April 24 Sunday — Jervis Langdon II diary entry:
Sun. April 24, 1910, Raining when we arrived at Elmira, Father there to meet us. Lee & the children well. Funeral services at 3.30, Mr. Eastman very good—his prayer wonderful. He was very brief. Father met Mr. Paine, Mr. Duneka and Maj. Leigh. To the cemetery in heavy downpour which was continuously a part of the day. We got a carriage & took the children down to Mothers. Clara & Ossip seemed to like them .All except I of the party returned on No. 8 [Jerome & Wisbey 154].
The New York Times, p.3, Apr. 24, reported on the New York funeral:
LAST GLIMPSE HERE OF MARK TWAIN
They Opened the Coffin in the Brick Church and 3,000 Persons Saw His Dead Face.
A TRAMP IN THE THRONG
Dr. Van Dyke Pays His Tribute and the Rev. Joseph Twichell Chokes Down His Tears to Pray.
A short pause was made in the journey of Samuel Langhorne Clemens to his final resting place in Elmira yesterday, and he was brought to the Brick Church, at Fifth Avenue and Thirty-Seventy Street, that those who knew him might not be deprived of opportunity to see his face for the last time. A reading from the Scripture, a short address, and a prayer constituted the simple service. Then, for an hour and a half, a stream of people from all walks of life passed in front of the bier.
The same spirit which had led to the unbarring of Stormfield to breezes and sunshine on the day after the death pervaded the church yesterday. There was no gloom; only the peace that Mark Twain would have desired. The people who passed by the coffin saw not so much the man Samuel L. Clemens, a philosopher through the necessity for bearing misfortune, as Mark Twain, who was everything from Huckleberry Finn and Colonel Mulberry Sellers.
Mr. and Mrs. Ossip Gabrilowitsch, the latter heavily veiled, sat in the front pew on the left side of the church. With them were Mr, and Mrs. E. E. Loomis and William Dean Howells. Behind these sat the Albert Bigelow Paines and Jarvis [sic] Langdon. In another pew were the widow and children of Samuel Moffett, a favorite nephew of Mr. Clemens, who died in California several years ago.
The funeral party from Redding arrived in New York at noon, Mr. and Mrs. Gabrilowitsch going first to friends. The male members of the party accompanied the body to the Brick Church. At the Grand Central Station a few who knew the train on which the party was to arrive had gathered, and when the body was taken out a crowd collected and all heads were bared as the coffin was lifted into the hearse.
Throng at the Church,
It was originally intended to open the church to the public at 3 o’clock, after the holders of the 400 tickets which had been distributed had taken their seats. But the crowd at Thirty-seventh Street and Fifth Avenue threatened to block traffic on the avenue, and at 2:30 it was decided to let them in. the church was almost immediately filled. In fact, several hundred persons who could not be accommodated remained on the streets during the service until it was time to view the body.
Inside the church complete quiet was maintained, even while the people were taking their seats. The effect was enhanced by the soft tones of the organ when Clarence Dickinson began playing Chopin’s Funeral March. As he changed to the Death’s Chariot music of Grieg’s “Death of Asa’’ the Rev. Dr. Henry Van Dyke and Dr. Joseph H. Twichell, both old friends of the author, came through the curtains into the pulpit.
Dr. Van Dyke stepped forward and began to read the Scriptural part of the Presbyterian funeral service. When he had finished he entered without a break on his address. It was a simple and dignified estimate of the worth of the work that Mark Twain’s life had produced. Throughout it was evident that the speaker was making a strong effort to keep down his emotion and control his voice. There was a noticeable break in his voice when he said: “Now he is gone.”
Dr. Van Dyke’s Address
In part Dr. Van Dyke said:
”Those who know the story of Mark Twain’s career know how bravely he faced hardships and misfortune, how loyally he toiled for years to meet a debt of conscience, following the injunction of the New Testament to provide not only things honest, but things ‘honorable in the sight of all men,’
“Those who know the story of his friendships and his family life know that he was one who ‘loved much’ and faithfully, even unto the end. Those who know his work as a whole know that under the lambent and irrepressible humor which was his gift there was a foundation of serious thoughts and noble affections and desires.
