August 15 Monday – Sam was in N.Y.C. and had planned to go to Great Neck, Long Island to stay with the Broughtons, but was fatigued with taking care of business so went to bed at 8 p.m. and delayed the trip for a day [Aug. 18 to Loomis].
Livy’s last will and testament was filed in N.Y.C. The New York Times, Aug. 16, p.7 noted:
MRS. CLEMENS LEFT $35,000. ——
Author’s Wife Willed Property to Him and Two Children.
August 14 Sunday – Rev. Minot Judson Savage wrote from Billrica, Mass. to Sam, enclosing a small, fold-out schedule of his sermons and books.
Dear Mr. Clemens: / I have followed you & your work ever since I heard you lecture in Grass Valley, Cal. In 1866. You have given me more hours of pleasure than any other living writer.
Now, in your sorrow, I wish I could help you. I do not expect to. I am not so stupid as to offer you “consolation.” ….I only want to say to you that I wish I could make your burden lighter [MTP].
August 12 Friday – Jervis Langdon II wrote to Sam.
August 11 Thursday –
Mary Dunham in Lenox, Mass. wrote a short note of condolence to Sam [MTP]. Note: She signed it York Harbor; the postmark is Lenox.
Candace Wheeler wrote a short note of condolence to Sam, “to break the silence.” She felt Livy was a “freed soul” [MTP].
Sam’s notebook: “2 years ago Livy was stricken, at York Harbor, 7 in the morning. From that time until the fatal 5th of June, 1904, she never saw a well day” [NB 47 TS 17].
August 10 Wednesday – Sam went to N.Y.C. Sam’s notebook: “New York. Clara here, sick— never well since June 5. Jean is at the summer-home in the Berkshire Hills, crippled” [MTB 1224: NB 47 TS 17]. Note: Clara was recovering from a nervous breakdown suffered after Livy’s death. Sam stayed in the City until Aug. 16 when he left for Great Neck, N.Y. on Long Island to stay with the Broughton family.
August 8 Monday – In Lee, Mass. Sam sent the “TO WHOM THIS SHALL COME” note to Mary Elizabeth Phillips and added, “Miss Mary E. Phillips / Lee, Aug. 8” [MTP].
Sam also sent the “TO WHOM THIS SHALL COME” note to Elizabeth S. Wood and added, “Mrs. Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Wood. Aug. 8” [MTP].
Joseph Gaylord Gessford replied to Sam’s Aug. 7. “affrontery” that he had merely asked for prices of the photographs as “a formality”: “I could no more afford to give you these pictures than you can afford to write books for free” [MTP; Madsen 68-9].
August 7 Sunday – In Lee, Mass. Sam wrote to Joseph Gaylord Gessford, photographer.
August 6 Saturday – In Lee, Mass. Sam wrote to his nephew Samuel E. Moffett now in Mr. Vernon, N.Y.
Yes, Clara has been in New York, but we keep it private because her health is in a wrecked condition & it is a damage to her to see anyone. She could not escape, here. She came up last Tuesday—being uneasy about Jean who is doing plenty well enough & doesn’t need her; so she & Katy returned to New York to-day. The two railway trips will do her a damage, sure.
August 4 Thursday – Sam traveled from N.Y. to Lee, Mass: Isabel Lyon wrote in her journal on Aug.
“Last evening Mr. Clemens arrived and this afternoon Santissima [Clara] went back to N.Y.” [Hill 97]. Note: since Clara stayed with Jean for three days, she arrived Aug. 1.
Alice Hegan Rice wrote a short note from Hyannisport, Mass. to Sam, pasting a short verse on writing, “if this doesn’t warrant a house in your vest pocket, then I am no judge of literature” [MTP]. Note: the verse remains in the file, suggesting Sam did not feel the same.
August 3 Wednesday – Sam was in New York City, likely staying at the Grosvenor Hotel.
Otto Spengler for Argus Pressclipping Bureau re-sent again the form letter of Aug. 2 [MTP].