Episode 51: The Unfortunate Pirate

For over a century, "Annabel Lee" has been read as Edgar Allan Poe's final love poem—a haunting elegy to his child bride Virginia, written months before his death. But what if we've been wrong about the poem's true subject all along?

In this episode, Mike follows a trail of evidence from a forgotten 1827 tale about a murderous pirate to the windswept shores of Sullivan's Island, where Poe was stationed as a young soldier. Along the way, he uncovers a family accusation that pursued Poe his entire life, a poem he was forced to burn, and the testimony of a woman who nursed him through his darkest hours.

What emerges is a radical reinterpretation of America's most famous poem of loss—and a story about what it means to defend someone you love when the whole world has turned against them.

The grave of Annabel Lee has finally been found. It was never where anyone thought to look.

Sources Referenced in Episode 51: The Unfortunate Pirate

Primary Sources & Archival Materials

Ellis & Allan Papers, Library of Congress (John Allan's 1824 letter to William Henry Leonard Poe)

Charleston Courier, December 4, 1807 ("The Mourner" by D.M.C.; theatrical advertisements for Placide's company)

Charleston News and Courier, September 15, 1912 (account of the Pirate's House legend)

The North American (Baltimore periodical containing "The Pirate" by W.H.P., published November 27, 1827)

Flag of Our Union (Boston, 1849 — publication of "To My Mother")

New York Tribune (publication of "Annabel Lee," October 1849)

Broadway Journal, 1845 (Poe's defense of his mother's profession)

John Henry Ingram correspondence with Marie Louise Shew (1875–1877)

Works by Edgar Allan Poe

"Annabel Lee" (1849)

"To My Mother" (1849)

"Song" (from Tamerlane and Other Poems, 1827)

"To M. L. S." (1847)

"To Marie Louise" (1848)

The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket

Secondary Sources & Biographies

Hervey Allen — Poe biographer (collaborated with Thomas Ollive Mabbott)

Thomas Ollive Mabbott — Poe scholar (1927 discovery of W.H.P. works in The North American)

Robert Adger Law, "A Source for 'Annabel Lee'" (April 1922) — article tracing the poem to the Charleston Courier

John Henry Ingram — early Poe biographer

J.W. Ocker, Poe-Land: The Hallowed Haunts of Edgar Allan Poe

Scott Peeples — Poe scholar (quoted in Poe-Land)

Contemporary Accounts & Memoirs

John Sartain — account of Poe's 1849 Philadelphia breakdown

N.P. Willis — description of Maria Clemm as "Edgar's sole ministering angel"

Marie Louise Shew — correspondence and forty pages of notes from Fordham

Mary Starr — recollections of the Poe household in Baltimore

Samuel Mordecai — letter describing fashionable visitors to Elizabeth Poe's deathbed

Colonel James House — March 30, 1829 letter requesting Poe's discharge

Historical & Architectural References

Robert Mills — architect of the Fireproof Building (Charleston, 1827) and Monumental Church (Richmond, 1814)

Richmond Theatre Fire accounts (December 26, 1811)

Previous Episodes Referenced

"Night Sea Voyage" (Dock Street Theatre, Julian Wiles's Nevermore!)

"Buried Treasures" (Charleston's Gold-Bug mythology, Alexander Lenard)

"Juliet's Tomb" (Alexander Lenard's biography, the A.L.R. tombstone)

"Tekeli" (Robert Adger Law's discovery, Eliza Poe's Charleston performances, Tekeli connection)

CHARLESTON GOTHIC Episode 4: Tekeli

The Charleston Library Society has survived fires, hurricanes, earthquakes, and war—emerging each time with its treasures intact. Among those treasures: the world's most complete archive of Charleston newspapers from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

In this episode, we enter the stacks where a ghost named Hinson is said to wander, where Henry Timrod's blood-stained manuscript bears witness to a poet's final days, and where a century-old scholarly article waited decades for someone to understand what it revealed.