“Nothing could be more false than to suppose that the presence of humor means the absence of depth and earnestness. There are elements of the unreal, the absurd, the ridiculous in this strange, incongruous world which must seem humorous even to the highest Mind. Of these the Bible says, ‘He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh; the Almighty shall hold them in derision,’ But the mark of this higher humor is that it does not laugh at the weak, the helpless, the true, the innocent; only at the false, the pretentious, the vain, the hypocritical.
“Mark Twain himself would be the first to smile at the claim that his humor was infallible. But we may say without doubt that he used his gift, not for evil, but for good. The atmosphere of his work is clean and wholesome. He made fun without hatred. He laughed many of the world’s false claimants out of court, and entangled many of the world’s false witnesses in the net of ridicule. In his best books and stories, colored with his own experience, he touched the absurdities of life with penetrating but not unkindly mockery, and made us feel somehow the infinite pathos of life’s realities. No one can say that he ever failed to reverence the purity, the frank, joyful, genuine nature of the little children, of whom Christ said, ‘Of such is the Kingdom of Heaven,’
“Now he is gone, and our thoughts of him are tender, grateful, proud. We are glad of his friendship; glad that he has expressed so richly one of the great elements in the temperament of America; glad that he has left such an honorable record as a man of letters, and glad, also for his sake, that after many and deep sorrows, he is at peace, and we trust happy in the fuller light.
“Rest after toil, port after stormy seas,
Death after life doth greatly please.”
Bad News to Dr. Twichell.
Then the Rev. Dr. Joseph H. Twichell of Hartford came forward to deliver the prayer. Associated with the dead author from the middle and happiest part of his life, the minister who performed the marriage that brought so much happiness into Mr. Clemens’s life and lived to hold the funeral services of not only the wife, but of three of the children born of the marriage, it was no wonder that when he came to deliver a prayer at the death of his friend his voice should fail him. Throughout the short service he had sat with bowed head to conceal the fact that tears had found their way to the surface. Now he made a determined effort to control himself, and finally was able to say what he had to say.
Although fully as old as Mark Twain, Mr. Twichell carries his age well. He is a big, vigorous-looking man. With his mass of heavy white hair he does not look unlike Mark Twain himself. His prayer, except for the benedictton by Dr, Van Dyke, ended the service. When he left the pulpit and retired into the robing room, he received a blow that was particularly sad owing to the circumstances under which it came—a telegram saying that his wife was seriously ill in Hartford and that he must return there at once. He left the church immediately and took the first train for his home. It was arranged that in his stead the Rev. Samuel E. Eastman, pastor of the Park Church, should officiate at the services in Elmira.
3,000 Passed the Coffin.
The service in the Brick Church lasted only twenty minutes. It is estimated fifteen hundred persons crowded to hear it. At its conclusion it was announced that the coffin would be opened. The lines of those within the church began to pass around it, and the crowd from the street pushed in. This was at half past three, there was no abatement in the stream for the next hour and a half. Finally at 5 o’clock it was found necessary to close the doors, as the body had to be taken to Hoboken and put aboard the special train for Elmira. More than three thousands persons meantime had passed in front of the coffin.
Every walk of life was represented in the line, which filed slowly past the coffin. Before the doors were opened a score of brightly dressed little girls appeared in front of the church, each with flowers in her hand. They were disappointed at not being allowed to enter, but the ushers appeased them by taking their flowers and setting them near the bier.
When the people had been filing past only a few minutes it could be seen that almost every nationality was represented, There were several negroes. Jervis Langdon, who was standing near the head of the coffin, was much interested in one of the persons who passed him. He said that the man looked the very picture of tramphood, but his bearing was easy, and he seemed to be unconscious of his tattered clothes, stopping for along look at he face of Mark Twain. Mr. Paine also saw him, and said he was probably some one who had seen better days, in which he had read Mark Twain and conceived a liking for his work.
