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WAS THE SWEETHEART OF EDGAR ALLAN POE
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An Interesting Period in the Life of Mrs. Kate Henderson — Her Story of the Love Affair.
Mrs. Kate Henderson, of 903 North Fulton avenue, celebrated her 87th birthday yesterday. Mrs. Henderson says that during the lifetime of Edgar Allan Poe he was an intimate friend of hers, indeed she hinted that her relationship with Poe was even stronger than friendship, for during the brief period of his cadetship at the United States Military Academy, he wrote her letters avowing his love and also wrote her small poems.
Mrs. Henderson, although having passed threescore years and ten, is still bright and active in mind. With the exception of slight attacks of rheumatism her health is good. While in conversation yesterday with a representative of the Herald she appeared in the best of health and spirits and conversed readily upon any topic brought up in the conversation. Mrs. Henderson spoke modestly of her acquaintanceship with Poe, and only when urged by others did she tell of her love affair with the famous poet. When she did she related the story of the affair in a straightforward and reserved manner, saying that, although proud of it, she did not desire to be boastful about the experience. She said that the letters and poems that Poe had written and sent her had been carried may years ago by a married daughter to New Orleans, by whom they were highly prized. Later the daughter died, and after her death the letters could never be found.
Mrs. Henderson was an aunt of the late Col. Charles W. Raphun, deputy collector of customs for the port of Baltimore, whose death occurred about a month ago. Mrs. Henderson was born in Baltimore March 2, 1816, at a house which stood at the intersection of Lombard street and Marsh Market space. She has continued to reside in Baltimore ever since, with the exception of a short time spent in Philadelphia. Mrs. Henderson was married three times. Her last husband, Mr. Henderson, died forty years ago. She first married a Mr. Payne. Her second husband was a Mr. Spangler. Mrs. Henderson survives all of her children, of whom there were several.
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Notes:
In a slightly later article, Mrs. Henderson refined her claim to state that she was never actually Poe's sweetheart. Assuming that the age noted in the article is accurate, Kate Bleakley would have been born on March 2, 1816. Matchett's Baltimore Director (corrected up to June 1831) gives the address for the Armistead Hotel as on Swan Street, near the Jones Falls, and lists Matthew Bleakley as the proprietor. Swan Street is today a one-block pedestrian walkway, just south of E. Baltimore Street. (Although it was fairly nearby, it was not associated with the Armistead Hotel at Fayette and Holliday Streets, established by John Gerhard Tjarks in 1907 in the old Raleigh Hotel, closed in the 1970s and demolished.) Keenan's Baltimore Directory for 1822 and 1823 lists Matthew Blakelely as a tavern keeper and grocery, living at the Northeast corner of Water and Marsh Market Space.
Col. Charles W. Raphun died in February 1903, indeed about a month before the article was printed, and he did work in the office of the Collector of the Port of Baltimore.
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[S:0 - BMH, 1903] - Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore - A Poe Bookshelf - Was the Sweetheart of Edgar Allan Poe (Anonymouse, 1903)