February 10 Thursday – Sam wrote from Buffalo to Charles Cole Hine, editor of the monthly journal, Insurance Monitor, declining to submit an article.
I have begun a new life & a new system, a new dispensation. And the bottom rule of the this latter is,
To Work No More than is Absolutely Necessary.
February 9 Wednesday – Sam wrote from Buffalo to Francis P. Church, of the Galaxy. Sam claimed his work for the Buffalo Express paid him an ample livelihood; that he wrote sketches, squibs and editorials for it; that he didn’t go to the office [MTL 4: 65].
February 8 Tuesday – Sam wrote from Buffalo to John Fuller, brother of Sam’s agent in 1867, Frank Fuller. Sam declined to lecture. “Am just married, & don’t take an interest in anything out of doors” [MTL 4: 64].
February 7 Monday – Joseph and Harmony Twichell responded to Sam’s telegram for them to visit; they arrived in Buffalo this day [MTL 4: 66].
Mary Mason Fairbanks’ account of the Clemens wedding ran in the Cleveland Herald. Though the event was mentioned in many newspapers, her account is the fullest, since she was in attendance.
February 6 Sunday – Sam wrote from Buffalo, New York to William “Will” Bowen:
My First, & Oldest & Dearest Friend,
February 3 Thursday – The newlyweds left in a private railroad car for their new home in Buffalo. On the train Sam entertained by singing an old British folk ballad that his niece Annie Moffett did not think proper for the occasion. The song would appear in different versions in HF and P&P.
February 2 Wednesday – Samuel L. Clemens married Olivia Louise Langdon. Congregational ministers Joseph Twichell and Thomas K. Beecher performed the ceremony at 7 PM.
January 29 Saturday – Sam’s article, “Around the World Letter No. 8,” subtitled, “Dining with a Cannibal,” was printed in the Buffalo Express [McCullough 144].
January 28 Friday – Sam wrote from Elmira to Elisha Bliss, happy with the $4,000 due him for his latest royalties from Innocents Abroad.
“But $4,000 is pretty gorgeous. One don’t pick that up often, with a book. It is the next best thing to lecturing….I’ll back you against any publisher in America, Bliss—or elsewhere” [MTL 4: 40-1].
To date, Sam had totaled royalties of about $7,404 [MTL 4: 42n5].
January 26 Wednesday – Sam wrote from Elmira to Jim Gillis, evidently answering Jim’s letter about the good ol’ days at Angels Camp.