Элиза По: Жизнь и трагическая судьба матери Эдгара Аллана По.

Mother of Edgar Allan Poe (1787–1811)
The couple traveled throughout New England and the rest of the northeast, playing in various towns such as Richmond, Philadelphia, and at an outdoor summer theater in New York City before finally settling in Boston. They stayed in Boston for three consecutive seasons of thirty weeks each in a theater that fit an audience of about one thousand. Eliza performed until 10 days before Edgar's birth and may have named her second son after the Mr. Edgar who led the Charleston Comedians.

The family relocated to New York City in the summer of 1809. Eliza had often been praised for her acting ability while David's performances were routinely criticized harshly, possibly due to his own stage fright. Though David's fate is unknown, there is some evidence to suggest he died in Norfolk on December 11, 1811. Eliza gave birth to a third child, a daughter she called Rosalie, in December 1810. Eliza continued traveling as she performed.

In 1811, while staying at a boarding house in Richmond, Virginia, for a performance, Eliza began spitting blood. Her performances became less frequent until October 1811 when she stopped appearing altogether. Her last performance was on October 11, 1811, as Countess Wintersen in a play called The Stranger. Friends and fellow actors Mr. and Mrs. Luke Usher (the name may have inspired Poe's tale "The Fall of the House of Usher") took care of the children during Eliza's illness and many in the Richmond area took an interest in her health. On November 29 of that year, the Richmond Theater announced a benefit performance on her behalf. A local publication, the Enquirer, reported her need for help: "On this night, Mrs. Poe, lingering on the bed of disease and surrounded by her children, asks your assistance and asks it perhaps for the last time". She is buried at St. John's Episcopal Church in Richmond. Though her actual burying place is unknown, a memorial marks the general area. After her death, her three children were split up. William Henry Leonard Poe lived with his paternal grandparents in Baltimore, Edgar Poe was taken in by John and Frances Allan in Richmond, and Rosalie Poe was adopted by William and Jane Scott Mackenzie in Richmond, Virginia.

Though he was young when she died, Edgar Allan Poe was heavily affected by Eliza Poe's death and many of his works reflect her influence. His first published work "Metzengerstein" features a fire burning down a large home, possibly reflecting the fire that destroyed the Richmond Theatre, where she had performed. The fire occurred in December 1811, only three weeks after her death. The early loss of his mother and other women, including his wife Virginia, may also have inspired Edgar Poe's often used literary theme of dying women. This theme is readily present in works like "The Raven".