October,  late – In Cincinnati Sam found employment as a typesetter for T.  Wrightson and Co., one of the city’s  leading printers. He worked there into the next spring, some six months [MTL 1: 70]. Sam’s time in Cincinnati is  one of the “least documented of his life…” [MT Encyclopedia, Poole 145] but  he did write two more Snodgrass letters while there. Sam lived in a  boarding house. Long hours at work plus discussions with other boarders didn’t  allow Sam much time for writing.

October  23 to 24 Friday –Sam traveled by train to Chicago and Indianapolis to Cincinnati [MTL 1: 70].  Branch gives on or  about Oct. 24 as the date Sam arrived in Cincinnati [Branch, “Bixby” 2].

October  22 Wednesday ca. – Sam traveled by river packet to Quincy, Illinois [MTL 1: 70].

October  21 Tuesday – “The  Great Fair at St. Louis,” signed, “SAM,” appeared in the Keokuk Post [ET&S 1: 378].

October  19 Sunday – Sam arrived in Keokuk, Iowa (see Oct. 18 entry).

October  13 Monday – Sam made a brief stay in St. Louis, staying with his mother,  and sister. He attended the St. Louis Agricultural and Mechanical  Association Fair. He wrote a sketch of it,  titled “The Great Fair at St. Louis,” signed, “SAM,” which appeared in the  Keokuk Post on Oct. 21 and then in the Saturday Post on Oct. 25 [MTL 1: 69].
 

– Sam’s fifth birthday.
 

October   – John Marshall sold on credit about $1,000 for merchandise  bought wholesale to one Ira Stout, who then used the new  bankruptcy laws to avoid payment. Ultimately this led to the loss of the  Clemens home [Wecter 56].
 

– The Log Cabin Campaign rally on Market Street in Hannibal would surely have included John Marshall,  a devout Whig. Jane Lampton Clemens loved parades and funerals. Four  and a half year old Sam no doubt witnessed the celebration [Wecter 58]. Note: For more about Jane Clemens  as recalled by her granddaughter Annie Moffett Webster in Fredonia, see May  22, 1870 entry.
 

Spring – Sam started school  at Mrs. Horr’s school in  Hannibal, a small log cabin at the  southern end of Main Street, near Bear Creek. Elizabeth Horr (ca.1790-1873) and  daughter Miss Lizziewere the only teachers. On Sam’s first day of  school he broke a rule twice and was told to go find a switch for his punishment. He kept looking for smaller and smaller switches until he came back  with a cooper’s shaving (a cooper is a barrel maker). Later, Miss Mary Ann  Newcomb(1809-1894) would help at the school [Wecter 54].