Poe's Life in Boston

MRS. MARIA CLEMM (1790-1871)
Daguerreotype
taken in Lowell, Mass., circa 1849

Maria Clemm–Poe called her Muddy–was Edgar's aunt, the sister of his father David Poe, Jr. She was also Edgar's mother-in-law after he married her young daughter, his cousin Virginia Eliza, in 1836. Poe held deep affection for, and was emotionally dependent on, both women. After Virginia died in 1847, Poe was prostrated by grief while also battling poverty and poor health. Muddy was devoted to caring for him.

Reproduced from Mary Elizabeth Phillips, Edgar Allan Poe – The Man, 1926