Charles Farrar Browne (April 26, 1834 – March 6, 1867) was a United States humor writer, better known under his nom de plume, Artemus Ward. He is considered to be America's first stand-up comedian. At birth, his surname was "Brown"; he added the "e" after he became famous. Ward met Mark Twain when Ward performed in Virginia City, Nevada and the two became friends. In his correspondences with Twain, Browne called him "My Dearest Love." Legend has it that, following Ward's stage performance, he, Mark Twain, and Dan De Quille were taking a drunken rooftop tour of Virginia City until a town constable threatened to blast all three of them with a shotgun loaded with rock salt. Browne recommended Twain to the editors of the New York Press and urged him to journey to New York.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Farrar_Browne

Sam wrote from Hartford to Frank B. Earnest (suspected pseudonym of a journalist, probably from the Knoxville Tribune, where this reply was first printed, then reprinted in the New York Times on Jan. 2, 1880.) about Artemus Ward:  See To Frank B. Earnest 18 December 1879 • Hartford, Conn.