How Did Edgar Allan Poe Die
Edgar Allan Poe was found delirious on the streets of Baltimore on October 3, 1849, and died days later. The official cause listed on his death certificate was "congestion of the brain," a term used at the time for brain swelling. No autopsy was performed, and no precise medical explanation was recorded.
Edgar Allan Poe Death Timeline
Poe left Richmond on September 27, 1849, for a trip to New York. He stopped in Baltimore and was last seen in public on September 28. He was discovered in a gutter outside a polling place on October 3 and died on October 7 at Washington College Hospital. The days in between remain poorly documented.
Edgar Allan Poe Death Theories
Historians have proposed several theories, including alcoholism, drug use, carbon monoxide poisoning, rabies, and cooping, a form of electoral fraud involving forced drinking. Most mainstream accounts focus on his reported symptoms of confusion and delirium. For a concise overview of these theories, see the Poe Museum page at Poe Museum.
