September 4 Thursday – In Onteora Park near Tannersville, N.Y. Sam wrote to Franklin G. Whitmore, now back in Hartford, asking if he would send three or four photographs of himself to give to friends at the park/club [MTP].
Webster & Co. sent Sam the “Books sent out during August, 1890” postmarked this day, and totaling 6,802 books including 1,096 CY [MTP].
September 3 Wednesday – In Onteora Park near Tannersville, N.Y. Sam wrote to Frederick J. Hall about rotten fruit and larger-than-ordered fruit baskets from a New York merchant named Goldsmith. Pay the man $42 and let him sue for the rest of the bill, Sam argued. After receiving too much bad fruit Sam had complained to Hall; the quality improved but larger baskets were sent without authorization. When the bill came, larger than agreed ($3 each) prices were charged.
September 2 Tuesday – Sam gave a Browning reading for the gathering at Onteora Park [Beckwith’s unpublished papers at the Smithsonian; offered by a MT scholar who wishes to remain unnamed].
September 1 Monday – In Tannersville, N.Y. Sam wrote a short note to Sherrard Clemens II, who evidently had written asking about one of his English ancestors. Sam answered:
…I am wholly ignorant. I knew of the patriot Clemens, & of his execution as one of Charles’s judges, & also that he had at an earlier day been English Ambassador at the Spanish court; but I had not heard until now that he married a Spanish wife [MTP].
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August 31 Sunday – In Onteora Park near Tannersville, N.Y., Sam wrote to Orion and Mollie Clemens. He was just back from Washington and shared the news that Nevada Senator John P. Jones promised to “set himself seriously to work to raise the capital” in December or January.
Doesn’t want to begin until he can walk the disciples right up to the machine & show it to them. Thinks he will have no trouble about raising the money then. Well, we must wait & see. So I am feeling reasonably comfortable [MTP].
August 30 Saturday – In Onteora Park near Tannersville, N.Y., Sam wrote to Frederick J. Hall. He referenced what was probably the subject of his one-day trip to Philadelphia on Aug. 28.
I failed with the monumental humbug of the century; so you’ll have to fall back on other possibilities, Watson Gilder and the Methodist Book Concern, &c. I shall be down again perhaps in a week or sooner, and then we can consider Whitmore.
August 29 Friday – Sam left Washington and traveled to Onteora Park near Tannersville, N.Y., where Livy and the children waited. In his Aug. 31 to Orion and Mollie Clemens Sam wrote “From Washington to Onteora betwixt 6 in the morning & 9 in the evening is a most exhausting trip.” The rest of the summer would be spent at the resort.
George Standring wrote from London to keep Sam up to date on various typesetter developments there. He enclosed reports from the Pall Mall Gazette and the London Star (neither extant) [MTP].
August 28 Thursday – In Washington, D.C. Sam wrote a short note to Livy, now back in Tannersville, N.Y. Sam complained of “a dreary long separation” and wrote of his plans for the day, which included a quick trip to Philadelphia:
Livy darling, I am up at 6.30 to catch the earliest train for Philadelphia, to assist Mr. Hall in a matter of business, but I shall be back here about nightfall & continue to talk with Jones [MTP].
August 27 Wednesday – In Washington D.C. Sam wrote to Franklin G. Whitmore asking for a “small speech printed on proof-slips” he’d left in a “green tin box near your table in the billiard room.” The speech had been written but never given. It contained statistics for wage-saving machines like the cotton gin, corn-sheller, etc., and Sam wanted it mailed to Senator Jones [MTP].
Orion Clemens wrote to Sam thanking for the $200 monthly check. Ma was suffering still with difficulty now in breathing. “I am dieting on coffee and milk alone, for my cold” [MTP].