December 18 Friday – Sam left the Langdon house at 7 PM [MTL 2: 348].

December 17 Thursday – Sam arrived in Elmira at 7 PM and spent the night at the Langdon house [A. Hoffman 147]. See also letter of Dec. 12.

December 16 Wednesday – Scranton, Pennsylvania: Sam gave his “Vandals” lecture, then left again for Elmira.

December 14 Monday – Sam left Norwich to New York City and on to Scranton, Pa. 

December 12 Saturday – Sam wrote from Norwich, New York to tease Mary Mason Fairbanks.

December 11 Friday – The Newark Daily Advertiser:

In the humorous parts the speaker resembled Artemus Ward in his slow and quaint way of saying very amusing things. The audience was constantly convulsed with laughter, and was continued in its happy humor by quiet touches of wit and sentiment. Altogether it was a most enjoyable evening’s entertainment.

In Norwich, New York, Sam gave his “Vandals” lecture.

December 10 Thursday – Sam wrote from the Everett House in New York City to his mother and family.

December 9 Wednesday – Sam returned to New York on the 1:20 AM train.

Opera House, Newark, New Jersey: Sam gave his “Vandals” lecture, sponsored here by the Clayonian Society. Back in his room, Sam wrote Livy about his talk with Twichell, and the successful lecture in Newark.

December 8 Tuesday – Sam made a “little journey to Hartford” to bare his soul to Twichell about his struggles with prayer and his desire for success. According to Sam’s letter to Livy of Dec. 9, he and Twichell sat up from 10 PM to 1 AM talking about Livy and religion. It had been bothering Sam that he’d been praying with “selfish motives” instead of seeking Jesus “for himself alone” [MTL 2: 318].

December 5 and 7 Monday – Sam wrote from New York to Livy of misgivings about being a Christian—about understanding that he needed Christ for his own sake, not to win Livy’s heart and approval.

“Bless me, I am so tied hand & foot with these lecture appointments that I don’t know whether I am standing on my head or my heels” [MTL 2: 312-18].