All religions were represented. Some of those who passed crossed themselves as they did so.
Bay Wreath on the Coffin.
The idea of simplicity was carried out in all the arrangements. There were no pall bearers, Although surrounded by flowers, there was nothing on the coffin except a wreath which Dan Beard had made of bay leaves gathered the night before, at the request of the family, on the hill behind the house where Mark Twain spent a good deal of his time. This was put on the coffin when it was taken out of Stormfield, and will not be removed. A copper plate on the lid bore the inscription:
SAMUEL LANGHORNE CLEMENS,
MARK TWAIN,
1910
All the persons of literary prominence who are in this part of the country were present yesterday, besides delegations from the better-known clubs. Albert Bigelow Paine, biographer-to-be of the dead humorist, and Major Frederick Leigh and Frederick A. Duneka of Harper’s were in the vestibule of the church to receive. Other than these the ushers were the undertaker’s men.
Some of the Mourners,
Here are some of the prominent persons who were present:
William Dean Howells, Miss Mildred Howells, Andrew and Mrs, Carnegie, Prof. and Mrs. Brander Matthews, W, W. Ellsworth, and C. C. Buel of the Century Company; Davis Bispham, Will N. Harben, Peter Finley Dunne, Sydney Porter, (O. Henry,) James Lane Allen, Will Carleton, Mr. and Mrs. Robert J. Collier, John B. Stanchfield, Philip V. Mighels, Robert Underwood Johnson, Joseph H. Choate, J]. Henry Harper, Miss Elizabeth Jordan, Robert Bridges, Dan Beard, Henry Holt, Don Seitz, E. S. Martin, President John Finley, Col. Daniel Appleton, Mrs. George Harvey, Joseph W. Harper, Mr. and Mrs. H. M. Alden, ex-Gov. Joseph W. Folk of Missouri, Julian Hawthorne, and Emma Thurston.
There were also delegations from the Pilgrims, both American and English; the Authors’ Club, the Lotos Club, the Century Association, and the Players. Flowers came from the Aldine Association, the American Academy of Arts and Letters. the National Institute of Arts and Letters. Booth Tarkinoton. Mrs. H. H Rogers, Mr. and Mrs. H.H. Rogers, Jr. and Mr. and Mrs. William R. Coe, son-in-law and daughter of the late H. H. Rogers; Robertson Coe, Mr. and Mrs. Urban H. Broughton, Robert Collier, the Robert Fulton Memorial Association, Mr, and Mrs. Philip James McCook, Col. and Mrs. George Harvey, Emily W. Burbank, the Pilgrims, (of both countries,) and Harper Brothers,
Last night the coffin was taken across the ferry and put aboard the private car Lake Forest, owned by E. E. Loomis, whose wife is a niece of Mr, Clemens. Immediately after the service Mr. and Mrs, Gabrilowitsch went to the apartment of the Loomises, which they left late last night for Hoboken. The party accompanying the body to Elmira consisted of Mr. and Mrs, Gabrilowitsch, Mr. and Mrs, Loomis, Albert Bigelow Paine, Frederick Duneka, and Major Leigh.
The preceding newspaper account related Twichell’s receipt at the Brick Church, of bad news concerning his wife, Harmony Cushman Twichell. Courtney writes and gives more specifics:
In New York, preparing to mount the pulpit to offer the prayer, he was handed telephone messages from his son Joe and son-in-law John Hall: “Mrs. Twitchell seriously worse,” read the message from Hall. Twichell sat through the hour-long service, gave a shaky prayer—the newspapers commented on how upset he seemed to be over his friend’s death—and took the 4 0’ clock train back to Hartford.
He arrived in time to talk to Harmony before she was operated on for ulceration of the bowels at Hartford Hospital. “It’s all right,” she told him, too weak to say more. She died shortly after midnight [267]. Note: Harmony’s death Apr. 25.
MARK TWAIN AT REST;
BURIED BESIDE WIFE
Simple Ceremony Held in the Home of His Brother-in-Law, General Langdon.
