econd cousin Neilson Poe. Edgar was much enthused when he learned he could spend some more time with his brother William Henry Leonard. William, like Edgar, had been heavily affected by their mother’s death. William as well had been associated with the government when he enlisted in the Navy. Edgar had looked to William for help, but found that William had been too drunk and that he couldn’t even help himself, let alone Edgar. Their reunion and happiness together last only six month and was ended abruptly when William died on August 1st, 1831 due to “intemperance”. Edgar now became very focused on occupied with his writing during this period in his life, however, he turned to fiction now instead of poetry, hoping to make more money. “The Dream” was his first published tale, which appeared in the Philadelphia Saturday Evening Post. During the Spring of 1831, Edgar had entered a contest in the Saturday Courier for “The Best American Tale”, where he did not win, but the judges were so impressed by his work they published his first tale, “Metzengerstein”., which held strong autobiographical tones. In 1833, Edgar gathered some of his work into a volume called “Eleven Tales of Arabegue” where six of the tales were actually entered into another contest which he won this time. John Pendelton Kennedy had admired Edgar’s work and decided to publish some of Edgar’s work which was Edgar’s debut in a monthly magazine with national circulation. Back in 1831, in August, Edgar had learned of the birth of John Allan’s and his new wife’s son, named John Allan Jr. Edgar wrote John quite and unfriendly letter in which Edgar did not ask for money although mentioning that he was “wretchedly poor.” Maria Clemm had written twice to John, asking him to help poor Edgar out, and John reluctantly sent some money to help and for the next fiftee...
