Edgar Poe born in Boston to actors David and Eliza Poe, 19 January | 1809
Abraham Lincoln born
Alfred Tennyson born
JAMES MADISON
President (1809–17) 1810
Frédéric Chopin born
P. T. Barnum born | 1811
Eliza Poe, on theatrical tour, dies in Richmond, 8 December
Edgar is taken in by John and Frances Allan | 1811
Richmond Theater burns; Gilbert Hunt, a slave, saves a dozen lives, 26 December
Harriet Beecher Stowe born1812
War of 1812 (1812–15)
Charles Dickens born1814
“The Star Spangled Banner” composed | 1815 | 1815
In England with the Allans (1815–20)
Attends school in London and suburban Stoke-Newington | 1815
Napoleon defeated at Waterloo1817
Henry David Thoreau born
William Wirt, Sketches of the Life and Character of Patrick Henry
JAMES MONROE
President (1817–25)1819
University of Virginia founded
Washington Irving, The Sketch Book (1819–20)
Walter Scott, Ivanhoe
Herman Melville born
Walt Whitman born | 1821
Continues schooling in Richmond (1821–25)
Shows aptitude for Latin, poetry, acting and swimming | 1822
Liberia established by the American Colonization Society1823
Monroe Doctrine1824
Lafayette tours the U.S.
Lord Byron dies | 1825 | 1825
Secretly engaged to Sarah Elmira Royster | 1825
Erie Canal opens
JOHN QUINCY ADAMS
President (1825–29) | 1826
Student at the University of Virginia
Excels in ancient and modern languages
Incurs gambling debts | 1826
Thomas Jefferson dies
James Fenimore Cooper, The Last of the Mohicans | 1827
Quarrels with John Allan
Leaves for Boston
Enlists in U.S. Army as “Edgar A. Perry”
Publishes Tamerlane and Other Poems in Boston | 1827
Ludwig van Beethoven dies1828
Jules Verne born
Construction begins on Baltimore & Ohio, first American railroad | 1829 | 1829
Frances Allan dies, 28 February
Poe transferred to Fortress Monroe, Virginia
Promoted to Sergeant Major
Discharged from the army in March
Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems | 1829
ANDREW JACKSON
President (1829–37)1830
Godey’s Lady’s Book begins publication
Emily Dickinson born | 1831
Expelled from West Point in February
Lives in Baltimore with aunt, Maria Clemm, and her daughter, Virginia
Poems: Second Edition contains “To Helen” | 1831
Nat Turner’s Insurrection1832
Virginia General Assembly defeats abolition bill
John Pendleton Kennedy, Swallow Barn | 1833
“MS. Found in a Bottle” (short story) wins literary prize; is published in Baltimore Saturday Visitor,
19 October | 1833
Knickerbocker magazine begins publication
Edwin Booth born | 1834 | 1834
John Allan dies, 27 March | 1834
Southern Literary Messenger begins publication
Cyrus McCormick’s reaper
James Abbot McNeill Whistler born | 1835
“Hans Pfaal” (first modern science fiction story) published in Richmond’s Southern Literary Messenger, March issue
Moves to Richmond in mid-summer to join Messenger editorial staff
Courts cousin, Virginia Clemm
Brings Virginia and her mother to Richmond | 1835
Augustus Baldwin Longstreet, Georgia Scenes
William Gilmore Simms, The Yemassee
Samuel L. Clemens born
John Marshall dies | 1836 | 1836
Marries Virginia Clemm (age 13) in Richmond, 16 May
Increases Messenger circulation | 1836
Battle of the Alamo
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nature
William Holmes McGuffey, first Eclectic Reader | 1837
Resigns from Messenger
Moves to New York, January | 1837
Victoria becomes Queen of England
Nathaniel Hawthorne, Twice-Told Tales
Baltimore Sun begins publication
MARTIN VAN BUREN
President (1837–41) | 1838
Moves to Philadelphia
The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym (novel) | 1838
Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America translated into English | 1839 | 1839
Becomes assistant editor of Burton’s Gentleman’s Magazine in June
The Conchologist’s