SCHOOL CHILDREN’S TRIBUTE
The 500 Boy Pupils of Louisville High School Send Floral Piece—Rev. Samuel Eastman Officiated.
Special to The New York Times.
ELMIRA, N.Y.—April 24.—In a heavy downpour of rain the body of Samuel L. Clemens (Mark Twain) was buried this afternoon in Woodlawn Cemetery beside that of his wife.
The body was brought to this city at 9:30 o’clock this morming in the private car of Vice President Loomis of the Lackawanna. In the party accompanying it were Mark Twain’s daughter, Mrs. Ossip Gabrilowitsch and her husband; Mr. and Mrs. Loomis, Mr. and Mrs. Jervis Langdon, Mr. and Mrs. Robert J. Collier, Mrs, Richard Watson Gilder, Major Fred T. Leigh, and F. A. Duneka. At 3:30 o’clock funeral services were conducted at the residence of Gen. Langdon, brother of the departed wife of Mr. Clemens. The Rev. Samuel Eastman, who succeeded Thomas K. Beecher as pastor of the Park Congregational Church, officiated.
In keeping with Mr, Clemens’s wish the ceremony was simple. There were no music, no honorary pallbearers—just the brief address and prayer by Dr. Eastman. The body lay in state in the very parlor where Mr. Clemens’s marriage of forty years ago was held, and some of those who attended the wedding were there today to look for the last time upon the face of their friend.
The services at the house were public, but the attendance was not large. Besides the funeral party which accompanied the body from Redding, the little gathering included only a few relatives and old friends. Dr. Eastman said in part:
“We are not here at this time to speak of the great man whose going hence the whole world mourns, nor to claim for him that place in the halls of fame which only time can give him. We are here to weep with those that weep, to give thanks with those whose own he was in the sacred bonds of human kinship and family affection.”
The last visit of Mr. Clemens to Elmira was two years ago, when he came especially to be present at the dedication of the new organ in the Park Church. It was suggested then that he go to the old home on East Hill, where he wrote many of his early stories, but he demurred, replying that such a visit would awaken sorrowful thoughts, He had not been to that former abode since before the death of his wife.
It was recalled today that forty years ago Mr. Beecher held Sunday afternoon services at the Elmira Opera House, engaging 4 brass band, and thus shocking the Protestant Ministers’ Union, which suspended Mr, Beecher from its tolls. Mr. Clemens came to the defense of Mr. Beecher and the methods he employed to elevate the masses, writing several articles on the subject for the local press. Just south of the Langdon residence in the park stands the Beecher statue. On the occasion of his last visit here Mr. Clemens viewed the statue,
Just before the hour of the funeral there arrived a large floral design with the following card attached: “From five hundred boys of Louisville (Ky.) Male High School, In remembrance of Samuel L. Clemens, who has brightened their lives with innocent laughter and taught them squareness and grit and compassion.”
The piece receive a conspicuous place at the bier. Much sorrow was expressed when it was learned that the wife of the Rev, Mr. Twichell, who officiated at the services yesterday and who expected to assist Mr. Eastman here today, was dead.
The Elmira Advertiser, Apr. 25, 1910 gave a fuller description of the Elmira funeral services:
SAMUEL L. CLEMENS TO-DAY LIES BESIDE
HIS WIFE AND CHILDREN IN WOODLAWN
Under a tent on the grassy slope of the Langdon plot in Woodlawn Cemetery, with rain beating fiercely against the canvas cover, a little group of mourners silently watched yesterday [Apr. 24] as the body of Samuel L. Clemens was lowered into an evergreen-lined grave beside those of his wife and children. Rev. Samuel E. Eastman, pastor of Park Church and a close friend of the dead humorist, conducted a brief but simple service and Mark Twain’s first pilgrimage was at an end. To-night he lies sleeping under a grave piled high with flowers, the tributes of loving friends from far and near.
