December 29 Tuesday – Sam wrote from Cleveland to Jervis Langdon, responding to his letter of Dec. 8 that had caught up with him in Charlotte, Michigan. The last letter Sam wrote concerning Sam’s time spent alone in the drawing room had offended Jervis. Sam wrote that he accepted the rebuke and regretted any offense. He wrote a few paragraphs about his references:

It is my desire as truly as yours, that sufficient time shall elapse to show you, beyond all possible question, what I have been, what I am, & what I am likely to be. Otherwise you could not be satisfied with me, nor I with myself. I think that much of my conduct on the Pacific Coast was not of a character to recommend me to the respectful regard of a high eastern civilization, but it was not considered blameworthy there, perhaps. We go according to our lights.

Sam wrote additional names for Jervis to contact: Hon. J. Neely Johnson, Carson City, Nevada, ex-governor and now state supreme court justice; Governor of Nevada Henry Goode Blasdel, Joe Goodman, and others. He discusses the Cleveland Herald and his desire to buy into the paper, half-owned by Abel Fairbanks [MTL 2: 356-60].