AH:Challenge President Edgar Allen poe

As the title suggests get Edgar allen poe into the white house, one possible theory is if he is a succesfull general wins some war and gets elected

It is impossible to get the Edgar Allen Poe we know into the White House due to his particular circumstances (including not following correct routes). We can get a man called E.A. Poe into the White House with a suitable PoD, but he won't be the same person at all who wrote The Raven.

yes I know that we would have to change him totally

He'd have to have a completely different personality and outlook for starters. And to lay off the booze.

I don't know that booze itself would be a hindrance. Apparently U. S. Grant was quite a drinker.

Cicero the Younger said:

I don't know that booze itself would be a hindrance. Apparently U. S. Grant was quite a drinker.

Click to expand...

Amen bother.

Well, i think(knowing the basic about the president in early USA era), that is a lot impossible unless the USA have a Major conflict(blame Jared and DoD), and give to Poe the prestige/fame necessary to be president(and even the gothic scence to make their Poems), i think the Edgar Allan Poe in DoD, have most prestigious than OTL(both like officer and poet for their description of the War), again almost ASB-ish unless a lot of butterflies

Cicero the Younger said:

I don't know that booze itself would be a hindrance. Apparently U. S. Grant was quite a drinker.

Click to expand...

Poe would often intentionally drink himself into a stupor. I'd be willing to call that a hindrance, more so than Grant's hitting the bottle.

Of course, we can agree that alcoholism is but one of the issues keeping Poe as we know him out of politics.

The Vulture said:

Poe would often intentionally drink himself into a stupor. I'd be willing to call that a hindrance, more so than Grant's hitting the bottle.

Of course, we can agree that alcoholism is but one of the issues keeping Poe as we know him out of politics.

Click to expand...

well poe is thought to be a diabetic so "Drinking himself into a stupor" might be easier than with you or I, but still that is true

Mr Poe Goes To Washington part 1

I realize that this is an old thread but I am tempted to give this a try. I have the first part pretty well worked out but will likely need some time to figure out the rest. I am curious, however, to see how plausible this scenario thus far will seem to those of you who are interested. Part One is the O.T.L. leading up to the year preceding the P.O.D. for those who are less familiar with Poe's life. Part Two begins with the year of the P.O.D. and continues with what I have so far. Here Goes...

PART ONE (OTL, pre POD):

1809
Jan. 19 – Edgar Poe is born in Boston, the second son of David and Elizabeth Poe. He (and older brother Henry) is left with his grandparents in Baltimore for a few months before moving with his parents to Virginia.

1810
Dec. 20 – Rosalie Poe, Edgar’s sister, is born in Norfolk, Virginia.
Unknown Date – David Poe abandons his family.

1811
Dec. 8 – Edgar’s mother dies in Richmond, Virginia.
Dec. 26 – Edgar, now an orphan, is taken into the Richmond home of John Allan (of merchant firm of Ellis & Allan). Allan and his wife Frances never legally adopt Edgar. Edgar’s older brother remains with his grandparents in Baltimore, while their sister is taken into the home of the William Mackenzies (neighbors of Allan)

1812
Jan. 7 – Edgar is baptized; he is christened as ‘Edgar Allan Poe’.

1815 (June) – 1820 (July)
Poe accompanies the Allans to Scotland, where are visited family and friends, and then on to London, England, where in 1815 a branch of the Richmond firm is established. Poe is educated first at a boarding school in Chelsea before attending the Manor House School in Stoke Newington. The Allans return to Richmond.

1821 – 1823
Poe is enrolled into the school of Joseph H. Clarke; he later attends the school of William Burke.

1824
Summer – Poe swims nearly seven miles up the James River against a heavy tide, monitored by his schoolmaster in a boat nearby.
October 26-28 – The Marquis de Lafayette, on a tour of America, visits Richmond. The welcoming ceremonies include the Richmond Junior Volunteers, of which Poe is a lieutenant.

1825
March – Poe is enrolled in the school of Dr. & Mrs. Ray Thomas.
Mar. 7 – The University of Virginia (in Charlottesville), founded by Thomas Jefferson, opens its doors.
Mar. 26 – William Galt, uncle of John Allan, dies in Richmond. John Allan inherits a very comfortable fortune.
Jun. 28 – John Allan purchases and moves his family into a vast brick mansion called “Moldavia”, in Richmond.

1826
Feb. 14 – Poe enters the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.
Jul. 5 – Poe attends the funeral of Thomas Jefferson?
December – Poe returns to Richmond to find that his childhood sweetheart, Elmira Royster, whom he had plans to wed, is now engaged to wealthy businessman Alexander B. Shelton. Poe becomes estranged from John Allan over gambling and other debts accrued while at the University of Virginia, to which he is unable to return. The relationship between the two from this point on is tenuous.

1827
March/April – Poe quits the home of his foster parents, travelling to Baltimore and then Boston, sustaining himself with odd jobs as a clerk and newspaper writer.
May 26 – Poe, under the alias Edgar A. Perry, enlists in the U. S. Army and is assigned to Battery H of the First Artillery in Fort Independence, Boston Harbor.
June/July – Tamerlane and Other Poems is published in Boston. Poe’s name does not appear, however; it is attributed only to A Bostonian.
Nov. 18 - Poe’s battery arrives at Fort Moultrie, Sullivan’s Island, Charleston Harbor, South Carolina.