A former governess of the Clemens family and two of her friends and half a dozen newspaper men watched the little procession as the hearse beating its precious burden and the accompanying carriages would their way slowly through the cemetery in a pouring rain to the tent that had been erected to give shelter from the storm. Aside from these and the sexton there was no one to intrude on the privacy of the ceremony.
The funeral services at the residence of General Charles J. Langdon, on Main Street, were extremely simple and in keeping with the expressed wish of the deceased. There was no music, no honorary pall bearers—just a brief address by Rev. Mr. Eastman. The body of the distinguished man of letters lay in state in the parlor where forty years ago he was married to General Langdon’s sister. Some of those who attended the wedding were there yesterday to look for the last time upon the face of their friend. But neither Thomas K. Beecher nor Rev. Joseph Twichell, who performed the wedding ceremony, were in attendance. A bronze statue of Mr. Beecher, who died several years ago, stands in the center of a park across the street from the Langdon home. Mr, Twichell sent word of his inability to come on account of the illness of his wife, who later died in Hartford, Conn.
The services at the house were public but the attendance was not large. Besides the funeral party which accompanied the body from Redding the little gathering included some of the relatives and old friends of the Clemenses who reside here.
The body of the great humorist lay in the plain mahogany casket in the front parlor of the Langdon home. To those who came to pay their last respects to this man who had brightened their lives because he lived, Mark Twain appeared to be sleeping. Just before he died the newspaper dispatches told of how he had fallen into the first restful slumber he had experienced in a long time and as he lay in his casket one could hardly help but remark of the look of contentment on the man’s face. He had longed for death and it came to him as a peaceful sleep. Death had wrought no changes in his features, The stained moustache told of the one joy of his declining years, outside of his only living daughter, his cigar.
Elmirans who had known Mr. Clemens personally, despite their age braved the storm to look once more upon the features of the grand old man. A comparatively few sat about and gazed at one another conscious of the fact that in the casket nearby rested a man who had won world-wide renown, yet whose funeral was to be of the simplest kind. It appears as if Elmirans had just come to realize what it was to have Mark Twain in their midst, even though the pen had been laid away and the kindly features had set never to relax. No more would he work for the entertainment of mankind. His work was done as far as he was concerned, but his memory and his works will long continue to be a monument, such as few men have ever enjoyed.
A Friend’s Tribute
And then the reveries of these few was interrupted as the Rev. Samuel E. Eastman arose promptly at 3:30 o’clock and began the simple services. After reading several selected passages from scripture, he spoke briefly as follows: “Friends,” he said, “we are not here at the time to speak of the great man whose going hence the whole world mourns, nor to claim for him that place in the halls of fame which time can give him. We are not here to try to estimate his worth to the world—the service he has rendered to civilization and the moral progress of mankind nor yet to eulogize him for the integrity, justice and magnanimity of his character, There will be time enough for all this in the days to come and many a voice more competent than mine to set for the lessons of his life. We are here to ‘weep with those that weep,’ to give thanks with those whose own he was in the sacred bonds of human kinship and family affection for all that he means to them, for the unfailing trust and help he gave them and gratefully took from them in turn: for the daily gospel of his life in his loving kindness which cluster about his name as father, husband, brother, uncle, friend, in their hearts.”
Rev. Eastman’s Prayer
Mr. Eastman then offered the following prayer which brought the services at the house to a close: “The heart knoweth its own bitterness and no stranger intermeddleth with its joy. We thank for each sorrowing soul’s peculiar joy and its bitterness.
“May the joy deepen and the bitterness be dissolved in its depths, for sorrow indeed endureth for the night, but joy returneth with the morning.”
“For the dear child who remains sole heir of a happy household’s gracious memories we ask daily strength and wisdom and grace which shall make her rich inheritance a blessing to every soul she meets; for all those to whom the world is darkened by the going out of this light of a loving life, we pray thy comfort—the comfort of enobled thoughts, widening charity and enlarging hope. We lay to our hearts, the wise man’s great words, “There can be no evil befall a good man either in life or after death,” and the divine words of Jesus, “Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid, I go away and come back to you.”
