#3 Edgar Allan Poe And Virginia Clemm
Edgar Allan Poe is famous worldwide for his writing and his gothic influences, as well as for his tragic death. However, this worldwide famous writer has a lot of things about him that the general public does not know, and even back in his day, not many were privy to this information. The writer’s wife, on whom it is known that he doted frequently, was actually related to him, as the two were first cousins.
The way in which the two got married sounds like it’s been taken directly from Poe’s stories: the two married when he was twenty-seven, and Virginia Clemm was only thirteen! What makes things even sketchier than marrying your cousin is the fact that their marriage license listed the girl as 21. It has been rumored over the years that the two married because Virginia and her family were very poor, and Edgar married her to save her from those circumstances.
While they did eventually have a happy marriage, it doesn’t change the fact that they were so closely related and that she was barely a teen when they married. It seems like there is a trend with these cousin marriages, no matter if they’re in the past or close to the modern age.
After Virginia died of tuberculosis, it is said that she continued to be a muse for Poe, as her death inspired stories such as Lenore and Annabel Lee.
4 thoughts on “9 Famous People Who Were Related and Still Got Married”
It has been documented that Jefferson and his slave Hemmings were in love. It is not fair to say he abused her. She was half sister to his former wife.
Any couple related or not, also is at risk of having a child with genetic conditions or health problems! Although taboo in some cultures, marriage between first cousins is accepted in many cultures around the world. The vast majority of children of first cousins are healthy and do not have problems due to their parents’ relatedness. It is important to keep in mind that even for an unrelated couple, there is an approximately 2-3% chance that their child is born with a birth defect, genetic syndrome, or disability.
The risk for children of first cousins is increased over this background, by about 3%. ( Not enough to forbid or look down upon )
The above information is from the “Genetic Awareness Project”
Another note of fact: Mary and Joseph were first cousins…. and though Jesus supposedly was immaculately conceived his siblings were definitely born of Mary and Joseph. If G-d sanctioned their marriage then who are we to say that such marriages are taboo?
You missed another famous couple who were cousins. FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt..
The outlaw Jesse James married his first cousin, Zerelda Mimms. She tended to his wounds from the Civil War.