Part 36: An Odd Tradition

One of the few things I knew about Baltimore before I moved here was that Edgar Allan Poe was buried in the city.

When I lived in Memphis, I’d read a story about a mysterious stranger who left a bottle of cognac and three roses at Poe’s grave every year on the anniversary of his birthday, January 19.

Nobody had ever seen this person, who was called the Poe Toaster. Supposedly, nobody knew the Poe Toaster’s identity.

I suspected the whole thing was a hoax. One day in the fall of 1982, I called up Jeff Jerome, curator of the Poe House and Museum.

Jerome was the unofficial guide of Westminster Burial Ground, at Fayette and Greene next to the School of Law on University of Maryland’s downtown campus. He’s the one who stays inside the church all night to wait for the Poe Toaster.

I told Jerome that the whole story sounded fishy. What evidence is there that the Poe Toaster exists other than his word?

Well, he said, there’s a newspaper clip mentioning the tribute in 1949, Jerome explained. Though some people claim to remember cognac and roses left at Poe’s grave much earlier, 1949 is the earliest documented occurrence found so far, he said.

But how can anybody be sure you just didn’t put the cognac and roses at Poe’s grave yourself last year? You could be the Poe Toaster.

“Why don’t you join me next January,” Jerome said.

“Join you inside Westminster church while you wait for the Poe Toaster?” I asked.

“Sure,” he said. “The only rule is that once we’re inside the church, we don’t leave the building. Be prepared to stay all night.”

“I wouldn’t miss it,” I said.

Other Parts of the Poe Toaster Tale:

II. 
III. 
IV:
V: