"The engagements in December numbered only about eight [ten] and were geographically spotty, ..." The first leg Twain traveled was to Rondout aboard the Hudson River railroad - 85 miles. The tour included engagements in Rondout, New York; Newark, New Jersey; Norwich, New York; Scranton, Pennsylvania; Fort Plain, New York; Detroit, Michigan; Lansing, Michigan; Charlotte, Michigan; Tecumseh, Michigan; and, Akron, Ohio;
December 2, 1868: Washington Hall, Rondout, New York
Clemens presumably caught the Hudson River Railroad’s 11:30 a.m. from New York, express to Albany and Troy, leaving the train en route to cross the Hudson River to Rondout. It is likely that Twain took the Lark, the ferry boat from Rhinebeck to Rondout (see the entry on Rondout for a history of the ferry service). He lectured at Washington Hall, Rondout, New York then returned to the Metropolitan Hotel in New York City, December 3rd to the 7th.
On December 8 Sam took the New York and New Haven and the New Haven, Hartford and Springfield. Sam made a “little journey to Hartford” to bare his soul to Twichell about his struggles with prayer and his desire for success. DBD
December 9, 1868: Opera House, Newark, New Jersey
Sam departed Hartford at 1:20 am for New York, From New York to Newark, he could have taken the ferry from the Liberty Street Terminal, across the Hudson to the Communipaw Terminal then on the New Jersey Central , or the Jersey City Ferry to Jersey City from the Cortland Street terminal in Lower Manhattan for the Morris and Essex to Newark. He lectured at the Opera House, Newark, New Jersey, which is much closer to the Morris and Essex line than the New Jersey Central, then returned to the Everett House in New York City at midnight. ...had to stand around the ferry house twenty minutes before I could get a carriage, & so got chilled through.
SLC to Jane Lampton Clemens and Family, 10 Dec 1868, New York, N.Y. (UCCL 02728).
On December 10, he departed New York, spending that night at the Delavan House in Albany. This journey would have been about 140 miles aboard the Hudson River railroad.
December 11, 1868, Norwich, New York
The 1870 lines from the University of Nebraska do not indicate names for the lines but later USGS quads provide a possible identification as the Delaware and Hudson Canal Co and the New York, Ontario and Western lines. It appears, however, that this route was not available in 1868. Rather it seems that Twain departed Albany on the New York Central to Utica. He possibly took the West Shore RR to Utica but its location near Schenectady and west of Albany makes this unlikely. The New York Central ran from Albany to Utica and finally the Utica, Chenango and Susquehanna Valley Railroad to Norwich. This became the Utica Branch of the DL&W.
Twain lectured in Norwich, New York. I don't have a location for this lecture. He departed Norwich December 14 for New York City, probably along the same route he took to get to Norwich; back to Albany then to New York City.
Norwich, New York, where Mrs. Fairbanks’s cousin William N. Mason lived. Clemens had stayed with Mason in December 1868 (L2, 326). See 15 Jan 70 to PAM, n. 2.
December 16, 1868: Washington Hall, Scranton, Pennsylvania
The librarian at Scranton Public Library has informed me that Twain's lecture took place at Washington Hall, a site noted for oratory in the 1860's. The University of Nebraska railroad files do not indicate a direct line from New York to Scranton for the DL&W. If this is the case Twain would have needed to take the New Jersey Central by the southern route, approximately 132 miles and changing to the Warren at Hampton; or the Morris and Essex, changing to the Warren Railroad at Washington, to the Delaware River. From the Warren, the Delaware and Cobb's Gap Railroad, which opened as the Lackawanna and Western, to Scranton.
From Scranton, the L&W ended at Hallstead or Great Bend. For this date I can find no reference for a bridge between these two locations but commentary about the L&W indicate it stopped at Great Bend. From there, the L&W obtained trackage rights north and west over the New York and Erie Rail Road to Elmira.
Sam arrived in Elmira at 7 PM, December 17th and spent the night at the Langdon house. He departed the Langdon house at 7 pm on the 18th, traveling to Fort Plain. His route is unknown except that he did stop in Utica. The trip may have begun with the Elmira and Horsehead Depots with the Chemung Railroad to Watkins Glen. From Watkins Glen the Elmira and Lake Ontario Railroad, which originated with the Canandaigua and Corning RR, to Rochester. Twain may have traveled this full length and boarded the New York Central there for Ft. Plain. He may, however, have transferred to the New York Central (Auburn Line) at Canandaigue and taken what was originally the Rochester and Syracuse Railroad to Syracuse.
Rather than the NYC, Twain may have taken the West Shore railway, as Fort Plain is on the west side of the Mohawk River, NYC runs along the east shore. The New York Central line had a depot in Nelliston, called the Ft. Plain Depot, on the east side of the river and there was a bridge across the river. The West Shore had a depot on the west side of the river in Fort Plain.