1828
Dec. 15 – Poe’s battery arrives at Fort Monroe, Old Point Comfort, Virginia.

1829
Jan. 1 - Poe is promoted to the rank of Regimental Sergeant-Major.
Feb. 23 – Frances Allan, Poe’s foster mother, dies.
Apr. 15 – Poe, after furnishing an acceptable substitute without expense to the government is officially discharged from the U. S. Army.
May – Poe returns to Baltimore where he resides with his aunt Maria Clemm, her daughter Virginia Eliza Clemm (Poe’s first cousin), his brother Henry, and his invalid grandmother Elizabeth Cairnes Poe. He will alternate between living here and occasionally visiting with John Allan in Richmond for the next year or more.
Dec. 10 - Poe acts as his Maria Clemm’s agent in the assignment of a slave named Edwin to Henry Ridgway for a term of nine years
December – Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems by Edgar A. Poe is published in Baltimore.

1830
Before May 21 – Poe is accepted to West Point Military Academy and departs from Richmond. After visiting Baltimore he continues on to West Point.
Jun. 20 – Poe arrives at West Point; classes begin September 1st.
Oct. 5 – John Allan, widowed the year earlier, marries Louisa Patterson.

1831
Jan. 3 – Poe writes to John Allan. After documenting the many details of their numerous quarrels, and following a litany of grievances against his foster father, he reveals his “intention to resign. For this end it will be necessary that you (as my nominal guardian) enclose me your written permission. It will be useless to refuse me this last request — for I can leave the place without any permission — your refusal would only deprive me of the little pay which is now due as mileage. From the time of writing this I shall neglect my studies and duties at the institution – if I do not receive your answer in 10 days – I will leave the point without – for otherwise I should subject myself to dismission.” Allan does not respond and Poe is effectively disowned, though he will continue to write to his foster father for assistance that he will not receive.
Feb/Mar – Poe is true to his vow to John Allan and deliberately refuses to attend classes or attend church; he is court-martialed on February 8 and dismissed as of March 6.
Feb. 18/19 – Poe is released and leaves West Point for New York.
April – Poems by Edgar A. Poe is published in New York.
May – Poe rejoins his financially distressed family in Baltimore; for the next decade or more he faces a bleak financial future.
Aug. 1 – Poe’s brother Henry dies in Baltimore.
Aug. 23 - John Allan, Jr., is born to Louisa and John Allan.

1832
Nov. 6 – President Andrew Jackson is re-elected to the office of President of the United States.


1834
February – Poe, on learning that John Allan was desperately ill, visits Richmond. Allan, upon seeing Poe, “raised his cane, & threatened to strike him if he came within his reach, ordered him out; upon which Poe withdrew, & that was the last time they ever met”.
Mar. 27 - John Allan, Poe’s foster father, dies in Richmond, Virginia. Edgar’s name is omitted from Allan’s will and Poe inherits nothing from the large estate.

1835
September - Leaving his home in Baltimore, Poe moves to Richmond and becomes editor of Thomas W. White’s Southern Literary Messenger. Poe writes a great many critical reviews and receives both praise and scorn for these frank commentaries. He prints a number of his own poems and stories, including reprints of several earlier pieces.

1836
May 16 – Poe, aged 27, weds his cousin Virginia, aged 13, in Richmond.

1837
Jan/Feb - Poe ceases editorship of, or is possible dismissed from, the Southern Literary Messenger. He and his family move to New York.
Mar. 4 – Martin Van Buren begins his term of office as President of the United States.

1838
Poe and his family move again, this time to Philadelphia.
July 30 – Poe’s The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym is published in New York.

1839
May - Poe becomes an editor for wealthy comedian William Evans Burton’s two-year old Gentlemen's Magazine.
December - Poe’s Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque in two volumes is published in Philadelphia.

1840
Feb. 10 - Poe’s Journal of Julius Rodman (Burton’s Gentleman’s Magazine, Jan. 1840, first of four installments) is mistaken as an actual account of an expedition and is noted in a document submitted to the U. S. Senate.
May – William Burton advertises his magazine is for sale; Poe notifies Burton of his forthcoming prospectus for his own magazine, The Penn. Angered, Burton dismisses Poe as editor.
June 6 - Poe’s prospectus for The Penn appears in the Saturday Evening Post: Poe is unable to raise the necessary support and the first issue of the Penn never appears.

1841
Before Mar. 29 – Poe makes the acquaintance of Rufus Griswold, visiting his hotel to discuss Griswold’s forthcoming Poets and Poetry of America and other literary matters.
April - Poe becomes editor of Graham's Magazine at a salary of $800 dollars per year. During his tenure, the circulation increases from about 5,000 to nearly 37,000 subscribers, making it far and away the most popular periodical of its day. Graham’s features Poe’s Murders in the Rue Morgue, the first modern detective story.
Apr. 4 – President William Henry Harrison dies shortly after taking office; John Tyler becomes the first to succeed to the office following the death of a predecessor.

Mr Poe Goes To Washington part 2

PART TWO:

1842
Jan. 20 – Virginia Poe begins to cough up blood while singing. She is seriously ill; it is feared to be tuberculosis.
Mar. 6 - During Dickens’ tour of America, Poe and Charles Dickens arrange to meet while he is in Philadelphia. Dickens agrees to consider writing for Graham’s and to try to find an English publisher for Poe’s Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque.
April - Poe leaves the editorship of Graham’s Magazine. He is replaced by Rufus Griswold the following month, who this month has published his Poets and Poetry of America.
May 21 – Robert Tyler, the son of President Tyler, informs Poe’s good friend Frederick W. Thomas (who held a minor office in the Treasury Dept.) of his intentions to assist Poe, whom Thomas had recommended, in the obtainment one of a number of positions in the Philadelphia Customs House that were soon to become vacant. [At the beginning of his administration President Tyler opposed the then prevalent “spoils system,” whereby the party victorious in an election rewarded its followers with government appointments; but by early 1842, after his break with the Whigs, he himself adopted this policy to build a political base for his candidacy in the 1844 Presidential election. The installation of Tyler supporters in the Philadelphia Custom House had been temporarily thwarted by the Collector of Customs, Jonathan Roberts, a loyal Whig who refused to remove the incumbents. President Tyler was waiting until the adjournment of the Whig dominated Congress before replacing Roberts with a new Collector who would make the changes.]
Sep. 10 - Thomas S. Smith is appointed Collector of the Customs for the District of Philadelphia. Two days later he removes eleven of the Measurers and Inspectors.
Sep. 18 – Poe meets with Frederick W. Thomas at the Congress Hall Hotel to discuss his potential appointment at the Philadelphia Customs House.

