Sarah Helen Whitman

Poet, Essayist, Transcendentalist and Spiritualist

Sarah Helen Power Whitman (1803 - 1878), was a poet, essayist, transcendentalist, Spiritualist and a romantic interest of Edgar Allan Poe.  In 1828, she married the poet and writer John Winslow Whitman, who was co-editor of the Boston Spectator and Ladies' Album.  This allowed Sarah the opportunity to publish some of her poetry using the name "Helen". J ohn died in 1833; and the couple were without children.

Whitman was friends with Margaret Fuller and other intellectuals in New England, and became interested in transcendentalism  after hearing Ralph Waldo Emerson lecture on it in Boston.  She also became interested in science, mesmerism, and the occult.  She had a penchant for wearing black and a coffin-shaped charm around her neck and may have practiced séances in her home on Sundays.  Sarah also allegedly had a heart condition that she treated with ether that she breathed in through her handkerchief.  Whitman was introduced to Edgar Alan Poe by Frances Sargent Osgood, and the two became romanticly involved.  However, she agreed to marry him only if he would remain sober.  Despite a signed oath, he fell off the wagon after only a few days, and the wedding never took place.

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