October 8 Saturday – George W. Hobbs of Hobbs Bros. Carriage Builders, Ninevah, NY, wrote a letter of condolence and admiration to Sam [MTP].
An unidentified person from Freemantle, Western Australia sent Sam a picture pamphlet of aborigines; no note enclosed [MTP].
October 7 Friday – In N.Y.C. at the Grosvenor Hotel, Sam dictated a letter to Ralph W. Ashcroft for Isabel V. Lyon about the purchase of stock from Ashcroft.
Dear Miss Lyon: / Please fill up stub of check No. 68 in the Guaranty Trust Co. with the amount: “$4000,” the name: “R. W. Ashcroft,” and the explanation: “first payment completing purchase of International Spirit Pen [sic Spiral Pin] Co. stock.”
Please also send me another numbered Guaranty check, (in blank,) to the Grosvenor.
October 4 Tuesday – The postponed dedication of the Fairhaven church ( Unitarian Memorial ) that Rogers built and dedicated to his mother. (See Sept. 21) was carried out this day; in his Oct. 7 to Lyon, Sam claimed he’d been “too busy dedicating churches in Fairhaven” to write Jean. It’s not known just when he went to Fairhaven, nor how long he stayed, but the Oct. 7 note suggested he was at least there the day of dedication, which was Oct. 4. The lack of any outgoing letters for the prior weekend suggests perhaps he spent several days in Fairhaven.
September 30 Friday – Watch Tower Society sent one of their religious tracts to Sam, who wrote on the envelope: “Biblical trash” [MTP].
September 29 Thursday – Gustavo Donati, Florence attorney, wrote Sam a letter in Italianabout the Dr. Kirch dispute [MTP]
September 28 Wednesday – Sam inscribed his photograph to an unidentified person: “Truly Yours / Mark Twain / Sept. 28/04” [MTP]. \
Sam wrote to Cécile Freese, letter not extant but referred to in Freese’s Oct. 18 [MTP].
September 25 Sunday – Cesare Bellucci wrote a short note to Sam in Italian from Florence [MTP].
September 24 Saturday – William Evarts Benjamin wrote to Sam, enclosing a bill from C.H. Curtiss Co. for repairs to the Tarrytown house, which Sam offered to continue leasing, but turned down the tenant’s offer to purchase the house for what Sam paid, $45,000 [MTP].
September 22 Thursday – Sam returned to N.Y.C. and wrote to Senator Odoardo Luchini in Florence.
Your kind letter of the 5th has just reached me from Lee, Mass., where Jean & Katy & Miss Lyon are occupying the cottage in the hills; Clara is in a rest-cure in a village in Connecticut, where she sees no one but the nurse & the doctor & neither writes letters nor reads them; I am kept constantly in New York.
I am very sorry Mr. Traverso has had an accident, & I hope he is well again by this time. Jean had one, but is well again. She & her horse… [etc.]
September 21 Wednesday – Sam was in Fairhaven, Mass. The dedication of the church was postponed; it finally took place on Oct. 4, 1904, and was reported on Oct. 8 by the Fairhaven Star. The article did not mention either Mark Twain nor Henry Rogers on those dates. However, Sam’s Oct. 7 to Lyon included a note that he’d breen “too busy dedicating churches in Fairhaven” to write Jean, which reveals Sam did attend the Oct. 4 event. Note: thanks to Carolyn Longworth, Millicent Library.