This is the Point of Divergence. In the OTL Poe drank to excess the previous night (after having arranged to meet Thomas the next day) and never showed up.

Oct. 13 – 29 - Poe visits Washington with Thomas, meeting Robert Tyler and his father, President Tyler, who takes an immediate liking to Poe. The two will become friends and Poe is made the Tyler administrations Poet Laureate; prior to Poe’s return to Philadelphia he is promised a Customs House appointment.
Nov. 1 – Poe begins work at the Philadelphia Customs House at a higher salary than any of his editorial work had earned him, affording the Poe’s a more comfortable lifestyle than that to which they had been accustomed. Virginia’s illness begins to show signs of improvement.
Nov. 12 – Upon hearing of the death of Rufus Griswold’s wife, and still hopeful of his own wife’s recovery from her own illness, Poe composes a poem in honor of Caroline Searles Griswold, whom he has never met. It is published in the Philadelphia Saturday Museum. Griswold, overcome with grief, is moved by the kindness of gesture; the two men had previously quarreled over a lukewarm review, written by Poe at least three months earlier but not published until November, of Griswold’s Poets and Poetry of America.

1843
Jan. 31 – Articles of co-partnership are signed by Poe and publisher Thomas Cottrell Clarke to proceed with the publication of Poe’s literary magazine, now named The Stylus. Poe begins raising funds and contacting potential contributors and subscribers. Thomas Holly Chivers, a doctor turned poet and close correspondent of Poe’s, is among Poe’s financial backers.
April – Poe, his wife Virginia, now completely recovered from her illness, and Poe’s aunt and mother-in-law Maria Clemm move into a larger home.
Before July 20 – The Prose Romances of Edgar A. Poe is published in Philadelphia.
Oct. 7 – The Philadelphia Saturday Museum prints the Prospectus of The Stylus. Poe has engaged Rufus Griswold as assistant editor.

1844
January – The first number of The Stylus is issued in Philadelphia.
Spring – Rufus Griswold, as a representative of the American Copyright Club, visits Washington to petition Congress to enact copyright laws which would protect foreign writers from marauding publishers and enable native writers to find a market for their works at home.
Mar. 15 – Poe’s first child, Edwin Arnold Poe, is born in Philadelphia.
Nov. 3 – Poe’s Tales and Poems by Edgar A. Poe is published in Philadelphia. This is the final volume of Poe’s OTL works to be published in his lifetime. Much of what was written in the OTL will never be written, including The Raven, The Cask of Amontillado, Annabel Lee, The Premature Burial, and other late works.


1845
March 4 – James K. Polk begins his term of office as President of the United States. Despite fears that the new administration will bring another purge in the Customs House, Poe retains his position.
Jun. 27 – Rufus Griswold weds Ohio poetess Alice Carey, whom he met in his capacity as editor of The Stylus. She and Virginia Poe become close friends; the families are often together.
October 7 – Poe’s second child, Maria Eliza Poe, is born in Philadelphia.

1846
April – Mexican-American War begins.
July – Griswold’s son, Silas Wilmot Griswold, is born in Philadelphia. This is his third child; he had fathered two daughters, Emily and Caroline, with his deceased wife Caroline.
September – Poe enlists in the volunteer services. In his absence, Rufus Griswold is left to edit The Stylus. Late in the year Poe begins mailing letters to the offices of The Stylus under the pseudonym “Reynolds”; these letters detail the heavily embellished wartime exploits of Reynolds and are to be printed in The Stylus. The letters become a minor sensation and circulation of Poe’s magazine increases.

1847 – March – Poe is placed under the command of Brigadier General Franklin Pierce (3rd Division, 1st Brigade). The two become good friends.
July – Griswold begins dedicating more and more pages of The Stylus to printing abolitionist material, in violation of Poe’s rule of political neutrality in the journal.
Aug. 19/20 – Poe fights in the Battle of Contreras/Battle of Churubusco.
Sept. 8 – Poe fights in the Battle of Molino Del Ray.
Sept. 12-15 – Poe fights in the Battle of Chapultepec/Battle for Mexico City.

1848
Feb 2. – The Treaty of Guadalupe Hildago is signed, ending the Mexican-American War.
April – Poe returns to Philadelphia, having distinguished himself as a fine soldier. Upon discovering the heavy abolitionist content that had prevailed under Griswold’s sole editorship Poe is outraged. The two quarrel over the matter; eventually Griswold either resigns or is dismissed (depending on the source). Incited to action, Griswold then sets his sights on a seat in the U.S. Senate, assisted by fellow abolitionist Horace Greeley. Despite the close friendship maintained by their respective wives, the Poe and Griswold will not speak again for over a year.
May – Within The Stylus for this month is printed a notice by Poe repudiating the “radical abolitionist doggerel expounded of late on these pages”. Also featured is the final “Reynolds” letter, at the climax of which Poe reveals that the true identity of Reynolds is Poe himself, gaining greater public recognition and minor local celebrity.
June – Poe, possibly motivated by rumors regarding Griswold, also decides to run for a Senate seat. His recent renown aids him in his efforts.


