Text: Anonymous, “Dr. Snodgrass,” The State (Richmond, VA), vol. 5, no. 57, May 28, 1880, p. 4, cols. 4-5

[page 4, column 4, continued:]

Dr. Snodgrass.

The death of Dr. J. E. Snodgrass in Washington recalls to mind the extraordinary statement he made in Beadle's New York Monthly for March, 1867, regarding the burial of Edgar Allen [[Allan]] Poe. The doctor, according to Neilson Poe, Esq., and Undertaker Spence — both of whom are competent to speak upon the subject — was not at the funeral at all, and yet in the magazine referred to he wrote: “I now proceed to give the true version of the place and manner of Mr. Poe's burial. Among the false statements I have met with was one to the effect that he had been buried in the Potter's Field of his native city. As only one of the three, or perhaps four, persons, not counting the undertaker and the drivers of the hearse and a single carriage, which made up the entire funeral train of the author of “The Raven” — who followed the body to the grave, I am happy to be oble [[able]] to testify that the truth, bad as it is, does not sustain the story. The burial place of Poe was an old one belonging to the Westminster Presbyterian church, which ceased to be used much in 1849, because of its location in a populous portion of Baltimore, on Greene street. There were many old vaults in it, and when our little cortége reached it, I naturally consoled myself with the thought that his relatives — two or three of whom were present, and one of them officiating as clergyman — had secured him at least a temporary resting place in one of these family tombs. But it proved to be otherwise. A grave had been dug among the crumbled mementoes of mortality. Into this the plainly-coffined body was speedily lowered, and then the earth was shovelled directly upon the coffin-lid. This was so unusual, even in the burials of the poor, that I could not help noticing the absence of not only the customary box, as an enclosure of the coffin itself, but of even the commonest boards to prevent the direct contact of the decomposing earth with it. I shall never forget the emotion of disappointment mingled with disgust and something akin to resentment, that thrilled through my whole being as I heard the clods and stones resound from the coffin-lid and break the more than ordinary solemn stillness of the scene.” The foregoing statement of Dr. Snograss remained a long time uncontradicted, because probably unseen by those in a position to speak authoritatively upon it. When, however, the remains of Poe were raised for removal to the grave upon which his monument now rests it was found that the casket was made of the best mahogany, and that the should board placed over it twenty-six-years before to save it from “the contact of the decomposing earth: had kept it in perfect preservation. The writer of this article, in conversation with Mr. Spence, the undertaker, outside Messrs. Jenkins & Sons’ undertaking store on Light street, was informed positively that Dr. Snodgrass was not at the funeral of the poet. “Why,” added Mr. Spence, “I saw the boards made and the coffin, too, in this very shop (pointing into Jenkin's store). The casket was of the best mahogany, and I remember, as distinctly as if it was yesterday, lowering it into what we call a ‘shoulder’ grave and fixing the boards above to protect it from contact with the earth.

When Dr. Snodgrass penned his “true version” of Poe's burial, it is more than likely the he was under the belief that the body of the poet would never be [column 5:] raised to give the lie to his remarkable narrative.