Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of actress Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins Poe and actor David Poe, Jr. His father abandoned family in 1810 and his mother died of tuberculosis when he was only two years old, so Poe was taken to John Allan, a successful tobacco merchant in Richmond, Virginia. Although his middle name is often misspelled as "Allen", it is actually "Allan" after this family. After attending Misses Duborg's boarding school in London and the Manor School in Stoke Newington, London, England, Poe returned to Richmond, Virginia, with the Allans in 1820. Poe enrolled at the University of Virginia in 1826, but did not He only stayed there once. year. He became estranged from his adoptive father at some point during this period due to gambling debts Poe had incurred while trying to obtain more spending money. Poe therefore enlisted in the United States Army as a private under the name Edgar A. Perry on May 26. 1827. That same year he published his first book, Tamarlan and Other Poems. After serving for two years and reaching the rank of sergeant major, Poe was discharged. In 1829, Poe's adoptive mother, Frances Allan, died and he published his second book, Al Aaraf. In accordance with his adoptive mother's death wish, Poe reconciled with his adoptive father, who coordinated an appointment for him to the United States Military Academy at West Point. His time at West Point was unfortunate, however, as Poe allegedly deliberately disobeyed orders and was fired. After this, his adoptive father divorced him until his death on March 27, 1834. Poe then moved to Baltimore, Maryland with his widowed aunt, Maria Clemm, and her daughter, Virginia. Poe used fiction writing as a way to support himself, and in December 1835 Poe began editing the Southern Literary Messenger for Thomas W. White in Richmond. Poe held this position until January 1837. During this time, Poe married his thirteen-year-old cousin, Virginia Clemm, in Richmond on May 16, 1836. After spending fifteen unsuccessful months in New York, Poe moved to Philadelphia. Shortly after his arrival, his short story The Tale of Arthur Gordon Pym was published and widely reviewed. In the summer of 1839 he became assistant editor of Burton's Gentleman's Magazine. He published a large number of articles, stories, and reviews, reinforcing the reputation as an incisive critic he had established at the Southern Literary Messenger..