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119. John H. Ingram to Sarah Helen Whitman. Postcard
4 Nov. 1875
I have today written an acknowledgment of yours of the 22nd Ulto. but find that I have not answered yours of the 12th. Browne was an M.D. once, so is often styled Dr. L[otos] L[eaves] I have today acknowledged. I shall not refer to G[ill] at all in print, unless he publishes anything about me (but he won’t), & even then should prefer to keep my dealings with him perfectly distinct from yours, so kindly refrain from alluding to me to him [sic].
Have had about 20 cuttings referring to the disinterment, from different sources. The act of opening the coffin was shameful.(1)
I long to hear of the Lowell. Pardon card & haste to try for post. Always yours,
John H. Ingram
1. In Notes and Queries, 5th ser., 5 (May 13, 1876), 386-87, appeared the following note from J. Brander Matthews, the Lotos Club, New York:
“E. A. POE. — Perhaps the subjoined newspaper cutting may be of interest to some English admirers of the American poet: —
“ ‘In the preparation of the foundation for the monument to the poet Edgar A. Poe, in the churchyard of Westminster Church, Baltimore, it was found necessary to remove his remains to a spot near the grave of Mrs. Clemm, the mother of his first wife. The (N.Y.) Sun says, “The coffin at first appeared to be sound, but when raised the sides were found to be decayed and fell to pieces. Nothing remained inside the coffin but the skeleton, all [page 356:] the flesh and grave clothes having long since returned to dust. Some hair yet attached to the skull, and the teeth, which appeared to be white and perfect, were shaken out of the jaws and lay on the bottom of the coffin. The old coffin and its contents were placed entire, as exhumed, in a wooden case, and lowered into the new grave and closed up. The stones for the foundation of the monument were put in place, and everything is now prepared for the superstructure.’ ”
Ingram reacted swiftly and characteristically, his reply appearing in Notes and Queries, June 1876, p. 455: “Engravings of his monument have appeared in several of the illustrated papers. The ‘newspaper cutting’ quoted by MR. MATTHEWS differs from several newspaper reports forwarded to me at the time of the disinterment of Poe's remains, but I should not have called attention to it but from the fact that it alludes to Mrs. Clemm as the mother of the poet's ‘first wife.’ Permit me to inform his ‘English admirers’ that Poe was but once married, and then to his cousin, Virginia Clemm.”
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Notes:
None.
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[S:0 - PHR, 1979] - Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore - Bookshelf - Poe's Helen Remembers (J. C. Miller) (Entry 119)