.1849 Mar. 4 – Griswold and Poe both take office as Pennsylvania Senators in the 31st U.S. Congress. Zachary Taylor begins his term as President of the United States.

1850 February – The Complete Reynolds, an anthology of Poe’s pseudonymous wartime writings, is published in Philadelphia.
April – Poe and Griswold briefly put their quarrels aside to jointly author The International Copyright Act, supported by a deluge of letters written by prominent authors to literary journals across the country, as well as to Congress, demanding that copyright laws be extended to protect foreign authors. If American publishers could not freely pirate foreign works than they would be more inclined to publish the works of their countrymen.
July 9 – Millard Fillmore succeeds to the office of President of the United States upon the death of Zachary Taylor.
Sept. 22 – “The International Copyright Act of 1850”, more commonly referred to as ‘The Poe-Griswold Act’ and later as ‘The Raven Act’, (Charles Dickens’ Barnaby Rudge featuring a speaking raven is the first foreign work to be registered under the act) is passed by Congress. The fortunes of American authors struggling to find publication for their works begin to improve significantly.

1851
Mar. 4 – Poe and Griswold begin their second terms as Senator in the 32nd U.S. Congress. At the capitol Griswold meets and befriends newly arrived Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner. The Stylus, now at around 40,000 subscribers, is one of the most popular literary journals of its day.
November - Poe writes a glowing review of Melville’s Moby Dick in the Stylus.

1852
Autumn – Poe arranges to purchase John Allan’s mansion ‘Moldavia’; he and his family, including Virginia’s mother Maria, take residence there.

1853
Mar. 4 – Franklin Pierce takes office as President of the United States. Poe, Pierce’s good friend and comrade-at-arms, is delighted to be appointed Ambassador to France. Griswold begins his third term as Senator in the 33rd U.S. Congress.
Apr. 2 – Poe and his family depart for France. Edwin Percy Whipple is left to run The Stylus in Poe’s absence.
May 12 – Poe and his family arrive in Paris; shortly thereafter he is presented to Napoleon III.

end part two...

This is as far as I have managed so far...I am utterly positive that I am neglecting many butterflies, so feel free to chime in with any consequences of my meddling with the fabric of time that I have not addressed. I am currently struggling with what comes next but I hope to post part three soon if anyone is interested. It is very difficult to realistically get Poe elected to the POTUS and my knowledge of historical minutia is very limited, so if you detect any gaping holes in my timeline so far please don't hesitate to savage me with your criticisms.

that's a really nice timeline, I think, boreham.
I especially like the "raven" part being atributed to something completely different from Poe's poem.

Hey, not bad.

And welcome to the board!

Mr Poe Goes To Washington part 3

Thanks for the Welcome! Here is some more.

PART THREE

1854
Oct. 9-11 – In Belgium Poe meets with Pierre Soule (US Minister to Spain) and James Buchanan (Minister to Great Britain) to discuss the purchase of Cuba from Spain. Despite calls for military annexation by Soule, Poe insisted that to advise forcibly seizing Cuba would likely be condemned both domestically and internationally. In the end, the Ostend Doctrine advised against unprovoked hostility and recommended further negotiations with Spain, possibly aided by France and Great Britain.
Winter – Poe engages a publisher to issue a French edition of The Stylus. Young poet and critic Charles Baudelaire is engaged as translator, editor, and contributor.

1855
January – Poe negotiates improved trade relations with France. U.S. begins secretly supplying France with materials to aid in the Crimean War.
Mar. 4 – Griswold begins his fourth term as Senator in the 34th U.S. Congress.

1856
May 22 – Charles Sumner is attacked by South Carolina Congressman Preston Brooks in the Senate chamber. Also present is Rufus Griswold, who comes to the defense of Sumner. Brooks’ associate Laurence M. Keitt is armed and by the time it is all over, Sumner is shot dead and Griswold superficially wounded. Other persons present remarked upon the bravery displayed by Griswold throughout the encounter. One witness to the event was Griswold’s teenage daughter Caroline.
Jun. 17-19 – The Republican National Convention sees the nomination of John C. Fremont for the office of President; recent hero and anti-slavery activist Rufus Griswold is selected as his running mate.

1857
Mar. 4 – John C. Fremont and Rufus Griswold take office as President and Vice-President of the United States, having defeated Democratic candidates James Buchanan and John C. Breckinridge in the election the previous November. William L. Dayton replaces Poe as Ambassador to France. Abraham Lincoln is appointed Attorney General. William H. Seward is named Secretary of State. Poe remains in Paris temporarily to negotiate the publication of his tales and poetry in France, befriending French printer and bookseller Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville.
Mar. 6 – The Dred Scott ruling is handed down by the Supreme Court. Both Fremont and Griswold are deeply disappointed and pledge to pass an anti-slavery amendment. Secession is threatened by South Carolina if such an amendment were to pass.
Mar. 25 – The phonautograph is patented in France by Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville.
Aug. 5 – The first edition of Poe’s tales and poems is published in France.
August - Acting on rumors that the Mormons settled in the Utah Territory were rebelling against federal authority, President Fremont dispatches an impartial committee to investigate the situation, who will ultimately report back that Brigham Young needs to be replaced as Governor of the territory and that the Mormons are violating federal law.
October - Poe returns to Philadelphia and resumes editorship of The Stylus. His family returns to Richmond.

