RICHMOND, VIRGINIA – “I am a Virginian,” Edgar Allan Poe claimed once. Although he was born in Boston, Poe was informally adopted into a rich Virginia family after being left orphaned when his mother died and spent his early years in Richmond.

He took their name, Allan, as his middle name but relations with his adoptive father John Allan was rocky. After one semester at the University of Virginia where he racked up gambling debts, Poe and the family that took him in parted ways and he was left on his own to make his way as an author.

The Edgar Allen Poe Museum in Virginia has on permanent display items once owned by the master of the horror story and the creator of America’s first detective stories including his vest, his walking stick and even a lock of his hair.

To honour the anniversary of Poe’s death (Oct 7, 1849) the museum has an exhibit from now until the end of November on “Mourning and Death in the Age of Poe” featuring artifacts such as post mortem photographs and mourning jewelry.