April 6 Saturday – At 21 Fifth Ave, N.Y. Sam inscribed an aphorism in a copy of JA to Helen Fulton: “To / Miss Helen Fulton / with the respectful salutations / of the Author. On the whole it is better to deserve honors & not have them, than to have them & not deserve them. / Truly Yours / Mark Twain/ New York, April 6/07.” [MTP].

Sam also inscribed a copy of CS to Mary Thacher Higginson: “To / Mrs. Thomas Wentworth Higginson / with the warm regards of / The Autho / April 6/07.” [MTP].

April 5 Friday – At 21 Fifth Ave, N.Y. Sam replied to Carl Kelsey’s Apr. 1.

My membership would be purely ornamental & therefore valueless. Have retired from the activities of life. I did not retire until I had been in the harness 40 years & concluded that I had done my share—that I have not retired in reality but I have all the work on my hands that I can attend to & that I mustn’t add any thing to it [MTP]. Note: Kelsey with Am. Academy of Political and Social Sciences.

April 4 Thursday – Sam left Elmira and returned to N.Y.C. this evening. Isabel Lyon’s journal: “The King came home from Elmira tonight very tired and depressed, I think” [MTP TS 48].

Edith Elsie Baker for the Actors’ Fund of America wrote to Sam, asking for “a donation of a hundred or more copies of some short but effective speech, joke or epigram from Puddenhead Wilson or Huckleberry Finn printed on a card or parchment about 6 by 8 inches”—these from his publisher; they to sell them for 25 cents [MTP].

April 3 Wednesday – In Elmira, N.Y. Sam attended a recital of the unique Robert Hope- Jones organ in Park Church. Jerome & Wisbey write:

It was on April 3, 1907…that this instrument was put through its melodic paces for probably the most critical audience that could be assembled—a group of New York’s leading organists. They came to Elmira in a special car on the Lackawanna….

April 2 Tuesday – Sam took what would be his last trip to Elmira, N.Y. to visit friends and family. He would attend an organ recital at the request of Jervis Langdon II, and speak at Park Church, the following day [Jerome & Wisbey 79-80].

Clara Clemens returned to N.Y.C. from Atlantic City and “stopped briefly” on the way to Katonah, N.Y. to see Jean. She would return on Apr. 6 and leave again on Apr. 8 [Hill 170].

April 1 Monday – Isabel Lyon’s journal: “The King came back today with Col. Harvey and he seemed tired. These visitings are a little hard on him. After all he says, “His own bed is so much the best one for him and his own atmosphere” [MTP TS 47].

Carl Kelsey for American Academy of Political and Social Sciences wrote to Sam [MTP]. Note: See Apr. 5 for Sam’s reply.

April – At 21 Fifth Ave, N.Y. Sam inscribed an aphorism in Vol. 1 of the Hillcrest Edition of his works to Julia Langdon Barber: “To be good is noble; but to show others how to be good is nobler—and less trouble. / Mark Twain / Mrs. A.L. Barber, May, 1907” [MTP].  

Sam also inscribed in a copy of CS to Dorothy Butes: “For Dorothy, / with the affectionate regards of / The Author. / April/07” [MTP]. Note: See Apr. 22 for inscription of CS also to Butes, which suggests this also done that day.  

March 31 Sunday – The New York Times, p. SM3 ran a feature article, “Mark Twain’s Wanderings At An End.” Here is the first part of a narration that reviewed Mark Twain’s life and residences:

MARK TWAIN’S WANDERINGS AT AN END

In His Seventy-third Year He Prepares to Build a Home of His Own and Settle Down—

Strange Record of Temporary Sojourn in Many Places and Countries.

March 30 Saturday – Isabel Lyon replied to Ferris Greenslet’s Mar. 26 request for letters of Thomas Bailey Aldrich: “We are a homeless family for so many years that not many letters were kept—but such as he has you are welcome to take—when Mr. Paine comes back in about a month” [MTP]. Note: this is catalogued “after Mar. 27,” the day of receipt, but is specifically given to Mar. 30 by Greenslet’s May 21 letter.

March 29 before – William L. Bryan (1860-1955), philosopher, author, president of Indiana University (1902-1937), wrote to Sam. Bryan was a cousin to Joseph Bryan, a friend of Twain’s and a Mississippi River pilot from 1850-1900.