The Clemens family had their longest period of residency at their Hartford Home on Farmington Avenue, from September of 1879 to June of 1891. They spent their summers in Elmira with Mark Twain writing in his octagon at Quarry Farm. The summer of 1890 found them in the Catskills and by June of 1891 Sam had decided the family needed to economize, so they moved to Europe.

Sam wrote to his mother that the distractions of life in America were too interruptive of his writing, so he decided to relocate to Europe "until I shall have completed one of the half dozen books that lie begun, up stairs.". Part of this period was spent in the company of Joe Twichell, in the guise of Mr. Harris in the book "A Tramp Abroad". Sam and his family spent most of this time in Germany and Switzerland but also visited France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and England before returning to Hartford, Connecticut.

The Clemens family moved into their home in Hartford, CT September 19 of 1874. It served as their official residence until Sam took his family to Europe in March of 1878, not to return until October 24, 1879. During this first period of residency, Sam did not sit still but made several trips, primarily to New York City and Boston. The family took summer vacations away from Hartford: 1875, Newport, Rhode Island; 1876 & 1877 at Quarry Farm. In May of 1877, Sam and Joe Twichell visited Bermuda, Sam's second visit to the island.

Sam, Livy and Langdon moved to the Langdon home in Elmira and Sam would walk to the Quarry Farm house, "a mile & a half up a mountain, where I write every day" on his book "Roughing It". In October of 1871, they moved to the Hooker House in Nook Farm, on the western side of Hartford, Connecticut. This was a period of a somewhat unsatisfactory lecture tour, three trips to England, the birth of his first daughter, known as Susie, and the building of his Hartford Home on Farmington.

Sam Clemens believed he had found respectability, fame, wealth and success. He married into wealth and a woman he would love the rest of his life. His father-in-law had purchased a mansion for him and part ownership in a newspaper. But he chafed at the daily grind. There had been only one job in his life he truly enjoyed, being a river boat pilot. Also, a number of problems and tragedies struck. Olivia became pregnant, but was devastated when her father was diagnosed with stomach cancer and died on Aug. 6, 1870: Emma Nye, a dear friend of Olivia’s who was visiting, was stricken with typhoid fever and died in their home Sept. 29: Finally, their son, Langdon, was born prematurely Nov. 7, frail and sickly, and Olivia fell ill with typhoid herself.

A busy time for Sam/Mark Twain: He wanted to turn his travel letters into a book. This required a return to California, and a second crossing of the Peninsula, to convince the Daily Alta California to allow his use of the letters they had published of his Quaker City journey. He, again, lectured in California and Nevada, crossed the Peninsula a third time and returned to New York. Sam wished to be considered respectable, something more than a "Western Humorist". This he gained, along with a marriage into a wealthy family. While working on publishing his new book, he again toured throughout New York and the Mid-West on his American Vandals Abroad tour.

Upon arriving in New York in January of 1867, Twain heard of the planned Quaker City pleasure excursion to Europe and the Holy Land. He was already contracted with the Daily Alta California newspaper, as a traveling correspondent and convinced the paper to finance his joining the excursion. The letters Twain wrote on this journey led to his book, "The Innocents Abroad". He visited the Azores, Morocco, France and Italy, where he avoided quarantine at Naples. He broke quarantine in Greece. He visited the Ottoman Empire, Russia and took a 2-week horse ride through "The Holy Land". On the way home the ship stopped in Egypt, Spain and the Bermudas. Although not included in his book, Sam again broke quarantine in Spain.

From October to December of 1866, Mark Twain toured Northern California and Nevada, around Carson City, lecturing on his adventures in Hawaii. He then returned to San Francisco, sailed south, crossed the Peninsula, continued north and lectured through New York and the Mid West from January to May of 1867.

Having discovered the futility of trying to make a fortune mining for silver and gold, Sam took a job as a reporter for the Territorial Enterprise and became Mark Twain. He remained in Nevada until May of 1864 then departed for San Francisco. In December of 1864 he headed for the hills, Jackass Hill, and learned about Jumping Frogs. Returning to San Francisco in February of 1865, he decided that working as a daily reporter was too tedious but did find an assignment to write letters from the Sandwich Islands. This would ultimately lead to his becoming a lecturer and his next career.

Following the end of his career as a Mississippi River Boat pilot, Sam Clemens headed for Carson City in the Nevada Territory, with his elder brother, Orion. He expected to "go about of an afternoon when his work was done, and pick up two or three pailfuls of shining slugs, and nuggets of gold and silver on the hillside. And by and by he would become very rich, and return home by sea, ...". He was sorely disappointed and soon became a newspaper reporter.