December 16 Thursday – In Hartford Sam answered Calvin H. Higbie’s Dec. 4 plea for financial help. Sam had dedicated Roughing It to Higbie, his old mining partner and held a soft spot for the trusting, giant of a man. Higbie was in Greenville, Calif. Still, he had to turn him down for a $20,000 loan:

Lord, it’s good to hear from you again! It brings back the pleasantness of the old times, with the pains & privations left behind. I would most certainly help you if I could, & believe you know that to be the truth. I know it to be the truth. But I alone am responsible for the capital of my firm in NewYork; I by myself am under contract to keep it sufficient. For the next twelve months this will make it necessary for me to sail just as close to the wind, financially, as I possibly can…

I do not seem to talk much like a millionaire? Well, I have never been a millionaire — except once, for ten days: an episode which you remember well enough. [Note: See May 1 and July 1, 1862 entries].

Sam mentioned seeing another old Nevada pal in New York lately, Robert M. Howland, who Sam said was “prospering.” Why not try him? [MTP].

Harriet Beecher Stowe inscribed a new edition of Uncle Tom’s Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly (1886) for the Clemens family: Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints / Harriet Beecher Stowe. Dec. 16 1886 [Gribben 672].