“We thank thee for the light that shineth in darkness, for the hope that riseth out of every good and beautiful life lived amid the shadows of mortality; even the hope of a higher service, a sweeter joy, a more abundant life beyond the sphere of time and space.
“We thank thee for all the works and words of cheer and good will our friend and sometimes neighbor has left us in the hearts of those who knew and loved him; that in his life he declared himself the friend of every living thing, that our hill side bears witness to this greatness of his heart who sought to bless even the passing beasts of burden with the joys that enriched his life.
“May we all take counsel in this hour with our better selves and learn that the only good which we can give away and yet possess forever, are honesty and justice, hope and love.
“So shall the house of mourning be better to us than the house of feasting and the blessing of them that mourn be ours.
“May the blessing of God that has followed us all the days of our lives abide with us all, though we be separated in worlds, but not in life. Amen,”
Many A Tear-dimmed Eye
During his reading the reverend gentleman who had been a close friend of the deceased was nearly overcome with emotion and several times out of the fullness of his heart seemed to falter as he spoke. ‘The little group present seemed to be imbued with the same spirit and there was a tear in many an eye. When the services were over those present slowly filed out of the house, and not until they had reached the street did they regain their composure.
Then began the slow procession to the cemetery where Mr. Clemens was to be laid beside the body of his beloved wife whose sudden death in Florence, Italy, had proven such a blow to his declining years. Here in the same plot lay the bodies of his three children, Langhorne, jr. [sic Langdon] Olivia Susan and Jean, the loss of whom together with his wife, had made Samuel L. Clemens weary of life. It was only last Christmas that Jean had died and at that time the father was in such feeble health that he could not come here to the burial. He was coming to rejoin her now.
As the burial was to be private, no one outside of the immediate family [and] a few faithful servants, except four newspapermen were on hand when the funeral cortege reached its destination on the top of a little hill where a tent had been put up as a shelter against the storm. The few outsiders stood at a distance while the casket was lowered in the midst of the sorrowing relatives,
Mrs. Ossip Gabrilowitsch, who was Clara Clemens, the only surviving daughter of the late author, bore upwell under the trying ordeal and on leaving was escorted to her carriage by her husband, and cousin Jervis Langdon, of this city. After the carriages had left the scene Undertaker Smith permitted the few newspapermen to view the last resting place of the man who began his career in a newspaper office. The four stood with uncovered heads, the last to look upon all that was mortal of this great man.
His Last Resting Place
In years to come people will come from far and near to view this last resting place of Mark Twain as they have done for many years to Stratford-on-Avon where is buried William Shakespeare. Pilgrimages will be made to this spot in beautiful Woodlawn cemetery and thus has Mark Twain distinguished this Queen City where much of his labor was performed and where he met the girl whom he loved and where he finally came to lie in his last sleep, Elmira is to be envied in being the last resting place of this international figure. May he rest In peace,
Arrival of the Remains
The body arrived in this city from New York yesterday morning over the Lackawanna at 9:25 o’clock on the private car “Lake Forest.” Accompanying it were the following: Mr. and Mrs. Ossip Gabrilowitsch, Mr. Clemens’ only surviving daughter and her husband; Edward E. Loomis, vice president of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad; and Mrs. Loomis [Julia Langdon Loomis], a niece; Albert Bigelow Paine; and Jarvis [sic] Langdon, a nephew; Katie Leary, the housekeeper, who thirty years ago entered the services of the Clemenses in this city; and Claude, the butler, F.A, Duneka and Major F.P. Leigh, of Harper Brothers, came on to Elmira to attend the funeral.
General Langdon was at the station to meet the party and the body was at once taken to the Langdon home.
