September 9 Friday – At the Hotel Wolcott In N.Y.C. Sam wrote to Susan Crane.
Susy dear, the first time I ever heard “In the Sweet By and Bye,” a street-organ played it near the St. Nicholas in December 1867; & that was the first time I ever saw Livy Langdon, a sweet young slender girl & beautiful. In our engagement-year some of us often sang it, evenings, along with other songs. Present:
- Father, †
- Mother, †
- Yourself,
- Theodore, †
- Mr. Slee, †
- Hattie Lewis,
- Livy Langdon †
How many are gone!
An organ is playing The Sweet Bye & Bye in the street now, & breaking my heart.
I saw Clara off, day before yesterday, to a rest-cure in Connecticut. She is to be shut up 4 or 5 weeks, in bed, without books, without companionship, writing no letters, reading no letters, seeing no one but physician & nurse—a horrid solitude, with grief and memory for company. What an unforgivable crime the creation of the human race was!
That inscription for the gravestone is in Lee. I will send it by & by when I can. I do not remember the wording. / Lovingly [MTP]. Note: Sam designated the departed with crosses; he later wrote the inscription for Livy’s headstone:
Insert photo taken by David H Fears, Sept. 9, 2009.
The beloved & lamented wife of Samuel Langhorne Clemens, who reverently raises this stone to her memory. Elmira, November 27, 1845,
Florence, Italy, June 5, 1904. ———
“Gott sei dir gnädig, oh, meine Wonne!”
Sam also wrote to Frank Bliss.
As I understand it, my second & final $12,500. indebtedness will begin to run in your direction November first, on the installment plan. Can you make it profitable to me to anticipate? What reduction will you make on that $12,500.—lump-cash, payable Sept 15 or Sept 30; 13 or 13½ months before the final instalment of it would fall due? [MTP].