The Nation’s Centennial Year
1601 – Started on Huck Finn – Ah Sin & Bret Harte – West Point – Tom Sawyer Praised Skeleton
Stories – Conway as Agent – John Marshall & Henry Disinterred – Sam on Stage Centennial in Philly
– Advice to American Publishing Co. – Hayes & Torchlight Parades Political Speeches – Tauchnitz –
Belford Pirates – Readings in New England
Jabberwock Auctioneer – Crazy Isabella

1876 – Sometime during the year, Sam and Livy founded the Saturday Morning Club, a group of sixteen to twenty young Hartford ladies. They met and read essays and discussed various subjects. Sam, the only male member, often asked his well-known male friends to speak before the group [Willis 105]. Sam listed Boyesen, Harte, Fields, Charles Dudley Warner and himself as past speakers to the Club, and he had also asked Bayard Taylor (1825-1878) [MTLE 2: 11].

Asylum Hill Church, Hartford, Conn. – Sometime during the year, Sam gave a reading from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer [Schmidt]. Note: the church had 186 pews, seating 930 people [Strong 49].

Though the date is unknown, Sam first visited the U.S. Military Academy at West Point during 1876. Cadet Oberlin M. Carter (USMA 1880) claimed Sam visited West Point at least three times between 1876 and 1880. Carter also reported visiting the Clemens’ residence in Hartford [Leon 36].