Text: Anonymous, “Poe's Coffin,” Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, MD), October 7, 1899, p. 9, col. 3

[page 9, column 3, continued:]

POE'S COFFIN

Fragment In Possession of Mr. Louis F. Grafflin.

In connection with the unveiling of the bust of Edgar Allan Poe at the University of Virginia it is interesting to know that fragments of the coffin in which Poe was first buried are held as priceless relics in Baltimore. One of these fragments is cherished by Mr. Louis F. Grafflin, 1824 Madison avenue. It was received by him from his brother, Mr. Howard Grafflin, who was present when Poe's body was exhumed and then buried in Its present grave, in Westminster Cemetery. Mr. Graffin refutes the statement that Poe was buried almost as a pauper, with a coffin of poplar, stained to imitate walnut, by pointing to the fragment of the coffin, which is a piece of solid mahogany.

Mr. Grafflin's uncle, Mr. Henry Herring, married a Miss Poe, who was a relative of the poet, and Edgar Allan Poe was always a welcome visitor at their home. It is remembered that Mr. Herring spoke of Poe as being eccentric, so that he would frequently drop in upon the family without notice, and after staying for some time would leave without a good-bye, only to return again in a few weeks, as if nothing unusual had happened.

Mr. Herring told his nephew that he bore the expense of Poe's burial, and, from the accustomed generosity of Mr. Herring and his fondness for Poe, it is Inferred that no expense was spared at the funeral.

Miss Rice Invited.

Miss Sara S. Rice, teacher of elocution in the Western High School, Baltimore, received an invitation from the Poe Memorial Association of the University of Virginia to attend the unveiling of the bust of Edgar Allan Poe. Miss Rice is president of the Public School Teachers’ Poe Memorial Association, through whose efforts mainly a quarter of a century ago the money was raised by which the monument was erected over Poe's grave in Westminster Church yard, Fayette and Greene streets, Baltimore.