December 19, 1868: Diefendorf Hall, Fort Plain, New York
Sam was the guest of his poet-friend, George W. Elliott (1830-1898) and wife until December 21. One week after Clemens’s visit Elliott wrote this account of his arrival:
As the eastward bound express train halted at this station, in that glorious flood of sunlight of last Saturday afternoon, there stepped from the drawing-room car a little merry-eyed, curly-headed, intelligent-looking gentleman, whose age is hardly thirty-five. From one of his overcoat pockets peeped out a copy of Dickens’ “Old Curiosity Shop;” and from the other, as he walked along chatting with a friend, he drew and leisurely shelled and ate a handful of peanuts. This was Mr. Samuel L. Clemens, familiarly known to the reading public as “Mark Twain,” and acknowledged, wherever the English language is spoken, as par excellence the “Humorist of America.” With his calm self-possession and winning geniality of manner, added to a slight “Down East” accent, he is the impersonation of the shrewd, fun-loving, genuine “live Yankee.” . . .
We have an unwavering faith in “Mark Twain.” We count upon his success as confidently as upon the coming of an expected comet. (Elliott, 3)
SLC to Olivia L. Langdon, 19 and 20 Dec 1868, Fort Plain, N.Y. (UCCL 00206).
There is no documentation that I've found but it seems very likely that Mark Twain spoke at the Diefendorf Hall in Fort Plain.
Scharnhorst (pg 491 The Life of Mark Twain: The Early Years, 1835-1871) writes Sam was"pausing overnight in Elmira".
Sam arrived December 21st in Detroit, Michigan just before midnight. It was a 583 mile journey from Fort Plain that included riding on: the New York Central; Lakeshore; Cleveland and Toledo; Dayton and Michigan; and the Detroit, Monroe and Toledo Railroads.
“I am so inexpressibly tired & drowsy!—not tired, either, but worn, you know, & dreary. I wish I never had to travel any more. And I won’t, after we come to anchor, my dear—I won’t for any light cause. How I long to have a home & never leave it!” DBD
December 22, 1868: Young Men's Hall, Detroit, Michigan
“I have just this moment parted with my newspaper friends—I don’t get a moment’s time to myself. The whole day long I have been driving or visiting, with first one & then another—& I found an old friend or two here, as usual—I find them everywhere—how they do wander!” DBD
December 23, 1868: Mead's Hall, Lansing, Michigan
Twain rode the Michigan Central Railroad to Jackson and the Jackson, Lansing and Saginaw Railroad to Lansing, Michigan. Fears reports he lectured at Mead's Hall. DBD
December 25, 1868: Charlotte, Michigan
To Olivia L. Langdon 25 December 1868 • Lansing, Mich.
And now is the time to love—for on this day the Savior was born, whose measureless love unbarred the gates of Heaven to perishing men….I must to bed. I ride 20 miles in a cutter to-day, & lecture tonight at Charlotte.” The railroad was apparently what would become part of The Grand Trunk Western Railroad. The University of Nebraska site shows unnamed lines between these two cities. His letter to Livy indicates he rode 20 miles in a "cutter". The distance between Charlotte and Lansing is approximately 20 miles. I don't know what "cutter" refers to.
Clemens arrived and lectured in Charlotte on Christmas, leaving for Tecumseh, Michigan, the next day. It is possible he lectured at Sampson Hall, the location of which is unknown.
Scharnhorst (pg 492 The Life of Mark Twain: The Early Years, 1835-1871) writes Sam spent Christmas in Elmira".
December 26, 1868: Tecumseh, Michigan
Twain departed Charlotte for Tecumseh, Michigan. The 1870 plotted lines have no name but the later USGS maps indicate the line from Charlotte to Jackson as the Michigan Central , the line from Jackson to Tecumseh as the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad. There is a question of how he departed Charlotte. The Grand River Valley Railroad may have been available to Rives Junction. Available references indicate that this line had reached Eaton Rapids but the complete line would not open until 1870. He could have back-tracked to Lansing and taken the Jackson, Lansing and Saginaw Railroad to Jackson.
At the time of Twain's journey this line from Jackson would have been the Michigan Southern and Northern Indiana Railroad. The location of Twain's lecture has not been determined but is likely to have been within what is now Tecumseh's Downtown Historic District.
December 28 - Twain traveled from Tecumseh to Cleveland, 150 miles. The 1870 kml files indicate the Cleveland and Toledo Railroad and the Dayton and Michigan, with several having no names. The later USGS maps indicate the Detroit, Toledo and Ironton; New York Central; Lake Shore and Michigan Southern; and the Wheeling and Lake Erie.
The mapped lines are from Tecumseh: Palmyra and Jacksonburgh to Lenawee Junction; Palmyra Branch of the Michigan Southern and Northern Indiana to Palmyra; Erie and Kalamazoo to Toledo; Dayton and Michigan for a short distance east of Toledo; Cleveland and Toledo to Cleveland. He stayed with the Fairbankses.
December 30, 1868: Methodist Church, Akron, Ohio
Mark Twain lectured at Methodist Church, Akron, Ohio then returned to the Fairbanks home in Cleveland. The identity of this Methodist Church has not been determined but it is possible the he spoke at The Old Stone Church. The journey was only about 36 miles. From Cleveland to Hudson, the Cleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad; and from Hudson to Akron, the Cleveland, Zanesville and Cincinnati Railroad. Mark Dawidziak in Mark Twain in Ohio notes Twain spoke at the Methodist Church on the corner of Church and Broadway, an intersection that no longer exists. He then returned to the Fairbankses in Cleveland.