May 30 Sunday — In Theatre Magazine on this date appeared the following:
May 31 Monday – Koto House wrote from N.Y. to Sam “(for Mrs. Clemens),” explaining her delays since receiving a telegram from Livy, which invited her to visit before the family left for Elmira. Koto suggested Saturday next (June 5), though was unsure if that would even be possible, though thought it “probable”.
June – Sam’s notebook (for approximately June): Get “The Midge” by HC Bunner [MTNJ 3:240; Gribben 111]. Note: Henry Cuyler Bunner’s (1855-1896) sentimental novel (1886).
June 2 Wednesday – In Hartford the Putnam Phalanx met and elected new members. Sam had previously been voted an Honorary Life Member along with Henry C. Robinson, Gen. Joseph R. Hawley, and 26 others. The Hartford Courant ran “The Putnam Phalanx” p.3, June 3 listing the “Active Committee” and the honoraries. Sam’s letter of May 22 was read aloud. He may have been in attendance.
June 3 Thursday – In Boston, Howells wrote Sam, asking him to keep the $500 check and send him one for $150, instead of returning it. $350 was Howells’ net share of the loss after Sam was able to sub-let the Lyceum Theatre. (See May 12 entry.) He enclosed a clipping of a speech given by General John A. Logan at a Decoration Day ceremony at Grant’s Tomb in New York.
June 4 Friday – In Hartford Sam responded to Howells’ letter of the previous day, agreeing to the suggestion about the check. As for the Sellers as Scientist play (which became The American Claimant in 1887), Sam wrote:
I am being persecuted by all the unknown comedians between hell & Halifax; they all want our piece. I hope you get your share of the applications.
June 5 Saturday – Alfred P. Burbank and wife arrived at the Clemens home for what was probably an overnight visit [June 3 from Burbank].
At 5 p.m., Sam wrote to Edward H. House after Koto House had returned to New York.
June 6 Sunday – In Hartford Sam wrote to Charles Webster about book publishing matters and royalties, comparing royalties to the overall worth of books already taken for memoirs of General George McClellan and General Philip H. Sheridan (1831-1888).
June 7 Monday – In Hartford Sam finished his letter about the foul-smelling tap water. He complained of holding his nose while brushing his teeth. He enclosed a clipping from page two of the Hartford Courant for June 5, 1886, citing tastings by some committee denying that the water had a fishy smell.
June 8 Tuesday – Clara Clemens’ twelfth birthday. Margaret (“Daisy”) Warner gave her a box of cologne. Warner wrote to her father (George) on May 27 asking him to buy the cologne when he was in New York [MTP].
June 11 Friday – In Hartford Sam wrote to Charles Webster, telling him to:
See that you go for Wannamaker [sic] — otherwise I will go down there & rise up in his Sunday School & give him hell, in front of his whole 3000 pupils [MTP]
June 13 Sunday – In Hartford Sam wrote to John Hay of his plans to travel west and of the poor condition of Edward H. House [June 19 from Hay].
June 14 Monday – In Hartford Sam wrote a short note of thanks to Walter Lee Brown for “a most valuable idea” he felt would be useful to him [MTP]. Note: Just what the idea was is not given. Brown edited the first scholarly treatment of any James Fenimore Cooper work, noting variations between the original manuscript and the various published texts of his 1843 article in Autobiography of a Pocket-Handkerchief (Evanston, IL: The Golden-Booke Press, 1897)
June 15 Tuesday – The Clemens family and governess Rosa Hay (a party of six) left Hartford for Elmira and spent the night at the [Sam to Orion June 2] Gedney House at 40th Street and Broadway in New York [Hotel stationery on Sam to Whitmore this date; Salsbury 230].
June 16 Wednesday – The Clemens family spent the day in New York City; Sam most likely met with Frederick J. Hall and the Webster & Co. Staff, probably discussing Webster’s impending trip to Italy, the Pope book, and other matters. It was Sam’s usual plan when traveling to and from Elmira with Livy, to allow her a day’s rest in New York.
June 17 Thursday – The Clemens family left New York and took the ten-hour train ride to Elmira, where Sam wrote a letter to Charles Webster about the Pope’s biography. Sam detailed what he felt a presentation copy of Leo XIII’s book should look like, feel like, and cost — a book bound in:
June 19 Saturday – John M. Hay wrote from Cleveland, Ohio to Sam: “I find your letter of the 13th on arriving at home from a visit to my mother in Illinois.” Hay hoped to see Sam on his “trip westward,” and promised to go see Edward H. House when next in N.Y. “I am grieved to hear he is in such ill care. He is one of the men still left in this sad dusty world worth talking with” [MTP]. Note: the letter was forwarded from Hartford to Keokuk.
June 20 Sunday – In Elmira Sam wrote to Franklin G. Whitmore about three boxes of cigars, 150 total, which would be sufficient for the family’s five-day stay in Keokuk [MTP, from Anderson Auction Co. Mar.3, 1924 item 97]. Note: With Webster sailing to Europe, Sam relied on Whitmore for such details.
June 21 Monday – The Clemens family and governess Rosa Hay left Elmira and traveled by rail to Rochester, where they probably dined with Daniel William Powers (1818-1897) and family, and may have spent the night there, continuing on to Buffalo the next day (See July 12 to Whitmore). Powers was an eastern financier and the owner of a fabulous art collection.
June 22 Tuesday – The Clemens party sailed from Buffalo in the steamer India headed for Duluth, Minn. At the western edge of Lake Superior. The captain of the India was Edward Mooney [MTNJ 3: 243n62]. Sam jotted in his notebook to send Mooney a copy of IA.
June 23 Wednesday – The Clemens family were aboard the steamer India. Meanwhile, using USA Passport No.6854, Charles L. Webster accompanied by his wife, Annie Moffett Webster, sailed for Europe on the City of Rome [Samuel L. Clemens Papers in the McKinney Family Papers, Archives and Special Collections Library, Vassar College Libraries; Webster to Sam June 21].
June 24 Thursday – The Clemens family were aboard the steamer India.
June 25 Friday – The Clemens family were aboard the steamer India.
June 26 Saturday – The Clemens family were aboard the steamer India. Note: According to the interview in St. Paul, Sam claimed the trip across the lakes was five days.
From Susy Clemens’ diary:
June 26, 86 We are all of us on our way to Keokuk to see Grandma Clemens, who is very feeble and wants to see us and pertickularly Jean who is her name sake. We are going by way of the lakes, as papa thought that would be the most comfortable way [Papa 225].