February – John Quarles had married Martha Ann “Patsy” Lampton (1807-1850), Jane’s younger sister, and opened a store at Florida, Missouri the year before the Clemens family arrived. In this month he closed his successful store at Florida and bought 70 acres of good farmland. A few months later he added 160 acres more [Wecter 50]. The farm was three and a half miles northwest of town. Quarles kept slaves (Some claim as many as 30 slaves, some eleven, and some as few as six) [Powers, Dangerous 41; Powers MT A Life 11; Dempsey 4].

Sam’s third birthday.

John Marshall Clemens’ term on the Monroe County court expired [Selby 1].

August ca. – Shortly after Jane Clemens recovered from childbirth, thirteen-year-old Orion was dragged along a picket fence by two oxen. He was saved from death or injury by Jane and a peg leg man who happened to be passing [Varble 127].

Henry Clemens, the youngest child of John Marshall Clemensand Jane Lampton Clemens was born in Florida, Mo. [MTL 1: 382]. Henry was the model for Sid Sawyer in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, a boy upright in every way, not at all like his older brother Sam.

John Marshall Clemens was sworn in as a judge of the Monroe County court. Wecter calls this the “zenith of his professional life and one that fixed upon him ever after the title of ‘Judge’” [Wecter 48]. He received two dollars a day while the court met [49]. John had trained to be a lawyer and was very exacting in his work. His letters show the graceful Spenserian script which educated people of the day displayed. Sam got his exacting nature from his father, and his humor and red hair from his mother.

The early part of the decade saw an inflationary boom, which led to The Panic of 1837. The crisisoccurred when every bank stopped payment in specie (gold and silver coinage). The West was badly hit by the panic, and would not recover for four or five years. The Clemens family would struggle financially for years, in part due to this panic.

Sam’s grandfather, Benjamin Lampton, age 67, died in Florida, Mo.[Wecter 47].

August 7 Wednesday – Sam’s ship log:

Went to Bar Harbor [Maine], & cast anchor. Drove about the region, acquiring information by pumping it out of the driver. The pump was manned by Col. Payne, spelled by Messrs. Rogers & Reed, subordinates.

Rain.

Dumplings.

Reflections upon the perils of property when it goes down to the sea in ships & encounters certain of the wonders of the deep.

August 5 Monday – The Kanawha stopped in Fairhaven, Mass. There, they attended the laying of a cornerstone for the Unitarian Memorial Church, which Rogers was donating in memory of his mother. Sam gave a speech honoring H.H. Rogers. The Hartford Courant covered the ceremonies on Aug. 8, p. 10.

MARK TWAIN’S LATEST SPEECH.

It Was at a Religious Ceremony in Massachusetts.

(New Bedford Standard, Tuesday.)