Frances Keeling Allan

Frances Keeling Valentine Allan

• (Born: 1785 - Died: February 28, 1829)

From E.A. Poe Society of Baltimore

She married John Allan on February 5, 1803 (Quinn, p. 53). (Mary Phillips gives the date of marriage as February 9, 1803, presumably confusing the announcement of the marriage in The Virginia Gazette and General Advertiser of that date.) The marriage produced no children. She and John Allan took the orphaned Edgar Poe into their home sometime in December of 1811. Although they never officially adopted Poe, he clearly thought of her as a mother and called her "Ma." After her death, Poe wrote to John Allan: "If she [Frances Allan]" had not have died while I was away there would have been nothing for me to regret . . . she I believed loved me as her own child" (Poe to John Allan, January 3, 1831, Ostrom, Letters, p. 41). In 1875, Mrs. Shelton noted that "He [Poe] was devoted to the first Mrs. Allan and she to him" (The Poe Log, p. 65).

This picture is taken from an oil painting by Thomas Sully. The original is now in the Valentine Museum in Richmond, Virginia. She is buried in Shockoe Hill Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia.

notes

From Find A Grave Memorial# 34188533

Literary Folk Figure. She was the foster mother and first teacher of, and arguably the only positive influence on, Edgar Allan Poe. The child a noted Richmond family, Frances married Scottish immigrant merchant John Allan on Febuary 5, 1803. Much to Frances' sadness the marriage remained childless, with a large dose of resentment as well since Allan was supporting one or more illegitimate children in Richmond. During actress Eliza Poe's terminal illness in the fall of 1811 she arranged for the separate care of her three children with Frances, against much opposition from John, eagerly accepting the almost three year old Edgar. The Allans, though they never formally adopted him, took Edgar in December 1811 and had him baptized, giving him "Allan" as his middle name. In contrast to John who despite his complaining did provide quite well, Frances always had a warm relationship with Edgar, giving him his first lessons, teaching him to read and write, and providing such religious instruction as he was ever to have. While Frances was always "Ma" John was seldom "Pa". Frances' death broke down what little family relationship Poe had with John Allan and triggered the life-long melancholy evident in his writings. Today no Richmond home in which Poe lived still stands; Monumental Church, where Frances took young Edgar, is a National Historic Landmark, with the pew where they sat denoted by a plaque. Frances' specific contribution to Poe's literary output, beyond her giving him basic instruction, is difficult to quantify; the stories "Ligeia" and "The Fall of the House of Usher" do deal with family disintegration and loss. Frances was portrayed by Mary Howard in the 1942 "The Loves of Edgar Allan Poe". (bio by: Bob Hufford)

From Poe Museum

This is one of two known life portraits of Edgar Allan Poe's foster mother, Frances Allan (1785-1829), who cared for Poe after his biological mother died when he was two years old. Poe was devoted to Mrs. Allan but quarreled frequently with her husband, John Allan. George Mayo gave this portrait to the Valentine Museum, and Edward Virginius Valentine donated it to the Poe Museum. The portrait appears to be a slightly modified copy of one painted of Mrs. Allan by Thomas Sully around 1804. The work is attributed to Poe's friend Robert Sully.

Literary Folk Figure. She was the foster mother and first teacher of, and arguably the only positive influence on, Edgar Allan Poe. The child a noted Richmond family, Frances married Scottish immigrant merchant John Allan on Febuary 5, 1803. Much to Frances' sadness the marriage remained childless, with a large dose of resentment as well since Allan was supporting one or more illegitimate children in Richmond. During actress Eliza Poe's terminal illness in the fall of 1811 she arranged for the separate care of her three children with Frances, against much opposition from John, eagerly accepting the almost three year old Edgar. The Allans, though they never formally adopted him, took Edgar in December 1811 and had him baptized, giving him "Allan" as his middle name. In contrast to John who despite his complaining did provide quite well, Frances always had a warm relationship with Edgar, giving him his first lessons, teaching him to read and write, and providing such religious instruction as he was ever to have. While Frances was always "Ma" John was seldom "Pa". Frances' death broke down what little family relationship Poe had with John Allan and triggered the life-long melancholy evident in his writings. Today no Richmond home in which Poe lived still stands; Monumental Church, where Frances took young Edgar, is a National Historic Landmark, with the pew where they sat denoted by a plaque. Frances' specific contribution to Poe's literary output, beyond her giving him basic instruction, is difficult to quantify; the stories "Ligeia" and "The Fall of the House of Usher" do deal with family disintegration and loss. Frances was portrayed by Mary Howard in the 1942 "The Loves of Edgar Allan Poe". (bio by: [fg.cgi?page=mr&MRid=46784943" target="_blank Bob Hufford)]

• Updated from Find A Grave Memorial via John Allan by SmartCopy: Sep 5 2015, 19:13:31 UTC

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Edgar Allan Poe Society - Biographical Notes < link >

John Allan’s first wife was FRANCES KEELING VALENTINE (1785-1829), whom he married on 5 February 1803. The union being childless, the couple took custody of Edgar Poe after his mother’s death on 8 December 1811; at this time they were living over the Ellis & Allan store at the northeast corner of Main and Thirteenth Streets. In 1815 Allan returned to Great Britain to open a London office of Ellis & Allan, under the inverted name “Allan & Ellis”; he was accompanied by his foster son, his wife, and her unmarried sister Ann Moore Valentine.

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• Marriage to John Allan: (5 Feb 1803 — Age: 19) Richmond, Virginia, USA
• Destination: (1815 — Age: 31) Great Britain
• Burial: Richmond, Richmond City, Virginia, USA
  • Updated from Ancestry Genealogy by SmartCopy: Sep 5 2015, 20:25:16 UTC