June, before the 15th – Sam wrote from Hartford to James Hammond Trumbull, enclosing Frank Etting’s reply to Sam’s questions about the Centennial event in Philadelphia. Etting had urged Sam and Trumbull to come; that there would be 150 authors and that not every one could read every piece but many would read part. Trumbull had provided the multilingual chapter epigraphs for The Gilded Age. Sam thought now he should go and hoped Trumbull would also [MTLE 1: 71]. Note: this source questions the date as June 20 from Hartford; the family had left for Elmira on June 15, so either the date or the place is in error.

June 15 Thursday – The Clemens family left Hartford for Elmira, where they would spend the summer [Sam to Fairbanks, June 3]. They stopped in New York and stayed at the St. James Hotel a day or more, as was their custom [N.Y. Times, June 16, 1876 p3 “Arrivals at the Hotels”].