November 26 Thursday – Thanksgiving. Sam and daughter Jean shared Thanksgiving dinner with the George Gregory Smith’s. Clara stayed behind to help care for Livy. Smith wrote to his mother on Nov. 29:
Thanksgiving day we had a most delightful time indeed. The table was exquisitely decorated with chrysanthemums white & yellow similax. Our guests were Mark Twain & Miss Jean Clemens, Judge & Mrs. Birch, Mrs. McCalmont, Miss Lizzie Sherman, Miss Wallace & her sister, daughters of Commodore Wallace of the U.S. Navy, Gus & Ella St. Gem & little Mary. There were fourteen at the table. We had a delightful dinner including turkey & mince & squash pies, & sat at it for over two hours. Mark Twain was in great form & kept his end of the table in a roar [Orth 31].
At the Villa Reale di Quarto near Florence Sam dictated to Isabel V. Lyon to George B. Harvey.
Will you or Mr. Duneka appoint somebody to waste-basket my mail for me; to read it first for possibly once in three months there may be a letter worth forwarding to me.
In the case of printed matter, don’t forward it, let it wait till I return [MTP]. Note: Lyon and her mother had recently arrived from the US; they sailed on Nov. 7 and would have arrived around Nov. 22 or 23.
Sam also wrote to Florence attorney Paola de Plaisant, the letter not extant but referred to in Paola’s Nov. 27 reply.
Frances R. Masseglia wrote to Sam. “Ginori has just sent today the plates that were missing when the inventory was taken. Sent to your daughter same days ago the other missing article, which I suppose was received, although I have had no acknowledgment from her to that effect—may I trouble you to let me know.” She relayed that a ¾ bed had been delivered, and she would make 3 keys, one to the entrance gate and one for each garden gate for the carriage. She wished “Thanksgiving greetings” [MTP].