June 20 Sunday - The New York Herald, p. 1, reported Mark Twain’s lawsuit against his former secretary:
MARK TWAIN SUES FORMER SECRETARY
Asks $4,000 Damages and Levies on Property He Gave to Mrs. Ralph W. Ashcroft.
CAUSE OF ACTION SECRET
BRIDGEPORT, Conn., Saturday—A cottage and sixteen acres of land owned by Mrs. Ralph W. Ashcroft, who was once described by Mark Twain as the best secretary he ever had, was attached to-day by a deputy sheriff in a suit brought by Mark Twain to recover $4,000 from Mrs. Ashcroft. The land was once the property of Mark Twain. It adjoins his place at Redding, and was given by him to Mrs. Ashcroft as a wedding gift two months ago.
Until the return of Miss Clara Clemens, daughter of the humorist, from a concert tour of a few weeks ago Mark Twain, Ralph W. Ashcroft, his financial secretary, and Mrs. Ashcroft, who had been his private secretary long before her marriage to Ashcroft in April last, had dwelt in peace and harmony. Shortly after Miss Clemens’ return the Ashcrofts left Redding. They are now abroad.
When Mrs. Ashcroft was Miss Isabel V. Lyon she, as Mark Twain’s secretary, became so useful that when there was formed “Mark Twain Incorporated,” she as well as her husband had an office in the new corporation. Those persons who are neighbors of Mark Twain at Redding are unable to understand the cause of the trouble.
The papers in the suit say Mrs. Ashcroft borrowed $3,000 from Mark Twain and that he wants $4,000 as damages. No details of the transaction are given in the papers. The property on which Deputy Sheriff Banks levied is valued on the tax books of Redding at $1,500. After Mrs. Ashcroft came into possession of the place she spent $700 in improvements.
Her husband was the plaintiff in an action for damages some months ago in which John Hays Hammond was defendant.
Ralph W. Ashcroft has for several years been Mark ‘Twain’s financial secretary, and it was while he was serving in that capacity that he met Miss Lyon. She formerly lived in Mark Twain’s household, in lower Fifth avenue.