What was Edgar Allan Poe really searching for when he visited Charleston's archives during his time at Fort Moultrie? For over a hundred years, the legend said he came looking for pirate treasure—the buried gold that would inspire "The Gold-Bug." But a 1922 discovery by a Texas scholar suggested something far more personal.

Following threads that connect the Poetry Society of South Carolina, a Harvard-trained philologist, and the vanished stage of the Charleston Theatre, we trace Poe's footsteps to a secret hidden in plain sight—one that may unlock the strangest passage he ever wrote.

The answer lies where it has always been: in the newspapers, in the archives, in the advertisements for a play called Tekeli.

Sources:

Books

- Allen, Hervey. Israfel: The Life and Times of Edgar Allan Poe (1926)

- Allen, Hervey and DuBose Heyward. Carolina Chansons (1922)

- Allen, Hervey and Thomas Ollive Mabbott. Poe's Brother: The Life and Poetry of William Henry Leonard Poe (1926)

- Downey, Christopher Byrd. Edgar Allan Poe's Charleston (2020)

- Kopley, Richard. Edgar Allan Poe: A Life (2025)

- Mabbott, Thomas Ollive, ed. Collected Works of Edgar Allan Poe, Volume 1: Poems (Harvard University Press, 1969)

- Poe, Edgar Allan. The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket (1838)

- Ravenel, Beatrice Witte. The Arrow of Lightning (1926)

Academic Articles

- Law, Robert Adger. "A Source for 'Annabel Lee'" Journal of English and Germanic Philology, Volume 21 (April 1922)

- Peeples, Scott and Michelle Van Parys. "Unburied Treasure: Edgar Allan Poe in the South Carolina Lowcountry." Southern Cultures (2016)

Newspapers & Periodicals

- Charleston Courier (December 4, 1807)

- Charleston Courier (March 22, 1811)

- Charleston Mercury (2011)

- News and Courier (February 6, 1889)

- News and Courier (1938)

- Southern Patriot (July 25, 1833)

- Russell's Magazine

- Southern Literary Messenger

- Texas Review / Southwest Review

Archival & Primary Sources

- Charleston Library Society archives

- Journal of English and Germanic Philology, Volume 21 — inscribed "Gift of author, Oct. 1934"

- Surveyor's plat for Captain William C. Hammer (February 16, 1867)

- Affidavit dated September 5, 1745 (Cid Campeador treasure deposition)

Plays

- Hook, Theodore Edward (libretto) and James Hook (music). Tekeli; or, The Siege of Montgatz

Television

- "Time Enough at Last." The Twilight Zone (1959)

Reference Works

- South Carolina Encyclopedia (entry on Henry Timrod)

Interviews & Personal Communications

- Christopher Byrd Downey (conversation at Owlbear Café)

- Danielle Cox, Digital Historian, Charleston Library Society

- Scott Peeples, phone interview

Find the grave of Annabel Lee and you find the ghost of Edgar Allan Poe!

In this episode, a hand-drawn map pulls us through a locked iron gate into Charleston's most overgrown churchyard, where legends gather like mist and names disappear into leaves. A lady in white wanders the paths. Sixty-four people have collapsed before this very gate.

We follow the trail of Annabel Lee—the girl Poe loved, or invented, or summoned—and uncover the stranger story beneath the legend: a visiting scholar who survived war and exile, stood before Juliet's Tomb in Verona, and quietly planted a grave that may never have existed.

The map points toward a burial—but the real treasure may be hidden elsewhere. What if the grave was a lie but the lie was true?

