October 27 Friday – In Hartford Sam typed a note to Andrew Chatto asking for maps that they couldn’t find and that his governess wanted. Could they be shipped? [MTP]. The Clemens children’s governess since 1880 was Lilly Gillette Foote.

Sam also wrote to H.O. Johnson, who had written regarding some aspect of stage plays. Sam referred him to John T. Raymond, thought to be playing in a New York theater; Sam didn’t know which one [MTP].

Sam also typed a response to Milicent W. Shinn (1858-1940) of the historic Shinn pioneer farming family known in the Fremont, Calif. area. In 1879 at the age of 25—and as an undergrad at U.C. Berkeley—she became the editor of the Overland Monthly, a San Francisco literary magazine started by Bret Harte. In 1898 she became a noted child psychologist, the first woman ever to earn a doctorate degree from the University of California. This was the woman Sam Moffett made an autograph request for (see Oct. 21 to Pamela Moffett) Sam related that he had:

HANDED THE MANUSCRIPT OF “THE INNOCENTS ABROAD” TO BRET HARTE AND TOLD HIM TO TAKE SUCH MATTER OUT OF IT AS HE PLEASED FOR THE OVERLAND FREE OF CHARGE. I DO NOT REMEMBER WHETHER HE USED ANY OF THE MATTER OR NOT, BUT HE HAD ABUNDANT OPPORTUNITY IN AS MUCH AS THE BOOK WAS NOT PUBLISHED UNTIL ABOUT TWO YEARS LATER [MTP].

Sam also typed a letter to Charles Webster on the matter of the 320 acres of Archer County, Texas land owned by Livy. Sam had received “six or seven of these applications,” that is, requests for a sale price for the land. Sam also asked Webster to:

“…MAKE A NOTE OF HOW MANY TIMES HE PLAYS THAT PIECE DURING HIS NEW YORK ENGAGEMENT, SO THAT I CAN HAVE THE MATTER TO REFER TO IN CASE I WISH TO BOUNCE HIM IN THE FUTURE” [MTP].

Sam also wrote to John Brown Jr., the son of their late friend in Edinburgh, Dr. John Brown. Sam found a picture of Susy he would send that he particularly liked, and enclosed a picture of himself. He and Livy hoped they might see him on a visit someday [MTP].