Royster forbids daughter’s marriage to Poe.

1827 Quarrels with Allan and leaves home; sails to Boston under an alias; enlists in U.S. Army as Edgar A. Perry. Calvin F. S. Thomas publishes Tamerlane and Other Poems; Poe sails to South Carolina for duty at Fort Moultrie.

1828 Seeks release from army commitment; Elmira Royster marries Alexander Shelton; Poe and his unit relocate to Fortress Monroe, Virginia.

1829 Receives promotion to sergeant major and plans to seek appointment to West Point. Foster mother, Frances Allan, dies in Richmond. Poe hires military replacement and receives honorable discharge; moves to Baltimore, lodges at hotels and with relatives, seeks publisher for new poetry volume. Hatch and Dunning publish Poe’s Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems.

1830 Receives appointment to U.S. Military Academy; excels in French and mathematics. John Allan remarries, leaves New York without contacting Poe, forbids further communication.

1831 Devastated by Allan’s rejection, Poe neglects military duties, faces court-martial, receives dismissal. Finds New York publisher for third volume of verse; Elam Bliss issues Poems, purchased by 131 cadets. Poe moves to Baltimore, takes up residence with grandmother and aunt, writes tales in response to newspaper contest. Brother William Henry Leonard Poe dies of consumption. John Allan, Jr., born in Richmond. Baltimore beset by cholera epidemic; Poe experiences long illness. Delia S. Bacon wins Saturday Courier contest.

1832 Philadelphia Saturday Courier publishes “Metzengerstein” and four more tales by Poe. John Allan, in failing health, revises his will. Second Allan son born. Poe tutors cousin Virginia, seeks employment.

1833 Baltimore Saturday Visiter announces literary contest; Poe submits several new tales and poems. “MS. Found in a Bottle” wins fifty-dollar prize for fiction. John Pendleton Kennedy offers Poe’s “Tales of the Folio Club” to a Philadelphia publisher. Poe does odd jobs for Kennedy and the Visiter.

1834 Godey’s Lady’s Book publishes “The Visionary” (later called “The Assignation”). Poe rebuffed by Allan in last meeting in Richmond; Allan dies six weeks later, leaving Poe without an inheritance. Thomas W. White launches Southern Literary Messenger. Henry C. Carey declines to publish Poe’s tales.

1835 Kennedy aids destitute Poe; recommends him to White as prospective employee.