Sources:

The Ghosts of Charleston by Julian Buxton

Edgar Allan Poe's Charleston by Christopher Byrd Downey

A History Lover's Guide to Charleston by Christopher Byrd Downey

Unburied Treasure: Edgar Allan Poe in the South Carolina Lowcountry

Scott Peeples, Michelle Van Parys

Southern Cultures, Vol. 22, No. 2

Haunted Charleston by Sarah Pitzer

Nevermore! Edgar Allan Poe- The Final Mystery by Julian Wiles

Source for Alexander Lenard:

Primary Sources by Alexander Lenard

Die Kuh auf dem Bast (Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, 1963)

The Valley of the Latin Bear (New York, 1965) - English translation

Am Ende der Via Condotti: Römische Jahre (München: DTV Verlag, 2017) - translated by Ernö Zeltner

Stories of Rome (Budapest: Corvina, 2013) - translated by Mark Baczoni

O Vale Do Fim Do Mundo (São Paulo: Cosac Naify, 2013) - translated by Paulo Schiller

Die römische Küche (München, 1963)

Sieben Tage Babylonisch (Stuttgart, 1964)

A római konyha (1986)

Winnie Ille Pu (Latin translation of Winnie-the-Pooh)

Völgy a világ végén s más történetek (Budapest: Magvető, 1973)

Secondary Sources - Books and Academic Articles

Siklós, Péter. "Von Budapest bis zum Tal am Ende der Welt: Sándor Lénárds romanhafter Lebensweg" (online)

Siklós, Péter. "The Klára Szerb – Alexander Lenard Correspondence." The Hungarian Quarterly 189 (2008): 42-61

Sachs, Lynne. "Alexander Lenard: A Life in Letters." The Hungarian Quarterly 199 (Autumn 2010): 93-104

Lénárt-Cheng, Helga. "A Multilingual Monologue: Alexander Lenard's Self-Translated Autobiography in Three Languages." Hungarian Cultural Studies 7 (January 2015)

Vajdovics, Zsuzsanna. "Gli anni romani di Sándor Lénárd." Annuario: Studi e Documenti Italo-Ungheresi (Roma-Szeged, 2005)

Vajdovics, Zsuzsanna. "Alexander Lenard: Portrait d'un traducteur émigrant." Atelier de Traduction 9 (2008): 185-191

Rapcsányi, László & Szerb, Klára. "Who Was Alexander Lenard? An Interview with Klára Szerb." The Hungarian Quarterly 189 (2008): 26-30

Lenard, Alexander. "A Few Words About Winnie Ille Pu." The Hungarian Quarterly 199 (2010): 87-92

Humblé, Philippe & Sepp, Arvi. "'Die Kriege haben mein Leben bestimmt': Alexander Lenard's Narratives of Brazilian Exile." In Hermann Gätje / Sikander Singh (Eds.), Grenze als Erfahrung und Diskurs (Tübingen: Narr Francke Attempto, 2018)

Badel, Keuly Dariana. "Writing oneself and the other: A biography of Alexander Lenard (1951-1972)." Proceedings of the XXVI National History Symposium – ANPUH (São Paulo, July 2011)

Nascimento, Gabriela Goulart. "Erich Erdstein and the hunt for Nazis: A study on the book 'The Rebirth of the Swastika in Brazil.'" Federal University of Santa Catarina (Florianópolis, 2021)

Mosimann, João Carlos. Catarinenses: Gênese E História (Florianópolis/SC, 2010)

Kroener, Sebastian (Ed.). Das Hospital auf dem Palmenhof (Norderstedt, 2016)

Ilg, Karl. Pioniere in Brasilien (Innsbruck/Wien/München, 1972)

Lützeler, Paul Michael. "Migration und Exil in Geschichte, Mythos, und Literatur." In Bettina Bannasch / Gerhild Rochus (Eds.), Handbuch der deutschsprachigen Exilliteratur (Berlin/Boston, 2013): 3-25

Said, Edward. Culture and Imperialism (New York, 1993)

Said, Edward. Representations of the Intellectual: The 1993 Reith Lectures (New York, 1994)

Herz-Kestranek, Miguel; Kaiser, Konstantin & Strigl, Daniela (Eds.). In welcher Sprache träumen Sie? Österreichische Lyrik des Exils und des Widerstands (Wien, 2007)

