May 15 Monday – The New York Times, p.5 ran an article about a new society, formed in April. Sam was named among the members. The object of the group was “to bring together, socially, the large number of men who have been identified with the development of the West”:

SOCIETY OF WESTERN MEN.

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It Promises to Flourish and Be Hospitable in This City.

The Western Society of New-York, organized about a month ago, has secured permanent headquarters at 19 West Twenty-fourth Street, and is in such a condition as to justify its projectors in predicting for it a brilliant future. Men who have resided west of the Alleghany [sic] Mountains for five years or more are eligible to membership.

In addition to the large number of successful business men who are among the eligibles in this city, the society claims that in its honorary list, combined with the active list, it will have a “corner” on the humorists of the country. Among the names they mention are Mark Twain, Bill Nye, M. Quad, Bret Harte, James Whitcomb Riley, and Tom Holmes.