the same daily routine involved in military life. Keeping correspondence with John Allen by letters, he met with him after the death of Mrs. Allen in February 1829. With Mr. Allens support, he received his discharge and enlisted in West Point on July 1, 1830.While at West Point, Mr. Allen, who had remarried, continued to not provide Poe with enough money. Being rebellious, Edgar decided to have himself kicked out of school by cutting class and disregarding orders. He was finally court-martialed for neglect of duties in January of 1831 and left West Point the following month. This act also caused John Allen to completely disown Edgar.In 1831, Poe succeeded in publishing a new edition of his poems entitled Poems. Even with his publishment, he was in great finical trouble. HE traveled to New York but failed at finding a job. Eventually he took refuge with his aunt, Mrs. Clemm, in Baltimore. There he deiced to seek employment and make a living by writing. Failing to get attention with his poems, he decided to write short stories.Poe competed in a contest for the best short story in 1831. Phil-Saturday Courier was offering the prize. Poe did not win the prize and the loss began him on an ambitious project. He decided to plan a series tales told by members of a literary group. After unsuccessfully trying to find a publisher, he again entered the contest in June of 1835. This time he sent one poem and six storied. His story, Ms. Found in a Bottle won, and he received one hundred dollars for it. Through the influence of one of the judges, John P. Kennedy, Edgar became employed as an editor of the Southern Literary Messenger, published in Richmond, VA. Under Poes editorship, the Messengers circulation rose from 500 to 3500 subscribers. While in Richmond, VA, Poe married his cousin, Virginia Clemm, who was not quite fourteen years of age. Poe was fired from the Messenger in January of 1837.After being fired, Edgar moved around...