1858
January – Brigham Young is called East, ostensibly to negotiate terms of admitting the state of Deseret into the Union. While travelling, he and his party disappear without a trace. Some believe he has been assassinated, others that his disappearance is the result of the divine. Daniel H. Wells, commander of the Mormon militia, becomes third President of the LDS Church and assumes the Governorship of the Utah Territory.
March – Hannibal Hamlin is sent to the Utah Territory to assume the governorship. The Mormons there, however, are consumed with a religious mania since Brigham Young’s vanishing and believe that God will protect them as long as they stand firm in their promised land; they refuse Hamlin admittance and he is forced to turn back.
May – President Fremont orders troops to enter the territory and remove the false Governor Wells and install Hamlin in his place.
May 11 – Minnesota is admitted as the 32nd State of the Union.
July – The first shots of the Utah Conflict ring out when Federal troops are fired upon by the Mormon’s Nauvoo Legion while trying to enter the Utah Territory. They return fire, beginning six weeks of fighting, at no point during which does God intervene on the Mormons behalf.
August – The Utah Conflict ends with the Mormons being effectively exterminated. The fragmented survivors are either captured or left to the mercy of the elements. Some small groups manage to band together, escaping to the north toward the Dakota Territory.
Sept. 6 – After three years of violence between pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers in the territory, Kansas is admitted by Congress as the 33rd State of the Union under the Leavenworth Constitution, which prohibits slavery.
December – Caroline Griswold, having become increasingly involved in the abolitionist movement, joins up with John Brown and his insurrectionists.

1859
Feb. 14 – Oregon is admitted as the 34th State of the Union.
Mar. 4 – Poe returns to the Senate.
May – A proposed constitutional amendment to abolish slavery, the third before Congress in two years, is only narrowly defeated.
Dec. 24 - Fremont dies suspiciously (radical southerners are accused of poisoning him, but nothing can be proved) and Griswold succeeds to the Presidency.



end part three...

Mr Poe Goes To Washington part 3.5

This time-line is slowly coming together (I keep modifying parts 1-3 and have not had much time to move forward). Here is a bit more (if anyone is still interested?). Criticism & Comments are encouraged!


1860
February – Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard,frustrated by his peacetime stagnation, and in league with Cuban exiles, begins preparations for a filibustering expedition to Cuba. Former Ambassador to Spain Pierre Soule is instrumental in gathering support and raising funds to finance the expedition.
Mar. 2 - Griswold, no longer patient enough to pass an amendment through Congress, and to the outrage of the slave states, issues his Declaration of Emancipation, freeing every slave in the United States, to take effect January 1st 1861. South Carolina is poised to secede but waits until the outcome of the upcoming election.
April 23-28 – Stephen A. Douglas and Edgar A. Poe (after Benjamin Fitzpatrick refuses the nomination) receive the nomination for POTUS and VP.
May 16-18 - Republicans fail to nominate Griswold; William H. Seward, along with Abraham Lincoln for Vice President, is nominated instead.
June – Beauregard’s Cuban expedition continues to gain support from many sources including his brother in law Louisiana Senator John Slidell, publisher James Dunwoody Brownson DeBow, former Secretary of War Jefferson Davis, and New York financier August Belmont.
Nov. 6 – Douglas is narrowly elected POTUS. Jefferson Davis is his Secretary of State. The threat of southern secession is once again averted.

still enjoying it

Brilliant timeline, man! I love how what I always considered a rather lackluster writer changes everything!

Mr. Poe Goes To Washington

Apparently we have but one week to edit our posts. Now I know.

I have made a number of minor adjustments to my timeline thus far, and have added a bit more. This is taking a bit more time than I had anticipated...I registered on this site for the express purpose of creating this alternate biography for Poe in response to the challenge set by the OP, but I am amazed at how much I have learned about the period from working on this. I regretted at first that Poe lived so near the Civil War period because, having lurked for weeks before posting, I could not help but notice the multitudinous "alternate civil war" type projects on this forum...but now I am glad because I have been rewarded with a greater understanding of the period.

So, that drivel articulated, I will post the revised MR POE GOES TO WASHINGTON thus far in just a bit...let me know if it is shit or champagne (or some horrible mixture of the two)!

Loving the thing, even if it means some of his best pieces won't be written (OMG MAYBE HE'LL FINISH POLITIAN ITTL THOUGH), it's a nice idea.

MR. POE GOES TO WASHINGTON (so far, altered somewhat)...

For Poe's life before the year of the POD, see Post 9.

1842
Jan. 20 – Virginia Poe begins to cough up blood while singing. She is seriously ill; it is feared to be tuberculosis.
Mar. 6 - During Dickens’ tour of America, Poe and Charles Dickens arrange to meet while he is in Philadelphia. Dickens agrees to consider writing for Graham’s and to try to find an English publisher for Poe’s Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque.
April - Poe leaves the editorship of Graham’s Magazine. He is replaced by Rufus Griswold the following month, who this month has published his Poets and Poetry of America.
May 21 – Robert Tyler, the son of President Tyler, informs Poe’s good friend Frederick W. Thomas (who held a minor office in the Treasury Dept.) of his intentions to assist Poe, whom Thomas had recommended, in the obtainment one of a number of positions in the Philadelphia Customs House that were soon to become vacant. [At the beginning of his administration President Tyler opposed the then prevalent “spoils system,” whereby the party victorious in an election rewarded its followers with government appointments; but by early 1842, after his break with the Whigs, he himself adopted this policy to build a political base for his candidacy in the 1844 Presidential election. The installation of Tyler supporters in the Philadelphia Custom House had been temporarily thwarted by the Collector of Customs, Jonathan Roberts, a loyal Whig who refused to remove the incumbents. President Tyler was waiting until the adjournment of the Whig dominated Congress before replacing Roberts with a new Collector who would make the changes.]
Sep. 10 - Thomas S. Smith is appointed Collector of the Customs for the District of Philadelphia. Two days later he removes eleven of the Measurers and Inspectors.
Sep. 18 – Poe meets with Frederick W. Thomas at the Congress Hall Hotel to discuss his potential appointment at the Philadelphia Customs House.

