The Will

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to Celebrate Creativity and the Hall of Imagination. Today I would like to talk about a man who played a crucial role in the family fortune surrounding Edgar Allan Poe. This wealthy individual was known as William Galt, and he was a wealthy businessman in Richmond, Virginia. Galt was known as "Uncle" William to the Allans, though he wasn't actually John Allan's uncle. At the time of his death in 1825, Galt was considered the wealthiest man in Virginia. His assets included extensive real estate in Richmond and Lynchburg, plantations throughout Virginia, sawmills, bank stocks, and hundreds of slaves. I have here a copy of his will, and I'm asking you, Mr. Poe, to read from the document. Certainly, Mr BartleyI, WILLIAM GALT, of the City of Richmond, State of Virginia, bearing always in mind, and admonished by the circumstances of my present state, as well as by the word of truth, recorded in Sacred Scripture, which I cherish as the foundation of my firm faith and the anchor of my hope for happiness in an eternal state, how uncertain is the tenure of human life, as it now exists, and being desirous, while it is permitted me, to dispose of my temporal means and estate, the result, under Divine Providence, of my own, I trust, honest exertions, as it becometh my duty and my relations to God and man, do make this my last will and testament, which it is my desire should bear witness to my firm faith in the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the source of all my existing hope and consolation. Support the show Thank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.