John Prentiss Poe

John Prentiss Poe was born on August 22, 1836, in Baltimore, to Josephine Emily (née Clemm) and Neilson Poe.[1][2] Poe was a second cousin of the poet Edgar Allan Poe[1] as well as a nephew through his mother.

Poe grew up in Elmwood and Baltimore. He attended Monsieur Boursand's French and English Academy, Mount St. Mary's University and Topping's Academy. He graduated from College of New Jersey (later Princeton University) in 1854 with a Bachelor of Arts.[2] After graduating, he started studying law under his father and was admitted to the bar on August 22, 1857.[2][1]

On July 24, 1854, Poe started work as a clerk of the Commercial & Farmers' Bank. He was librarian of the Library of the Baltimore Bar for sixteen months.[2] As a lawyer, Poe was known for his work in trial courts and as a cross-examiner. He would later practice with his sons in the law firm John P. Poe & Sons.[1][2]

In 1869, Poe was chosen as a regent of the board of the University of Maryland. He held that role for forty years, and served as secretary of the board for a time. He served as Dean of the University of Maryland School of Law from 1871 until his death in 1909.[1][2] Between February 1871 and February 1888, Poe served as one of the commissioners of public schools for Baltimore. In 1885, he was chairman of the Baltimore Tax Commission and in 1886 he was chairman of the Maryland Tax Commission.[2] In 1899, Poe was president of the State Bar Association and in 1900, he was president of the Bar Association in Baltimore.[2]

From 1882 to 1884, Poe served as city counselor and from 1890 to 1891, he served in the Maryland Senate, representing District 2, Baltimore City.[2][3] From 1891 to 1895, he served as Attorney General of Maryland. He was a Democrat.[2] He was a delegate to the 1904 Democratic National Convention. In 1907, Poe was a Democratic candidate for the United States Senate.[1] In 1883, Poe compiled a new Baltimore City Code and in 1885, he compiled a supplement to the Baltimore Code of City Ordinances.[2]

In 1888, Poe helped compile the "Poe Code", a compilation of public general laws in Maryland. In 1898 and 1900, he compiled supplements of the public general laws and a new code of public general laws, respectively. In 1904, after the Great Baltimore Fire destroyed the new code of 1903, he wrote a new code.[2] His name is lent to the 1904 "Poe Amendment" that sought to disenfranchise black voters in Maryland by introducing grandfather and "understanding" clauses.[1][4] Black voters organized the Negro Suffrage League and established chapters throughout the state in order to marshal opposition to the amendment. Maryland voters soundly defeated the Poe Amendment by plebiscite. While Poe was sympathetic and contributed to the text of the amendment, it was drafted by Arthur Pue Gorman, chairman of the Maryland Senate Democratic Caucus from 1903 to 1906.[5]

Poe married Anne Johnson Hough on March 2, 1863.[2] He had six sons and three daughters, including Marguerita, S. Johnson, Edgar A., John P. Jr., Neilson, Arthur and Gresham.[1][2] All six sons played football for Princeton. Son Edgar Allan Poe served as state Attorney General from 1911 to 1915. Another son, Johnny Poe coached at Navy and Virginia, and was killed in the Battle of Loos during World War I. Art Poe was selected to the College Football Hall of Fame, and Gresham Poe was head coach at Virginia.

Poe was a member of Old St. Paul's Protestant Episcopal Church.[1][2] He died of a stroke in Ruxton, Baltimore County, on October 14, 1909, and was buried in Baltimore's Green Mount Cemetery.[1][2][6]

• About the office and list of Attorneys General of Maryland, from the Maryland Archives.
• Bernstein, Mark F. (September 10, 2003). "A Princeton hero's search for meaning". Princeton Alumni Weekly. Retrieved 2008-03-11.

• "John Prentiss Poe Dies in Baltimore". Washington Times. October 14, 1909. Retrieved 2008-03-18.

• Media related to John Prentiss Poe at Wikimedia Commons