This is the Point of Divergence. In the OTL Poe drank to excess the previous night (after having arranged to meet Thomas the next day) and never showed up.

Oct. 13 – 29 - Poe visits Washington with Thomas, meeting Robert Tyler and his father, President Tyler, who takes an immediate liking to Poe. The two will become friends and Poe is made the Tyler administrations Poet Laureate; prior to Poe’s return to Philadelphia he is promised a Customs House appointment.
Nov. 1 – Poe begins work at the Philadelphia Customs House at a higher salary than any of his editorial work had earned him, affording the Poe’s a more comfortable lifestyle than that to which they had been accustomed. Virginia’s illness begins to show signs of improvement.
Nov. 12 – Upon hearing of the death of Rufus Griswold’s wife, and still hopeful of his own wife’s recovery from her own illness, Poe composes a poem in honor of Caroline Searles Griswold, whom he has never met. It is published in the Philadelphia Saturday Museum. Griswold, overcome with grief, is moved by the kindness of gesture; the two men had previously quarreled over a lukewarm review, written by Poe at least three months earlier but not published until November, of Griswold’s Poets and Poetry of America.

1843
Jan. 31 – Articles of co-partnership are signed by Poe and publisher Thomas Cottrell Clarke to proceed with the publication of Poe’s literary magazine, now named The Stylus. Poe begins raising funds and contacting potential contributors and subscribers. Thomas Holly Chivers, a doctor turned poet and close correspondent of Poe’s, is among Poe’s financial backers.
April – Poe, his wife Virginia, now completely recovered from her illness, and Poe’s aunt and mother-in-law Maria Clemm move into a larger home.
Aug. 27 – Poe, previously known as an unstable person and an occasional drunkard with a peculiar sensitivity to the effects of alcohol, is initiated into the Philadelphia Division (No. 1) of the Sons of Temperance, pledging to abstain from alcohol and remain sober indefinitely.
Oct. 7 – The Philadelphia Saturday Museum prints the Prospectus of The Stylus. Poe has engaged Rufus Griswold as assistant editor.

1844
January – The first number of The Stylus is issued in Philadelphia. From this point Poe puts his fiction and poetry aside in order to focus on literary criticism and the editing of The Stylus.
Spring – Rufus Griswold, as a representative of the American Copyright Club, visits Washington to petition Congress to enact copyright laws which would protect foreign writers from marauding publishers and enable native writers to find a market for their works at home.
Mar. 15 – Poe’s first child, Edwin Arnold Poe, is born in Philadelphia.
Nov. 3 – Tales and Poems (in three volumes) by Edgar A. Poe is published in Philadelphia, in which is collected the entirety of Poe’s poetry and prose, reprinting all of the material from his previous books and collecting for the first time the tales and poems that had theretofore only appeared in literary journals. The "Reynolds" war tales are not included in this volume; nor are Poe's unfinished projects "The Journal of Julius Rodman" & "Scenes From an Unpublished Drama (Politian)". This is the final anthology of Poe’s OTL works to be published in his lifetime. All of the works written in the OTL after 1843 (particularly tales and poems inspired by Virginia’s death) will never be written.

1845
March 4 – James K. Polk begins his term of office as President of the United States. Despite fears that the new administration will bring another purge in the Customs House, Poe retains his position.
Jun. 27 – Rufus Griswold weds Ohio poetess Alice Carey, whom he met in his capacity as editor of The Stylus. She and Virginia Poe become close friends; the families are often together.
October 7 – Poe’s second child, Maria Eliza Poe, is born in Philadelphia.

1846
April – Mexican-American War begins.
July – Griswold’s son, Silas Wilmot Griswold, is born in Philadelphia. This is his third child; he had fathered two daughters, Emily (born 1838) and Caroline (born 1840), with his deceased wife Caroline.
September – Poe enlists in the volunteer services. In his absence, Rufus Griswold is left to edit The Stylus. Late in the year Poe begins mailing letters to the offices of The Stylus under the pseudonym “Reynolds”; these letters detail the heavily embellished wartime exploits of Reynolds and are to be printed in The Stylus. The letters become a minor sensation and circulation of Poe’s magazine increases.

1847
March – Poe is placed under the command of Brigadier General Franklin Pierce (3rd Division, 1st Brigade). The two become good friends.
May 5 – Poe’s third child, Ebenezer Alexander Poe, is born in Philadelphia in his absence.
July – Griswold begins dedicating more and more pages of The Stylus to printing abolitionist material, in violation of Poe’s rule of political neutrality in the journal.
Aug. 19/20 – Poe fights in the Battle of Contreras/Battle of Churubusco.
Sept. 8 – Poe fights in the Battle of Molino Del Ray.
Sept. 12-15 – Poe fights in the Battle of Chapultepec/Battle for Mexico City.
Nov. 3 – Griswold’s second son, Augustus Franklin Griswold, is born in Philadelphia.

