Arriving in New York July 29, 1868, Sam took rooms at the Westminster Hotel to work on the manuscript for Innocents Abroad. But his primary concern during the weeks that followed were the courtship of Olivia Langdon of Elmira, New York, and the growing necessity of replenishing his rapidly diminishing funds.
He began developing his new lecture based on Innocents Abroad titled The American Vandal Abroad He was concerned that the material, successful on the West Coast, would not go over well with East Coast audiences. Despite his rapidly growing reputation through the publication of The Jumping Frog and his articles in various metropolitan newspapers, he was not well known. Innocents Abroad had not yet made its appearance. At best, in so far as he was known at all in mid-western communities, he was still a mere newspaper humorist - fresh, vigorous, and promising, a man with an interesting pseudonym, but with nothing really substantial to recommend him to local lyceum committees."
Mother Fairbanks, Mary Mason Fairbanks, a fellow traveler on the Quaker City Excursion, provided important advise and criticism. Under her tutelage, he began to perceive that if he wished to win over the cultivated eastern audiences it would be necessary to guard against the offenses she had admonished him about. He began to realize also that his California reputation as Wild Humorist carried a deserved implication of crudeness and irresponsibility which he no longer wished his pseudonym Mark Twain to convey. He did not, however, follow her outline for the lecture. Never again did he consult her, or anyone else, except perhaps Livy, concerning the subject of his lectures and his manner of dealing with his materials.
November 17, 1868: Case Hall, Cleveland, Ohio
His first lecture of the American Vandal Abroad tour occurred in Cleveland November 17, 1868. The invitation to lecture came through Colonel Herrick, a fellow Quaker City companion. Twain immediately asked Mrs. Fairbanks to review it:
The Cleveland Herald, 18 November 1868
By Mrs. Mary Fairbanks,
The course of lectures before the Library Association was inaugurated last evening by the brilliant entertainment of the humorist "Mark Twain." Not withstanding the unpropitious weather, and strong competition of counter attractions in the way of amusements, Case Hall was early filled with an assembly who were prepared to criticize closely this new candidate for their favor. A few moments sufficed to put him and his audience on the best of terms, and to warm him up with the pleasant consciousness of their approval. For nearly two hours he held them by the magnetism of his varied talent.
We shall attempt no transcript of his lecture, lest with unskillful hands we mar its beauty, for beauty and poetry it certainly possessed, though the production of a profound humorist.
We know not which to commend, the quaint utterances, the funny incidents, the good-natured recital of the characteristics of the harmless "Vandal," or the gems of beautiful descriptions which sparkled all through his lecture. We expected to be amused, but we were taken by surprise when he carried us on the wings of his redundant fancy, away to the ruins, the cathedrals, and the monuments of the Old World. There are some passages of gorgeous word painting which haunt us like a remembered picture.
We congratulate Mr. Twain upon having taken the tide of public favor "at the flood" in the lecture field, and having conclusively proved that a man may be a humorist without being a clown. He has elevated his profession by his graceful delivery and by recognizing in his audience something higher than merely a desire to laugh. We can assure the cities who await his coming that a rich feast is in store for them and Cleveland is proud to offer him the first laurel leaf, in his role as lecturer this side of the "Rocky-slope."
Case Hall was a noted concert and lecture hall located in the Case Block on Superior, at Public Square. The Case Block displaced private residences on Superior and necessitated the moving of the Ark, the meeting place for Cleveland's literary and scientific leaders. Built in 1867, the building provided quarters for Cleveland City Hall from 1875-1915. Situated over the stores on the first floor and offices on the second, Case Hall was a third floor auditorium that seated 2,000 on "patent opera chairs" and boasted a decor by the Italian artist Garibaldi. Over the years, Case Hall was a stopping place on the lecture circuits of Horace Greeley, Henry Ward Beecher, and Mark Twain. German Clevelanders held a Peace Jubilee there at the end of the Franco-Prussian War, and English citizens celebrated the Golden Jubilee of the reign of Queen Victoria. The hall was the meeting place of the First Unitarian Society of Cleveland, and of the first convention of the National Association of Woman Suffrage. In addition to cultural, social, and religious events, the building housed the Cleveland Library Assn. (CLA), and by 1876 featured animal exhibits of the Kirtland Historical Society. Despite its fame as a cultural center and local landmark, Case Hall was converted totally to office space in 1894, its first tenant being the Citizens Savings & Loan. In 1916 the Case Block was leveled to make way for the United States Post Office, Custom House, and Court House, known (in 1993) as the Old Federal Building. The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History
He must have departed for Pittsburgh the next day as there are letters from him posted from Cleveland on the 18th. There is no mention of just how he traveled there, but examination of USGS topo maps indicate a likelihood of his taking the Cleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad from Cleveland to Rochester, and from Rochester to Allegheny City the Ohio and Pennsylvania Railroad. The maps indicate the route as the Pennsylvania Railroad between Cleveland and Rochester and the Pennsylvania System from there to Allegheny City. The Fort Wayne Railroad Bridge over the Allegheny River opened in 1857 connecting the O&P to the PRR in Pittsburgh.
The Cleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad was chartered in 1836, due to public support in building a railroad line between Cleveland and Pittsburgh. Construction of the line was completed in 1852. In 1871, the C&P was leased to the Pennsylvania Railroad for a 999 year lease. The Ohio and Pennsylvania Railroad was chartered in Ohio on February 24 and in Pennsylvania on April 11, 1848, to build from Allegheny City west to Crestline, Ohio.
On July 1, 1869, the PRR leased the PFW&C and began operating it directly. On April 1, 1871, the PFW&C was transferred to the newly formed Pennsylvania Company. On December 1, 1871, the Pennsylvania Company leased the Cleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad. Since January 25, 1860, the C&P had been operated jointly by itself and by the PFW&C, providing a branch of the PFW&C from Rochester, Pennsylvania, west and north, crossing the PFW&C at Alliance, Ohio, and continuing to Cleveland. Operation was transferred back to the Pennsylvania Railroad from the Pennsylvania Company on January 1, 1918.
November 19, 1868: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Venue Unknown
November 19, 1868, Mark Twain delivered his second lecture of the American Vandals Abroad tour in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The only theater reference for this date opened as the Drury Theatre Monday September 2nd, 1833, although there must have been another as Twain had competition that night. The Drury, or Pittsburgh Theater occupied the ground that is now 306 and 310 Fifth avenue. The following description of the theatre appeared in the Messenger of 1833
The Pittsburgh Theatre is a neat two story building, the front is 57 feet, depth 130. The interior of this theatre is arranged to combine the greatest degree of elegance and convenience. And will safely vie with any other in the Union. The boxes which are of two tiers are of rose color ornamented with gold work bearing a shield upon which are emblazoned the arms of the United States. The seats are covered with crimson edged with velvet and handsomely studded with brass nails. The theatre is lighted with eighteen splendid chandeliers hung at proper intervals. The proscenium represents the Pennsylvania arms and there are splendid draperies about the stage doors and the salons which are extensive and spacious. The scenery painted by J R Smith is of the most magnificent description and the wardrobes are all new and convenient. When the building was taken down in 1870 it was then said that it had stood remarkably well and that there was not one place of amusement in the city that was as safe and easy of speedy exit in case of danger as was this old Pittsburgh theatre.
To Jane Clemens, 20 November 1868, posted from Cleveland.
I played against the eastern favorite, Fanny Kemble, in Pittsburgh, last night. She had 200 in her house, & I had upwards of 1,500. All the seats were sold (in a driving rain storm, 3 days ago,) as reserved seats at 25 cents extra, even those in the second & third tiers -- & when the last seat was gone the box office had not been open more than 2 hours. When I reached the theatre they were turning people away & the house was crammed. 150 or 200 stood up, all the evening. I go to Elmira tonight. I am simply lecturing for societies, at $100 a pop.
Twain apparently returned to Cleveland that same night as there is no reference to him staying at any hotel in Pittsburgh and the letter to Jane and family was posted from Cleveland. He would travel from there back to Elmira, New York for a lecture at the Elmira Opera House on the 23rd, and perhaps to impress Jarvis and Olivia with his oratory triumph. She was still refusing his proposals of marriage.
There are two possible routes for Twain to take to Elmira. The first would be along the Lakeshore and Michigan Southern to Buffalo and the other would be to transfer to the New York and Erie RR at Dunkirk.
The Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad was formed from a number of mergers beginning with the Cleveland and Toledo RR, created from the Junction Railroad and the Toledo, Norwalk and Cleveland Railroad. In October of 1867 the Cleveland, Painesville and Ashtabula Railroad leased the Cleveland and Toledo Railroad and in March of 1868 changed its name to Lake Shore Railway. On April 6, 1868, the Michigan Southern and Northern Indiana Railroad merged with the Lake Shore Railroad to become the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad. June 22, 1868 the LS&MSRR absorbed the Buffalo and Erie Railroad.
Around 1877, Cornelius Vanderbilt and his New York Central and Hudson River Railroad gained majority of stock of the LS&MSRR. December 22, 1914 the two railroads merged to form the New York Central Railway.
From Buffalo to Elmira:
The Buffalo, New York and Erie, a part of the Erie Railroad: The Attica & Buffalo Railroad received its charter on May 3, 1836, to connect those two municipalities (Y,RA) but their plans were stalled by the Panic of 1837. The charter was renewed in 1838, construction began two years later and Attica was finally reached on November 24, 1842. On December 1, 1852, the Buffalo & New York City purchased the original line from Attica to Buffalo from the Buffalo & Rochester Railroad. The Buffalo & New York City then converted its new trackage to six-foot gauge to match the Erie, thus giving them a direct route from Hornellsville to Buffalo. From Hornellsville to Elmira Twain would have taken the New York and Erie Railroad.
From Dunkirk to Elmira:
The New York and Erie Rail Road was chartered on April 24, 1832, by Governor of New York Enos T. Throop to connect the Hudson River at Piermont, north of New York City, west to Lake Erie at Dunkirk. On February 16, 1841, the railroad was authorized to cross into the northeast corner of Pennsylvania on the west side of the Delaware River, a few miles west of Port Jervis, NY, as the east side was already occupied by the Delaware and Hudson Canal to a point several miles west of Lackawaxen, PA. Construction began in 1836 and was opened in sections until reaching the full length to Dunkirk on May 19, 1851. At Dunkirk, steamboats continued across Lake Erie to Detroit, Michigan. The line crossed the Kittatinny Mountains at 870 feet.
When the route was completed in May, 1851, President Millard Fillmore and several members of his cabinet, including Secretary of State Daniel Webster, made a special, two-day excursion run to open the railway. It is reported that Webster viewed the entire run from a rocking chair attached to a flatcar, with a steamer rug and jug of high-quality Medford rum. At stops, he would step off the flatcar and give speeches.
The line was built at 6 ft wide gauge; this was believed to be a superior technology to standard gauge, providing more stability.
November 23, 1868: Opera House, Elmira, New York
Sam arrived in Elmira the morning of November 21st and went to breakfast at the Langdon home. On the 23rd he gave the third American Vandals lecture at the Elmira Opera House, for the benefit of the local volunteer fire department. Charles Langdon was an active member.
The Opera House was erected in 1867 at a cost of $89,000. It seated 2,000 persons. It opened on December 17, 1867, with a temperance lecture. Later it was sold and remodeled; it reopened as the Lyceum Theatre in 1898. In 1904 it was lost in a cataclysmic fire that claimed one additional theater and six stores in downtown Elmira. The theater was rebuilt and opened, still as the Lyceum, in 1905. It closed in 1926 and was demolished in 1949.
On November 26th, Thanksgiving Day, Olivia accepted Sam’s proposal of marriage subject to her fathers approval. Sam accepted Jervis Langdon’s suggestion that official parental sanction be given after credentials of Sam’s character might be obtained. Sam offered names for Jervis to solicit. DBD
November 28 Saturday – Sam wrote from Everett House in New York to Livy, his first love-letter since their engagement.
To Olivia Langdon, 28 November 1868
When I found myself comfortably on board the cars last night . . . I said to myself: "Now whatever others may think, it is my opinion that I am blessed above all other men that live; I have known supreme happiness for two whole days, & now I ought to be ready & willing to pay a little attention to necessary duties, & do it cheerfully." Therefore I resolved to go deliberately through that lecture, without notes, & so impress it upon my memory & my understanding as to secure myself against any such lame delivery of it in future as I thought characterized it in Elmira. But I had little calculated the cost of such a resolution. Never was a lecture so full of parentheses before. It was Livy, Livy, Livy, Livy, all the way through! It was one sentence of Vandal to ten sentences about you. The insignificant lecture was hidden, lost, overwhelmed & buried under a boundless universe of Livy!
Twain would resume his lecture tour in Rondout, New York, December 2, 1868.