Jesse Jackson
Jackson was born to Helen Burns, a then-16-year-old high school student. His father was Noah Louis Robinson, a neighbor to Burns who was 33-year-old and married. After his birth, Helen married a post office maintenance worker, Charles Henry Jackson. Jackson later adopted the young activist. Despite taking his stepfather's name, he considered both men in his life to be a father.
Edgar Allan Poe
Poe's father abandoned his family only a year prior to the death of his mother from pulmonary tuberculosis. The young writer was then placed in the estate of John Allan, a Richmond, Virginia merchant who dealt everything from cloth to wheat, tombstones to tobacco, and even slaves. Though they never formally adopted him, he was considered to be a part of the family and took on their surname as his middle name.