Text: Anonymous, “He Saw Poe's Burial,” Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, MD), vol. CXLVI, no. 134, March 30, 1909, p. 14, col. 4

[page 14, column 4:]

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Read The Letter At Centennial Meeting In Honor Of The Poet.

Word has been received in Baltimore to the effect that at a dinner given March 1 by the Authors’ Club of London in honor of the memory of Edgar Allan Poe a letter was read from Col. J. Alden Weston, a former Baltimorean, who is the only living witness of the burial of the poet.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who presided over the dinner, read the letter, which was received with much interest by the literary folk attending the dinner. Colonel Weston, in spite of his advanced age, wrote a clear description of the services at the grave and told of the impression made upon him by the funeral, with the hurried prayers and the equally hurried departure of those who attended.

Colonel Weston was born in Baltimore 83 years ago, but since the Civil War he has been living in London. When in Baltimore he was an admirer of the poet and did not accept as true many of the stories of his excesses. Many, he has always said, were exaggerated by jealous persons, and this belief has been shared by others whom the Colonel has met.

Living in the same city with Poe and being an admirer of his genius, the fact that he happened to pass the funeral cortege of the poet by mere chance, and then to be one of a few who saw Poe laid away in the grave, Colonel Weston always regarded as an incident worthy of narration.

Colonel Weston's Letter.

The letter which was addressed to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle follows: “As the sole surviving witness of the burial of Edgar Allan Poe and one of the few who have seen him in life, I regret exceedingly that my advanced age and impaired health will prevent my Joining in the centenary dinner at which you are to preside.

“As a then resident of Baltimore (my native city), I often saw Poe, and, as a young man with some sentiment I had a great fancy for the man apart from his literary genius, for I was one of the few who thought the stories of his excesses to be greatly exaggerated.

“On a cold, dismal October day, so different from the ordinary genial weather of that clime, I had just left my home when my attention was attracted to an approaching hearse, followed by hackney carriages, all of the plainest type. Ag I passed the little cortege some inscrutable impulse induced me to ask the driver of the hearse, ‘Whose funeral is And to my intense surprise received for answer, ‘Mr. Poe, the This being my first intimation of his death, which occurred at the hospital the previous day (Sunday) and was not generally known until after the funeral.

“Immediately on this reply I turned about to the graveyard, a few blocks distant. On arrival there five or six gentlemen, including the officiating minister, descended from the carriages and followed the coffin to the grave, while as a simple onlooker, remained somewhat in the rear.

“The burial ceremony, which did not occupy more than three minutes, was 80 cold-blooded and unchristianlike as to provoke on my part a sense of anger difficult to suppress. The only relative present was a cousin (a noted Baltimore lawyer), the remaining witnesses being from the hospital and press.

“After these had left I went to the grave and watched the earth being thrown upon the coffin until entirely covered and then passed on with a sad heart and the one consolation that I was the last person to see the coffin containing all that was mortal of Edgar Allan Poe.

“In justice to the people of Baltimore I must say that if the funeral had been postponed for a single day, until the death was generally known, a far more imposing escort to the tomb and one more worthy of the many admirers of the poet in the city would have taken place, and doubtless attended from Virginia and elsewhere.

“For many years not even a stone marked the grave, but I believe a monument has been erected since I left the city, some 50 years since. It is a source of infinite pleasure to me to have lived to see the honors now bestowed upon one whom I saw laid away under such ignominious circumstances and who has now attained a high place in the ranks of the immortals and is acclaimed as, if not the first, at least second to none among the writers born on the American continent.

“Apologizing for the liberty I have just taken in addressing you, as also for the prolixity and rudeness of style hereof, with the hope that the same may be attributed to the natural garrulity of old age and the decline of mental vigor, I have the honor to remain. J. ALDEN WESTON.”

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Reply.

The reply from Sir Arthur to Colonel Weston was as follows:

“Your letter was of the greatest possible interest and all the company will be exceedingly interested to hear it. I only wish you were able to join us. Wishing you all that is good, yours very truly,

ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE.”

Colonel Weston left Baltimore just prior to the Civil War, went to Richmond, and in 1862 ran the blockade for the Confederate Government in its dealings with France and England. After that he went to London and never returned. He is an uncle of Mr. Joseph C. Whitney, president of the Merchants and Miners’ Transportation Company, and of Mr. Sterett McKim, chairman of the Liquor License Board. He is also the father of Mrs. C. H. Latrobe and is the seventh in direct descent from John Alden.