Lomb, Kató. Harmony of Babel: Profiles of Famous Polyglots of Europe (Berkeley/Kyoto, 2013)

Hungarian Periodical Obituaries and Commemorations

Egri, Viktor. "A day in the invisible house." In Confession of Quiet Evenings (Bratislava: Madách, 1973): 162-166

Antalné Serb [Mrs. Antal Szerb]. "About Sándor Lénárd." Nagyvilág 1972/8: 1241-43

Kardos, György G. "Man at the end of the world: On the death of Sándor Lénárd." Élet és Irodalom (Life and Literature), May 6, 1972: 6

Bélley, Pál. "Tomb at the end of the world." Magyar Hírlap, April 29, 1972: 13

Kardos, Tibor. "Farewell to the doctor of the valley: The memory of Sándor Lénárd." Magyar Nemzet (Hungarian Nation), May 14, 1972: 12 (also in Az emberiség műhelyei, Budapest: Szépirodalmi Könyvkiadó, 1973)

Bodnár, Györgyi. Radio broadcast, Petőfi Rádió "Two to Six," June 21, 1972

Newspaper and Magazine Sources (Hungarian)

Magyar Napló, 2005 (17. évfolyam, 11. szám)

Kurír, 1990 (1. évfolyam, 124. szám)

Magyarország, 1969 (6. évfolyam, 9. szám)

Élet és Irodalom, 2010 (54. évfolyam, 11. szám)

Siklós, Péter. Budapesttől a világ végi völgyig – Lénárd Sándor regényes életútja

Berta, Gyula. "Egy magyar orvos, aki megtanította latinul Micimackót"

Other Sources

Lenard, Andrietta. "In Memory of Alexander." O Estado, May 11, 1980 (Florianópolis)

Rosenmann, Peter. "Lénárd Sándor." Web-lapozgató, November 30, 2004

Wittmann, Angelina. "Alexander Lenard – Sándor Lénárd – Chose Dona Emma SC" (blog, June 24, 2022)

Spiró, György & Kallen, Eve Maria. "No politics, no ideology, just human relations." Hungarian Lettre 92 (2014): 4-7

FCC – Fundação Catarinense de Cultura Cultural Heritage Inventory (2006)

AMAVI (Association of Municipalities of Alto Vale do Itajaí) Registry (2006)

FamilySearch genealogical records

Lenard Seminar Group website (mek.oszk.hu)

Scherman, David E. "Roman Holiday for a Bashful Bear Named Winnie" (article on Winnie Ille Pu)

Film

Sachs, Lynne. The Last Happy Day (experimental documentary film, 2009) - premiered at New York Film Festival

In this episode, we follow the Annabel Lee legend backward: from modern ghost tours to nineteenth-century poetry, from pirate treasure maps to academic footnotes, from Sullivan's Island beaches to a forgotten corner of a graveyard. What emerges is not a simple ghost story, but an obsession—shared by scholars, storytellers, and an entire city convinced that something precious was buried in the South Carolina Lowcountry and must be found.

Edgar Allan Poe's Charleston by Christopher Byrd Downey

Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle By C.G. Jung

Unburied Treasure: Edgar Allan Poe in the South

Carolina Lowcountry

Scott Peeples, Michelle Van Parys

Southern Cultures, Vol. 22, No. 2

Haunting Poe: His Afterlife in Richmond and Beyond by Christopher P. Semtner

Nevermore! Edgar Allan Poe- The Final Mystery by Julian Wiles

The New York Evening Post

The Charleston News and Courier

The Sullivan's Island Edition of The Gold-Bug by Edgar Allan Poe, Frank Durham and Elizabeth Verner Hamilton

The Descent has led us to Charleston, and to a haunted historic theatre where we uncover a clue that may bring us closer to finding the ghost of Edgar Allan Poe.

