Sarah Elmira Royster

Sarah Elmira Royster Shelton (1810 – February 11, 1888) was an adolescent sweetheart of Edgar Allan Poe who became engaged to him shortly before his death in 1849.

Their early relationship, begun when she was 15, ended due to the interference of her father while Poe was studying at the University of Virginia. Two years later she married Alexander B. Shelton, who became wealthy through his involvement in the transportation industry. The couple had four children, though only two lived past infancy. After his death in 1844, Royster and her children inherited $100,000 with the stipulation that she would lose a portion of this estate if she remarried.

Poe came back into her life in 1848 and they renewed their relationship. Poe pressed her to marry him, though she was hesitant and her children did not approve. They never married; he died shortly thereafter in October 1849. Royster had an influence on Poe's work and may have inspired "The Raven" and "Annabel Lee". The early relationship between Poe and Shelton was immortalized by other writers, including Poe's brother William Henry Leonard Poe.

Royster and Poe were neighbors in Richmond, Virginia when they began their relationship in 1825, when she was 15 years old and he was 16. They discussed marriage, though Royster's father vocally disapproved. They were secretly engaged as Poe began classes at the University of Virginia in 1826; however, Royster's father intercepted and destroyed all of Poe's letters to his daughter. Royster wrote later that his disapproval was only because of their young age but he likely also considered Poe unsuitable due to social and financial status as a poor orphan.

Thinking Poe had forgotten her, Royster married Alexander Shelton, a businessman from a well-to-do Virginia family. Royster was only 17 at the time but quickly gained social prominence and wealth: Shelton worked in the transportation industry and was for a time the co-owner of a boat line that travelled the James River. The couple had four children, though a son and a daughter died in infancy. Alexander Shelton died of pneumonia at the age of 37 on July 12, 1844. Royster and her two children were left an estate worth $100,000.

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