It was hoped that the Rev. Joseph Twichell, of Hartford, Conn., a life-long personal friend of the later Mr. Clemens, could come to this city and deliver the funeral oration. The Rev. Joseph Twichell had intended to come but here another pathetic incident entered into this strange story. The wife of Mr. Twichell had been taken ill in Hartford and he had been hastily summoned from the funeral services over the remains of his friend in New York City, back to the bedside of his wife; and when morning came, the Angel of Death had entered his own household and snatched away a loving helpmate. The mourners around the Clemens’ bier in this city were further grieved by the telegram announcing this death, yesterday morning, Mrs, Ossip Gabilowitsch immediately telegraphed to Hartford that she would hasten to that city together with her husband, as soon as the last rites had been held over the body of her dead father.
Elmira can not but help feeling a touch of pity for the daughter, the last of a noble family. Heartfelt sympathy goes out to her from even the remotest corner of the globe and [the] world mourns with her in this hour of sorrow. She has lost a father, and the world has lost a ray of sunshine that can never be replaced. Mark Twain sleeps in Woodlawn [Jerome & Wisbey quote, 155-9].
The New York Times, July 15, 1911
MARK TWAIN ESTATE ABOUT HALF MILLION
Largely in Stocks and Estimated Worth of the Mark Twain Company
PROPERTY IN TWO STATES
Principally In This City and at His Home in Redding, Conn.—Manuscripts Said to be Without Value. Deputy State Controller Julius Harburger filed with the Surrogates’ Court yesterday the tax appraisal of the estate of Samuel L. Clemens, (Mark Twain.) Mr. Clemens died at his home in Connecticut on April 21, 1910. He left in this state and Connecticut an estate aggregating $471,136.
By the terms of the will, which was made on Aug. 7, 1909, the author leaves his entire estate to his sole surviving daughter, Mrs. Clara Clemens Gabrilowitsch. The witnesses to the will were Albert Bigelow Paine, Harty A. Lounsbury of Redding, Conn., and Charles T. Lark of 571 West 139th Street, this city. The executors of the will were Zoheth S. Freeman and Edward E, Loomis, both of New York, and Jervis Langdon of Elmira.
Mr. Clemens left no real estate in this State, but his personal property here amounted to $296,746. He held among his personal effects 929 shares of stock of five different companies at different times, which turned out to be worthless, as in most cases the companies were out of business.
Included in the estate in Connecticut were 1,750 shares of the Utah Consolidated Mining Company, valued at $80,377; 165 shares of United Fruit Company, valued at $29,370; 400 shares of Anaconda Copper Company, valued at $18,100; and 100 shares of Union Pacific Railroad Company, valued at $18,587.
His property at Redding, Conn., is valued at $70,000. A trunk containing manuscripts was said to be without value. Some of his important holdings in this State were fifty shares of the Mark Twain Company, valued at $200,000 and 100 shares of American Telephone and Telegraph Company, valued at $13,687, and 813 shares of J. Langdon & Co., valued at $21,674.
The author also left books valued at $2,000. An affidavit by Charles Lark, the witness, states that the appraisal value of $200,000 for the shares in the Mark Twain Company was considered too high by Harper & Brothers, who published Mr. Clemens’s books, and who placed an upset value of $180,000 on the stock.
In commenting upon the appraisal there is also a letter from F. A. Duneka of Harper & Brothers, which says:
“A copyright is a very perishable and usually non-marketable thing, growing of less and less value very rapidly after an author’s death.
“While we expect that during the next four years the Mark Twain estate will receive under existing contracts $18,000 a year upon copyright royalty account, yet this amount after the expiration of existing contracts will immediately tend to dwindle and diminish.
“We put an upset valuation of $180,000 upon his copyrights, and even this we regard as excessive.
Clara and Ossip sent out the following engraved notice thanking those who sent sympathy.
One or two wrote after Twain’s death seeking books they’d sent him to autograph. These were found and sent.
Frederick A. Duneka offered Albert Bigelow Paine $10,000 for the serial rights to the biography he was writing on Clemens. He accepted on May 18 and selected chapters of the Biography ran in Harper's Monthly in 1911.
Lord, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him!
Or the son of man, that thou makest account of him!
Man is like to vanity:
His days are as a shadow that passeth away.
Psalms 144: 3-4