Sources:

The Ghosts of Charleston by Julian Buxton

Charleston Ghosts: Hauntings in the Holy City by James Caskey

Complex, archetype and symbol in the psychology of C.G. Jung by Jolande Jacobi

The Mad Booths of Maryland By Preston Kimmel

The Afterlife of Edgar Allan Poe by Scott Peeples

Nevermore! Edgar Allan Poe- The Final Mystery by Julian Wiles

In this episode we visit the most haunted house of Edgar Allan Poe and then retrace his path to the threshold of a secret world.

Sources that were either referenced directly or consulted during the writing of this episode:

Ghosts of Philadelphia by Charles J. Adams III

A Mystery of Mysteries: The Death and Life of Edgar Allan Poe by Mark Dawidziak

The Final Days of Edgar Allan Poe: Nevermore in Baltimore by David F. Gatlin

True Tales of the Unknown: The Uninvited, published in 1989 and edited by Sharon Jones

The Ghostly Register by Arthur Meyers

The Man of the Crowd: Edgar Allan Poe and the City by Scott Peeples

The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket by Edgar Allan Poe

Haunting Poe: His Afterlife in Richmond and Beyond by Christopher P. Semtner

The Poe Shrine: Building the World's Finest Edgar Allan Poe Collection by Christopher P. Semtner

In this episode we continue our search for the ghost of Edgar Allan Poe and retrace his path through the final, ill-fated months of his life.

Sources that were either referenced directly or consulted during the writing of this episode:

Ghosts of Philadelphia by Charles J. Adams III

A Mystery of Mysteries: The Death and Life of Edgar Allan Poe by Mark Dawidziak

True Tales of the Unknown: The Uninvited, published in 1989 and edited by Sharon Jones

The Man of the Crowd: Edgar Allan Poe and the City by Scott Peeples

Haunting Poe: His Afterlife in Richmond and Beyond by Christopher P. Semtner

The Poe Shrine: Building the World's Finest Edgar Allan Poe Collection by Christopher P. Semtner

In this episode we embark on a search for the ghost of Edgar Allan Poe, guided by Henry David Thoreau and the mystery of the Hollow Earth. Our quest begins with a visit to a haunted saloon and an apartment building that is hiding a dark past.

In this episode, we take a look at Edgar Allan Poe's "The Gold Bug," a story about an encrypted map that leads to a buried pirate treasure. We will visit a haunted theater and discuss a play a play about the death of Poe that was first performed there in 1994. The story, the ghosts, and the play are all clues that lead to a hidden treasure that Poe was attempting to find in Charleston in 1828.  This is the first installment of a two-part story.

Works Cited:

Buxton, Julian T., The Ghosts of Charleston , Beaufort Books, 2001

Caskey, James, Charleston’s Ghosts: Hauntings in the Holy City, Manta Ray Books LLC., 2014

Dawidziak, Mark, A Mystery of Mysteries,  St. Martin's Press, 2023

Downey, Christopher Byrd, Edgar Allan Poe’s Charleston, History Press, 2020

Downey, Christopher Byrd, A History Lover’s Guide To Charleston, The History Press, 2023

Hecker, William F., Private Perry and Mister Poe: The West Point Poems, 1831 Louisiana State University Press, 2005

Jacobi, Jolande, Complex/Archtype/sSymbol in the Psychology of C.G. Jung, Bollingen Foundation Inc., 1959

Main, Roderick Jung on Synchronicity and the Paranormal, Princeton University Press, 1997

Pitser, Sarah.  Haunted Charleston, Morris Book Publishing, LLC., 2013

Poe, Edgar Allan,  Complete Tales and Poems, Maplewood Books, 2013

Wiles, Julian, Nevermore, The Dramatic Publishing Company, 1998

Jacobi, Jolande, Complex/Archtype/sSymbol in the Psychology of C.G. Jung, Bollingen Foundation Inc., 1959

Main, Roderick Jung on Synchronicity and the Paranormal, Princeton University Press, 1997

The conclusion of the three part series which combines history, ghosts, true crime and fairytales.