March 22 Wednesday – Sam gave the “Roughing It in the Silver Regions” lecture, and “brilliantly inaugurated” the 1876 season of Kent Club lectures at Yale University. Tickets were “entirely by invitation” and “the Law School lecture room” was “filled to its utmost capacity by a delighted audience” [New Haven Morning Journal and Courier Mar. 22 and 23 p2 “Entertainments”].

Hartford taxes on real estate, insurance stock, bank stock, money loaned at interest and merchandise were due by Nov. 1, with the assessed valuation made public the following March. Sam’s valuation was published on this day at $63,360 [MTPO notes with Oct.16, 1876 to Perkins]. (See prior year’s assessment Mar. 30, 1875.)

Phineas T. Barnum wrote to Sam, letter from Rev. Powers to Barnum enclosed. Barnum had lent the last bunch of queer letters to the pastor who would then forward them to Sam, as Powers wished to use them for an article for the press, withholding names, dates or locations [MTP].