A Suitcase Full of Books: Visit All Four Edgar Allan Poe Houses & Interview with Author Sharon Pajka

I love following A Suitcase Full of Books and all her literary travels. Here's her visit to all four of Edgar Allan Poe Houses with a couple cemeteries added. I had such a nice time chatting with her about Poe and I adore supporting other content creators!  

Come with me to visit all four Edgar Allan Poe house museums on the Eastern Seaboard in Richmond, Virginia, Baltimore, Maryland, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and New York City, New York. Along the way we'll learn about Poe and his writing with help from Sharon Pajka, the author of The Souls Close to Edgar Allan Poe. Read the corresponding blog post at A Suitcase Full of Books about this experience: https://asuitcasefullofbooks.com/edga... Locations: Poe Statue, Boston, MA Poe Museum, Richmond, VA (https://poemuseum.org/) Poe in Baltimore, Baltimore, MD (https://www.poeinbaltimore.org/) Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site, Philadelphia, PA (https://www.nps.gov/edal/index.htm) Poe Cottage, NYC, NY (http://bronxhistoricalsociety.org/poe...) CORRECTION: The Raven was NOT written at the Poe Cottage in NYC, it was written at the Brennan farm on the upper west side. Other links: Philadelphia Poe House photographs (Photo Gallery (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)): https://www.nps.gov/media/photo/galle... BLOG: https://asuitcasefullofbooks.com

Physically distancing in Hollywood Cemetery

 

Blandford Cemetery-second largest cemetery in Virginia

 

Blandford Cemetery is located in Petersburg, Virginia. The oldest stone reads 1702. The cemetery is 189 acres, which makes it the second largest cemetery in Virginia with Arlington National Cemetery as the largest. The cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.

Exiting Mount Hebron, Winchester, Virginia

 

Returned to this beautiful cemetery again today. I don’t have a fancy phone holder so I hooked this to my visor. The view was just too breathtaking not to capture. Also, yes, I know, I need to clean my windshield.

The grave of author VC Andrews

 

The grave of author VC Andrews

The transcript is below. A YouTube video with captions is posted in the comments.

Transcript:

hi I'm Sharon with River City Cemetarians and today I am in Portsmouth

Virginia at Olive Branch Cemetery also known as City Park Cemetery I'm at the

grave of Cleo Virginia Andrews better known to many of you as VC Andrews the

popular novelist of Flowers in the Attic published in

1979. Unfortunately Ms. Andrews didn't live a decade after the publication; she

passed away from breast cancer in 1986. Interesting enough, Simon & Schuster

didn't announce the author's death for four years. The estate used a ghostwriter

and they still do today.

Masonic Cemetery in Fredericksburg, VA

Outside of the Masonic Cemetery in Fredericksburg, VA at the grave of Christiana Campbell.

 

Transcript below (captioned YouTube video posted in comments):

I'm Sharon with River City Cemetarians and today I'm standing outside the

Masonic Cemetery in Fredericksburg, Virginia. I was really

excited about coming out today but with COVID-19, it appears that the

cemetery gates are locked. Fortunately for me I was able to find

the gravestone that I was looking for which is right behind me. You'll see

Christiana Campbell. She became one of the capital's most

prominent tavern keepers and when I say capital, I'm talking about

Williamsburg, Virginia. She specialized in offering what was

described as "genteel accommodations and the very best entertainment." Her

clientele included George Washington and also Thomas Jefferson. Now

when Richmond became the capital in 1780, many of the tavern owners and merchants

moved to the new capital. Ms. Campbell actually decided to stay in Williamsburg

and then eventually retired there. Her tavern,

she passed away in 1792 but her tavern continued

to operate under new hands until 1859 when it did burn down.

Then Colonial Williamsburg Foundation actually reconstructed her tavern

in 1956. so if you've been a tourist

to Colonial Williamsburg, you may have heard of Christiana Campbell

and here is her grave right behind me.

Hollywood Cemetery Rose Maintenance Day- rosa moschata (musk rose)

Today was Hollywood Cemetery’s annual Rose Maintenance Day. 

I chatted with lead rosarian Connie Stevens Hilker about the event and the history behind the rosa moschata (musk rose) in the Crenshaw plot.

Poe and Shockoe Hill Cemetery

On this day, 170 years ago, Edgar Allan Poe died in Baltimore. Before that he lived much of his life here and claimed Richmond, VA as his hometown.

From the grave of Jane Stanard to the graves of Francis Allan and John Allan, Poe walked here.

Revolutionary War Cemetery in Williamsburg, VA

This Revolutionary War Cemetery is both peaceful and beautiful.

This cemetery holds the remains of 156 men and 2 women from the time of the American Revolution when the Governor's Palace was used as a hospital.

 

Waller family cemetery in Colonial Williamsburg

 

The Waller family cemetery behind the 1746 Waller House in Colonial Williamsburg. This is the back part of the cemetery. Colonial Williamsburg curators helped resurrect the forgotten family plot. There are 38 monuments in total.

 

The graves include Elizabeth Tyler Waller, the daughter of President John Tyler. She died before she was 27 and was buried in this family cemetery of her husband, William Nevison Waller.

Old City Cemetery's perfect swing