e wrote regularly to Mr. Allan. He met with Mr. Allan after the death of Mrs. Allan in February of 1829. With Allan's support, he received his discharge and enlisted in West Point on July 1, l830. While at West Point, Mr. Allan, who had remarried, continued in not providing Poe with enough money. Poe decided to have himself kicked out of school. Cutting classes and disregarding orders were his solutions. He was court-martialed for neglect of duties in January, 1831, and left. Poe then began to write poetry. In 1831, Poe succeeded in publishing a new edition of his poems entitled, Poems. Poe was now in great difficulty. He went to New York, but could find no job there. Eventually he took refuge with his aunt, Mrs. Clemm, in Baltimore. There he decided to seek employment and make his living by writing. Failing to get attention with his poems, he decided to start writing short stories. Poe competed in a contest for the best short story in 1831. The prize was offered by Phil-Saturday Courier. Because he did not win the prize, Poe started on an ambitious project. He decided to plan a series of tales told by members of a literary group. He found no publisher for his stories, and entered the contest again in June of 1835. This time he sent one poem and six stories. 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, Poe became employed as an editor of the Southern Literary Messenger, published in Richmond. Under Poe's editorship, the Messenger 's circulation rose from 500 to 3500. While in Richmond, Poe married his cousin, Virginia, who was not quite fourteen years old. Poe was fired from the Messenger in January of 1837. Poe then went to New York, where he was unsuccessful. In the summer of 1838, he moved to Philadelphia. While in Philadelphia, he worked as the editor of two magazines.Even though he won a one hundred dollar prize for "The Gold Bug...
