Text: Various, “Chapter 02,” The Book of the Poe Centenary (1909), pp. 5-10

[page 5, unnumbered:]

THE Jefferson Literary Society was established in the early months of the session of 1825, and Poe became a member in 1826. The first public event of the centenary was a celebration by this Society on the evening of the 16th. Interest in the occasion and the special programme drew many to the Jefferson Hall in spite of the prevailing severe snow storm. The programme, arranged by students to do honor to their famous predecessor, expressed well the attitude of the student body to him. The committee on programme was Paul Micou, chairman; L. M. Robinette, O. R. Easley, G. F. Zimmer, and A. B. Hutzler.

Mr. Paul Micou presided and welcomed the audience, promising that none of the speakers would attempt elaborate criticism of the poet's life and works. The place of oratorical tributes and dramatic recital of poems would be [page 6:] taken by simple descriptions of Poe's life at the University, the student activities in his day and the founding of the Society.

Mr. H. H. Thurlow, of New York, gave the necessary setting for the programme in a short sketch of the poet's life, not omitting the pathetic story of his varying fortunes in the several cities in which he sojourned.

The Washington Literary Society had been invited to take part in the programme, and Mr. DeRoy R. Fonville, of North Carolina, was present as its delegate. Mr. Fonville, whose theme was “The Pathos in the Lives of Our Southern Poets,” pictured the pitiful struggles that had so large a share in the lives of Lanier, Hayne and Timrod, reaching in Poe's life the climax of his story. The courage and dignity of these gifted men in the midst of the sore perplexities of their artistic lives received sympathetic treatment.

The natural pride of the Jefferson Society in having had Poe as a member suggested the theme for Mr. W. P. Powell, of Virginia “Poe and the Jefferson Literary Society.” Mr. Powell told his audience that the life of the Jefferson Society has been almost coequal with [page 7:] that of the University, if we date the institution from the beginning of its first session, and that the poet was an active member, and, for at least one meeting, temporary secretary. He seems to have addressed the Society only once, and then his theme was “Heat and Cold,” Mr. Powell drew some legitimate inferences as to Poe's sociability from the fact of his membership in the “Jeff.”

Many interesting anecdotes and curious facts about the poet's University year were told by Mr. A. B. Hutzler, of Virginia. In the course of his address on “Poe at the University of Virginia,” he pointed out that despite the lawlessness of that session Edgar Poe appeared on the minute-book of the faculty but once, and that in that case it was merely to give testimony in an affair about which he proved to be ignorant. His evident literary and artistic gifts were shown even then by his storytelling to friends gathered at the fireside in No. 13, and the decoration of his dormitory with crayon copies of scenes that had caught his fancy. In a few words he rehearsed the facts which have convinced investigators that No. 13 West Range is the room that Poe occupied [page 8:] after leaving West Lawn, where he was first domiciled as a student.

Mr. J. Y. McDonald, of West Virginia, followed with an address full of humorous stories of “Student Life at the University in 1826,” the year of Poe's residence. He kept his audience amused with story after story taken from faculty minute-books of the almost daily trials for violating the strict rules prescribing apparel, food, amusements, and conduct of the students. It was hard for the students in his audience to realize, as ever existing at the University, such conditions as those record-books and the statutes of the time record with grave formality. One fact of interest pointed out by Mr. McDonald was the close personal touch that Mr. Jefferson maintained with the students of his University. The disorders of 1826, due to boyish revolt against the prevailing conditions, were graphically described.

Not less entertaining or full of quaint details was the address of Mr. A. G. Gilmer, of Virginia, on “How the Faculty Fared in 1826.” That their lines had not fallen to them in places entirely pleasant was very evident, for [page 9:] something like twenty-five expulsions from a student body of five times that number pointed to a great deal of disorder and probably to much that was radically wrong with the system under which student self-government was first attempted, Mr. Jefferson planned a student tribunal to try all cases of misconduct, but no student would serve on that court and the faculty was forced to another method. Im mediate success was not achieved, but ultimately there came about a mutual respect and forbearance, which solved the hard problem of discipline for all time. The attempt to procure the entire faculty (with a single exception) from abroad was discussed at some length, and the characteristics of the importations were well described.

Mr. S. M. Cleveland, of Virginia, closed the exercises by an interesting analysis of the poems which he believed Poe had written while at the University. These were “Tamerlane,” “Dreams,” “Visit of the Dead,” “Evening Star,” “Imitation,” “In Youth I Have Known One,” “A Wandering Being from My Birth,” “The Happiest Day,” and “The Lake.” The discussion as to whether these poems were [page 10:] written at the University was ingenious and interesting, if not convincing. Their general atmosphere and message were discussed with rare insight and critical interpretation. Mr. Cleveland drew a comparison between “Tamerlane” as first published and the polished poem that appeared later in Poe's life, and showed that, though greatly improved in form, the underlying spirit was the same.