April 30 Sunday – Sam wrote from Elmira to Orion. Sam put his foot down and would not be included in American Publisher (basically a promotional paper for Bliss’ stable of writers) more often than every six months. He even would have Livy stop any letters asking more of him. He would focus on his books.

You both wrote me discouraging letters. Yours stopped my pen for two days—Bliss’s stopped it for three. Hereafter my wife will read my Hartford letters & if they are of the the same nature, keep them out of my hands. The idea of a newspaper editor & a publisher plying with dismal letters a man who is under contract to write humorous books for them! [MTPO].

Accompanied by Joe Goodman, Sam went daily to Quarry Farm, for the first of many summers that were to prove productive and restful. David Gray also provided encouragement and support. Both men were instrumental in reviving Sam’s literary ambitions, which had been at a low point in Buffalo. Quarry Farm was the home of Livy’s sister, Susan L. Crane (Mrs. Theodore W. Crane). It was a peaceful wooded hilltop house overlooking Elmira with a view of the Chemung River and distant hills [MTL 4: 386].