Text: Brander Mathews, “Edgar Allan Poe,” Notes and Queries (London, UK), January 29, 1876, p. 88, col. 1

[page 88:]

EDGAR ALLAN POE. —

“The Utica Observer mentions, as a fact which has escaped the notice of all his biographers, that Edgar Allan Poe was the grandson of Benedict Arnold. His mother, who was known before her marriage as Elizabeth Arnold, an English actress, was the natural daughter of the traitor. This statement rests on the concurrent testimony of a number of old actors who knew Elizabeth Arnold well. Foe himself alluded to the matter occasionally in the company of those who knew this chapter in his family history.”

Can any of the readers of “N. & Q.” verify this?

J. BRANDER MATTHEWS

Lotos Club, New York.