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.)

August 3 Saturday – H.H. Rogers’ yacht Kanawha returned to N.Y.C. at 10 a.m. Sam went ashore to shop. At noon he wrote Livy aboard the yacht, just before they sailed.

August 2 Friday – At 3 p.m. in N.Y.C. Sam wrote from Rogers’ office to Livy in Lake Saranac, N.Y.

January – Sam inscribed a copy of Songs of Nature (1901) by John Burroughs (1837-1921): “S.L. Clemens, Riverdale, Jan. 1902” [Gribben 117]. Note: Burroughs was a naturalist and essayist important to the movement of conservation in the U.S. His books were enormously popular in his day. He was voted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1905.

December 30 Tuesday – In Riverdale, N.Y. Sam was allowed to see Livy for nearly four minutes [Dec.31 to Twichell].

Sam also added a short pararaph to his Dec. 29 letter to Susan Crane.

“Dec. 30. 6 a.m—(which is about dawn.) I have been up to Jean’s room, & find all quiet there—Jean sleeping. Miss Tobin whispered, ‘She has had a splendid night.’ The doctor (& Clara) had put in an appearance a couple of times in the night & gone back to bed, finding things going well” [MTP].

October 15 Monday – The S.S. Minnehaha arrived in New York City with the Clemens family on board [MTHHR 451]. The steamship was slow in getting into the pier at West Houston Street. At 10 p.m. the gangplank was positioned. Sam waited until most of the passengers had disembarked. When he did so he was surrounded by “a few friends” and newspaper men. Paine reports a remark Sam made to them:

“If I ever get ashore I am going to break both of my legs so I can’t get away again” [MTB 1110].