave then leads us back to the Pennie's for Poe in full circle of just how we got here. Just as in his life his re-interment saw trouble again. Poe's grave originally had a headstone of white Italian marble made but it was destroyed before it reached the grave when a train derailed and plowed through the monument yard where it was being kept. Instead, it was marked with a sandstone block that read "No. 80".  Years later a poet by the name of Paul Hamilton Hayne visited Poe's grave and published a newspaper article describing his grave condition leading to public intrigue. A Baltimore schoolteacher then took interest in the public's intrigue leading to her students starting the pennies for Poe fun with even performances given to help raise money. People throughout the US donated to the cause, a Philadelphia publisher donating a hefty sum and even philanthropist George William Childs. Poe's new monument cost a total of 1500 dollars with even a medallion of Poe included. All three of the men chosen for redesign were from Baltimore. On October 1 of 1875 Edgar Allan Poe was reburied and laid to rest at a new location near the front of the church. A small celebration was held with a dedication made from one of his cousins Neilson Poe. Several famous poets were invited to attend but only Wal Whitman did. As with nothing going exactly as planned in Poe's life the new burial spot was marked with a large stone donated by Orin C. Painter, though it was placed in the wrong spot   was resolved quickly. Finally, Poe saw his troubles end laid to rest next to his wife Virginia n 1885 in the cemetery. Virginia's story within was that her grave was accidently destroyed but because she had no kin to claim her remains was lost to history. Luckly William Gill who wrote a biography on Poe gathered her remains and kelp them oddly in a box hid under his bed. Till the 76th anniversary of her husband's birth saw her remains reburied with Edgar's. Poe's long but tragic story finally was at its very end. In oddity and homage to Poe in around the 1950's an unidentified person for several decades or most likely people paid annual tribute to Edgar marking his original grave in the cemetery every year on Poe's birthday January 19th. A shadowy figure dressed in black with a wide-brimmed hat and white scarf, would pour himself a glass of cognac or cherry brandy raising a toast to the American author.  Then vanish into the night leaving three roses in a distinct arrangement with the unfinished bottle of liquor. For some time, others attempted to get a glimpse who exactly was leaving Poe a toast but never were able to identify the person. In 2011 however the toast sadly ceased to an end but in 2016 Maryland Historical Society selected a new "Toaster" to revive the tradition. That lives on to this day.  The Westminster Burial Ground might house American hero's, war veteran's and others who served the United States from her very beginning. Yet the grim tale of Poe overshadows much of their history today. Perhaps not in the best fashion but Poe's contribution to American Literacy is certainly unmatched by many and changed the course of fiction forever after his however brief life lived. I might have missed details out of Poe's life, but it is hard when someone who lived so briefly lived his years so fully. Leaving decades of impressions on even young writers today. it is best to leave Westminster with Poe's words... quoting the Raven Nevermore. 

https://www.westminsterhall.org/ 

https://morbidlybeautiful.com/haunted-history-westminster/ 

https://poestories.com/gallery/poe-grave-baltimore/poe-original-grave 

https://explore.baltimoreheritage.org/items/show/25