1848
Feb 2. – The Treaty of Guadalupe Hildago is signed, ending the Mexican-American War.
April – Poe returns to Philadelphia, having distinguished himself as a war hero and rising to the rank of Captain. Upon discovering the heavy abolitionist content that had prevailed under Griswold’s sole editorship Poe is outraged. The two quarrel over the matter; eventually Griswold either resigns or is dismissed (depending on the source). Incited to action, Griswold then sets his sights on a seat in the U.S. Senate, assisted by fellow abolitionist Horace Greeley. Despite the close friendship maintained by their respective wives, the Poe and Griswold will not speak again for over a year.
May – Within The Stylus for this month is printed a notice by Poe repudiating the “radical abolitionist doggerel expounded of late on these pages”. Also featured is the final “Reynolds” letter, at the climax of which Poe reveals that the true identity of Reynolds is Poe himself, gaining greater public recognition and minor local celebrity.
June – Poe, possibly motivated by rumors regarding Griswold, also decides to run for a Senate seat. His recent renown aids him in his efforts.

1849
Mar. 4 – Griswold and Poe both take office as Pennsylvania Senators in the 31st U.S. Congress. Zachary Taylor begins his term as President of the United States.
Aug. 19 – Poe’s fourth child, Annabel Lee Poe, is born in Philadelphia.

1850
February – The Complete Reynolds, an anthology of Poe’s pseudonymous wartime writings, is published in Philadelphia.
April – Poe and Griswold briefly put their quarrels aside to jointly author The International Copyright Act, supported by a deluge of letters written by prominent authors to literary journals across the country, as well as to Congress, demanding that copyright laws be extended to protect foreign authors. If American publishers could not freely pirate foreign works than they would be more inclined to publish the works of their countrymen.
July 9 – Millard Fillmore succeeds to the office of President of the United States upon the death of Zachary Taylor.
Sept. 22 – “The International Copyright Act of 1850”, more commonly referred to as ‘The Poe-Griswold Act’ and later as ‘The Raven Act’, (Charles Dickens’ Barnaby Rudge featuring a speaking raven is the first foreign work to be registered under the act) is passed by Congress. The fortunes of American authors struggling to find publication for their works begin to improve significantly.

1851
Mar. 4 – Poe and Griswold begin their second terms as Senator in the 32nd U.S. Congress. At the capitol Griswold meets and befriends newly arrived Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner. The Stylus, now at around 40,000 subscribers, is one of the most popular literary journals of its day.
November - Poe writes a glowing review of Melville’s Moby Dick in the Stylus.

1852
Autumn – Poe arranges to purchase John Allan’s mansion ‘Moldavia’; he and his family, including Virginia’s mother Maria, take residence there.

1853
Mar. 4 – Franklin Pierce takes office as President of the United States. Poe, Pierce’s good friend and comrade-at-arms, is delighted to be appointed Ambassador to France. Griswold begins his third term as Senator in the 33rd U.S. Congress.
Apr. 2 – Poe and his family depart for France. Edwin Percy Whipple is left to run The Stylus in Poe’s absence.
May 12 – Poe and his family arrive in Paris; shortly thereafter he is presented to Napoleon III.

1854
Oct. 9-11 – In Belgium Poe meets with Pierre Soule (US Minister to Spain) and James Buchanan (Minister to Great Britain) to discuss the purchase of Cuba from Spain. Despite calls for military annexation by Soule, Poe insisted that to advise forcibly seizing Cuba would likely be condemned both domestically and internationally. In the end, the Ostend Doctrine advised against unprovoked hostility and recommended further negotiations with Spain, possibly aided by France and Great Britain.
Winter – Poe engages a publisher to issue a French edition of The Stylus. Young poet and critic Charles Baudelaire is engaged as translator, editor, and contributor.

1855
January – Poe negotiates improved trade relations with France.
Mar. 4 – Griswold begins his fourth term as Senator in the 34th U.S. Congress.

1856
May 22 – Charles Sumner is attacked by South Carolina Congressman Preston Brooks in the Senate chamber. Also present is Rufus Griswold, who comes to the defense of Sumner. Brooks’ associate Laurence M. Keitt is armed and by the time it is all over, Sumner is shot dead and Griswold superficially wounded. Other persons present remarked upon the bravery displayed by Griswold throughout the encounter. One witness to the event was Griswold’s teenage daughter Caroline.
Jun. 17-19 – The Republican National Convention sees the nomination of John C. Fremont for the office of President; recent hero and radical abolitionist Rufus Griswold is selected as his running mate.

1857
Mar. 4 – John C. Fremont and Rufus Griswold take office as President and Vice-President of the United States, having defeated Democratic candidates James Buchanan and John C. Breckinridge in the election the previous November. William L. Dayton replaces Poe as Ambassador to France. Abraham Lincoln is appointed Attorney General. William H. Seward is named Secretary of State. Poe remains in Paris temporarily to negotiate the publication of his tales and poetry in France, befriending French printer and bookseller Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville.
Mar. 6 – The Dred Scott ruling is handed down by the Supreme Court. Both Fremont and Griswold are deeply disappointed and pledge to pass an anti-slavery amendment. Secession is threatened by South Carolina if such an amendment were to pass.
Mar. 25 – The phonautograph is patented in France by Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville.
Aug. 5 – The first edition of Poe’s tales and poems is published in France.
August - Acting on rumors that the Mormons settled in the Utah Territory were rebelling against federal authority, President Fremont dispatches an impartial committee to investigate the situation, who will ultimately report back that Brigham Young needs to be replaced as Governor of the territory and that the Mormons are violating federal law.
October - Poe returns to Philadelphia and resumes editorship of The Stylus. His family returns to Richmond.

