December 3 Tuesday – Sam wrote from Hartford to the editor of the San Francisco Alta California. Sam intended the letter to be printed, and it was on the front page of the Dec. 14 issue. The appeal was for Captain Ned Wakeman, who was suddenly stricken with paralysis while at sea. Wakeman partially recovered but died at age 57 [MTL 5: 233].

Sam also wrote to his mother-in-law, Olivia Lewis Langdon, who had visited Sam and Livy and headed back to Elmira. Sam asked if there was any news on the Beecher scandal, then weighed in with the idea that Beecher’s silence on the scandal was “a thousand-fold more potent in convincing people of the truth of that scandal than the evidence of fifty Woodhulls could be.” He also disclosed that Clara Spaulding had agreed to accompany Sam and Livy to England in May [MTL 5: 236].

Sam also invited John E. Mouland, captain of the Batavia, to visit on his next voyage [MTL 5: 239].