Edgar Allan Poe: Rhode Island

Part of the fun of administrating this website is hearing from YOU! This week, I was contacted by a gentleman named Russell, who told me that he grew up right next to Whitman’s Benefit Street home and St. John’s Cathedral while his father worked at Brown University. Russell’s former home stands prominently at 80 Benefit Street—its bright yellow color is as hard to miss as the deep red at 88 Benefit Street.

Living next to the notorious site where Edgar Allan Poe courted the lovely Sarah Helen Whitman naturally comes with some lore. One myth that I was able to dispel for Russell was one that he had heard during his youth while living on Benefit Street. The rumor was that the graveyard of St. John’s Cathedral inspired Poe’s most famous work, “The Raven.” As cool as that would be for Providence’s connection to Poe, it is, unfortunately, FALSE! Poe published “The Raven” in January, 1845, and his first visit to Providence was not until five months later. During that brief visit, we cannot even be sure that Poe saw the graveyard since he passed by in the pitch dark of night. Poe certainly spent time among the graves at St. John’s, but it was not until 1848 when he returned to Providence to formally court Whitman. At that point, his ebony bird had long made him a household name. Providence is connected to a few significant pieces of Poe history, but “The Raven” is not one of them.

Russell was kind enough to share a few personal photos with me that he allowed me to pass along here. The photos of his home on Benefit Street give us an interesting look at the area in earlier days.