Who was Sarah Elmira Royster in Edgar Allan Poe’s life?

Sarah Elmira Royster was a significant figure in the life of Edgar Allan Poe, serving as both his childhood sweetheart and a connection to his final days.

In his youth, Poe considered Royster his sweetheart; however, when he returned to Richmond after his time at the University of Virginia in 1826, he discovered that she had become engaged to another man.1

Years later, following the death of his wife, Virginia Clemm, and other brief romantic entanglements, Poe returned to Richmond in 1849. By this time, Royster was a widow known as Mrs. Shelton. The two rekindled their relationship and became engaged, with Poe spending a relatively stable and happy summer in her company before his death later that year.2