Authors, American -- 19th century -- Biography; Poe, Edgar Allan, 1809-1849; Poe, Edgar Allan, 1809-1849 -- Homes and haunts
"At this time," continued my mother, "we were living on Main street, and
my uncle, Dr. Robert Butt, of the House of Burgesses, lived close by, on
Burmuda street. The large, bright garret-room of his house was used by
our little cousins as a play-room, and was separated from that of the
adjoining house by only a wooden partition. One day, when we were
playing here, we heard voices on the other side of the partition, and,
peeping through a small knothole, saw two pretty children, with whom we
soon made acquaintance. Mr. and Mrs. Poe had taken lodgings in this
garret with a little boy and girl and an old Welsh nurse. Sometimes this
woman would say to us, 'Hush, hush, dumplings, don't make a noise,' and
we knew that some one was sick in that room. Most of the time she had
the children out of doors, and in the evenings we would play with them
on the sidewalk. The boy was a merry, romping little fellow, but hard to
manage. One day, when he would persist in playing in the middle of the
street, a runaway horse came dashing around a corner, and I remember how
the nurse rushed toward him, screaming: 'Ho! Hedgar! Hedgar!' snatching
him away at the risk of her own life.
"This nurse was a very nice old woman, plump, rosy and good-natured. She
wore a huge white cap with flaring frills, and pronounced her words in a
way that amused us. She was devoted to the children, who were spoiled
and wilful. The little girl was running all about, and the boy appeared
about three years old."
Of this old lady it may be here said that she was really the mother of
Mrs. Poe, whom she called "Betty." As an actress of the name of Arnold,
she had played in various companies in both this country and Europe,
taking parts in which comic songs were sung. Her pretty daughter,
Elizabeth, she had brought up to her own profession, and had married her
early to an actor named Hopkins, who died in October, 1805. Two months
after his death his widow married David Poe, who was at that time a
member of their company; and mean while her mother, Mrs. Arnold, had
bestowed her own hand upon a musician of the romantic name of Tubbs, who
soon left her a widow. Thenceforth she devoted herself to her daughter's
family, remaining with the company and occasionally appearing in some
unimportant part.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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