A Rainy Discovery on Election Day
On October 3, 1849, Baltimore Sun compositor Joseph W. Walker walked through rainy streets to Gunner’s Hall, a polling station. There, in the gutter, he found a delirious man dressed in ragged clothes. It was Edgar Allan Poe. Walker, alarmed, asked Poe for a contact, and Poe gave the name Joseph E. Snodgrass, a magazine editor with medical knowledge. Walker sent a letter, asking Snodgrass to come.
A Week’s Disappearance, Unanswered Questions
Poe had left Richmond on September 27, heading to Philadelphia to edit a poetry collection. For nearly a week, no one saw or heard from him. He never reached his destination, nor did he return to New York or escort his aunt for his upcoming wedding. Instead, he was found on Election Day in Baltimore, at a known polling site.
Hospitalized but Never Recovered
Poe was taken to Washington College Hospital, where he remained semi-conscious. His doctor, John J. Moran, noted that Poe suffered from hallucinations and delirium and kept calling for someone named “Reynolds.” Poe never explained what had happened or why he wore secondhand clothes. He died on October 7, 1849, with the cause listed as “phrenitis” (brain inflammation).
Endless Theories, No Certain Answer
Over the years, many theories emerged: beating by unknown attackers, cooping (forced voting fraud), alcohol relapse, carbon monoxide or mercury poisoning, rabies, a brain tumor, flu, pneumonia, or even murder by his fiancée’s brothers. Despite research and speculation, none have been definitively proven. Poe’s mysterious end remains unsolved, fitting the writer who created the detective story yet left behind one of America’s greatest real-life mysteries.
On October 3, 1849, in rainy Baltimore, Joseph Walker saw a delirious man in ragged clothes outside Gunner’s Hall. To his shock, it was Edgar Allan Poe.
Walker rushed to get help, but Poe’s strange condition and unknown journey sparked lasting questions…🧵👇 pic.twitter.com/dajbABC59c
— Detective Tiger's Stories (@TigerDetective) July 22, 2025