31 Days of Halloween – October 13

This past weekend, I visited Westminster Hall and Burying Ground, the final resting place of Edgar Allan Poe and other local luminaries, including James McHenry (signer of the US Constitution and namesake of Fort McHenry), Philip Barton Key (son of Francis Scott Key), and Robert Smith (Secretary of the Navy, Secretary Of State, and Attorney…

31 Days of Halloween – October 12

Hollywood has made cemeteries seem scary, but really, they are lovely, peaceful places. It’s usually quiet and there are some fantastic pieces of art in the older ones. If they’re not too weathered, you can also read the epitaphs engraved on the stones. Sometimes it is only a name and a date, but often there…

31 Days of Halloween – October 9

Edgar Allan Poe is a figure often association with the dark and the macabre. This week is the anniversary of his strange death and subsequent burial. While his death was noted in several regional newspapers, his funeral was barely attended. His cousin-in-law Reverend Clemm presided over the rainy ceremony, cut short by the weather and…