1858
January – Brigham Young is called East, ostensibly to negotiate terms of admitting the state of Deseret into the Union. While travelling, he and his party disappear without a trace. Some believe he has been assassinated, others that his disappearance is the result of the divine. Daniel H. Wells, commander of the Mormon militia, becomes third President of the LDS Church and assumes the Governorship of the Utah Territory.
March – Hannibal Hamlin is sent to the Utah Territory to assume the governorship. The Mormons there, however, are consumed with a religious mania since Brigham Young’s vanishing and believe that God will protect them as long as they stand firm in their promised land; they refuse Hamlin admittance and he is forced to turn back.
May – President Fremont orders troops to enter the territory and remove the false Governor Wells and install Hamlin in his place.
July – The first shots of the Utah Conflict ring out when Federal troops are fired upon by the Mormon’s Nauvoo Legion while trying to enter the Utah Territory. They return fire, beginning six weeks of fighting, at no point during which does God intervene on the Mormons behalf.
August – The Utah Conflict ends with the Mormons being effectively exterminated. The fragmented survivors are either captured or left to the mercy of the elements. Some small groups manage to band together, escaping to the north toward the Dakota Territory.
December – Caroline Griswold, having become increasingly involved in the abolitionist movement, joins up with John Brown and his insurrectionists.

1859
Feb. 14 – Oregon is admitted as the 33rd State of the Union.
Mar. 4 – Poe returns to the Senate.
May – A proposed constitutional amendment to abolish slavery, the third before Congress in two years, is only narrowly defeated.
Nov. 24 - Fremont is found dead in his bed, with no indication of the manner of his expiration. Radical southerners are accused of poisoning him in some manner, but nothing can be proved. Griswold succeeds to the Presidency.
Dec. 19 – In his Annual Message To Congress, Griswold renews his commitment to eradicating slavery and laments the inequalities he see’s all around him, calling upon Congress to amend the Constitution to grant women the right to vote.

1860
February – Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard,frustrated by his peacetime stagnation, and in league with Cuban exiles, begins preparations for a filibustering expedition to Cuba. Former Ambassador to Spain Pierre Soule is instrumental in gathering support and raising funds to finance the expedition.
Mar. 2 - Griswold, no longer patient enough to pass an amendment through Congress, and to the outrage of the slave states, issues his Executive Order of Emancipation, freeing every slave in the United States, to take effect January 1st 1861; slave owners are to be compensated upon compliance. This is in direct violation of both the 10th Amendment to the Constitution and the ruling of the Supreme Court in the Dred Scott case. South Carolina is poised to secede but, relenting for the benefit of the other southern states, waits until the outcome of the upcoming election in the hope that the order will not stand.
April – The New Mexico Territory is divided latitudinally at the 34th parallel; the southern portion now forms The Montezuma Territory.
April 23-28 – Stephen A. Douglas and Edgar A. Poe (after Benjamin Fitzpatrick refuses the nomination) receive the nomination for POTUS and VP.
May 16-18 - Republicans fail to nominate Griswold; William H. Seward, along with Abraham Lincoln for Vice President, is nominated instead.
June – Beauregard’s Cuban expedition continues to gain support from many sources including his brother in law Louisiana Senator John Slidell, publisher James Dunwoody Brownson DeBow, former Secretary of War Jefferson Davis, and New York financier August Belmont.
Nov. 6 – Douglas is narrowly elected POTUS. Jefferson Davis is his Secretary of State. The threat of southern secession is once again averted.

1861
Jan. 1 – February - Griswold’s emancipation order takes effect. Many slave owners willingly comply with the command, but many more do not, awaiting the Douglas administrations inauguration. In southern states slaves riot when they are denied their freedom; these rebellions are violently suppressed. In some cases, however, the slaves refuse to be emancipated, preferring to remain as they are. President Griswold had stated that the government would intervene militarily were it necessary for complete emancipation, and troops are dispatched to both free slaves and maintain order. Many men, soldier and officer alike, whose loyalty lay with the southern cause refused to participate and in some cases even sabotaged the efforts of the government. By the end of February a great many slaves have been freed, but those liberated are but a small percentage overall.
March – Encouraged by the number of slaves willing to fight for their freedom, John Brown reconsiders a scheme to arm slaves with weapons stolen from the United States Arsenal at Harpers Ferry in Virginia that he had decided against two years ago. He meets with Ohio State Senator and abolitionist Lucius Verus Bierce and a plan to be executed later in the year takes shape. Northern abolitionist groups provide funds and arms for the endeavor.
Mar. 4 - Douglas and Poe take office, immediately rescinding Griswold’s emancipation order. Violence in the south begins to subside, though tensions remain high.
Apr. 12 – Beauregard’s Cuban expedition sets sail from Florida having failed to receive any support or authorization from the new administration. Made up of around 1200 men recruited from all over the country but primarily the southern states, and even including displaced slaves, it is awaited in Cuba by an army of approximately 2500 rebels.
June – The United States offers to purchase Cuba from Spain for $225,000,000; the offer is declined.
Jul. 1 – Edwin Arnold Poe, age 17, is admitted to West Point.
Aug. 18-22 - John Brown and Lucius Verus Bierce, accompanied by a mixed group of 57, free men both black and white, freed and fugitive slaves, and including three of Brown’s sons, Bierce’s nephew Ambrose, as well as Caroline Griswold, capture the federal armory at Harper's Ferry and hold it for over 36 hours, emancipating nearly 500 muskets, rifles, and other weaponry. During this time agents are dispatched to agitate the local slave population, recruiting just over 40 more men who assist the raiders in their escape from the armory before Washington can respond with a detachment of Marines. The group then seeks refuge in the mountain wilderness of the Alleghenies where they establish camp, intent on rallying additional men from plantations in the surrounding areas until their numbers are sufficient to begin extending the encampments (and their insurrection) further south.

More To Come...