April 14 Thursday – Sam wrote to Orion, resigning his commission as a notary public for Storey County [MTL 1: 279n9]. No reason was given, but this work was similar to the scraps of work and fees his father, John Marshall Clemens, had sought, and so by association, Sam may have concluded the small fees were not worth the effort. Noted on the letter for Apr. 15 is Orion’s acceptance.
April 1 Friday – “Another Traitor – Hang Him!” a hoax article in the Enterprise is attributed to Sam [Fatout, MT in VC 180]. Also printed in the Evening Bulletin on Apr. 1 as “Another Goak” [Camfield bibliog.].
March 31 Thursday – Adah Menken “suddenly left Virginia without saying goodbye to anybody, and returned to San Francisco.” Of course, she had $36,000 worth of comfort plus gifts of stock certificates bearing a naked lady on a galloping stallion, which she sold a year later for $50,000 [Fatout, MT in VC 167]. She died in 1868 at age 33.
March 3 Thursday – Henry L. Blodgett and Sam. L. Clemens, notaries public, began running advertisements in the Virginia City Evening Bulletin [MTL 1: 279n9].
March 2 Wednesday – Menken and troupe opened at Maguire’s New Opera House. Sam had written a series of reviews including some severe criticism of other companies who performed in Maguire’s Opera House. No doubt he was on hand for Adah Menken’s Virginia City debut. Benson writes, “Every seat in the house had been sold the day previous…as no one wanted to miss seeing the glamorous star” [95]. The show was not a great success due to Adah’s choice of the play The French Spy for opening night, where she wore too many clothes [Fatout, MT in VC 162].
March 1 Tuesday – Governor James Warren Nye (1815-1876) appointed Sam to a two-year term as notary for Storey County [MTL 1: 279n9]. In his Autobiographical Dictation of Apr. 2, 1906 Sam described Nye:
February 27 Saturday – Adah Isaacs Menken (1835?-1868) arrived in Virginia City. In Sept. 1863 Sam saw her in one of her sixty San Francisco performances of Mazeppa, where she rode horseback in nothing but flesh-colored body-tights. Sam wasn’t impressed with her performances. Adah invited Sam to dinner in her hotel room with Dan De Quille and the Bohemian poet Ada Clare (Jane McElhinney, 1836?-1874). Menken’s current husband, her third, poet and dramatic critic Orpheus C. Kerr (Robert H. Newell 1836-1901), was not allowed in the room. The Jewish actress had also been married to John C.
February 21 Sunday – Sam’s sketch “Those Blasted Children,” (written on Jan. 9 and completed during a long night session lasting until 7 AM on Jan. 10) was published in the New York Sunday Mercury [ET&S 1: 348]. Sam’s made-up letter to “Mark Twain” from “Zeb. Leavenworth” contained a “sovereign remedy” for stammering children—sawing off the child’s underjaw. Zeb and Beck Jolly had been Sam’s shipmates on the John J. Roe [MTL 1: 271-2n2].
February 8 to 15 Monday – Sam and Clement T. Rice reported in “Legislative Proceedings” each day. Some pieces were signed, some not. See Smith, p.153-62 for details.
February 5 Friday – Sam wrote “Winter’s New House,” published a week later in the Enterprise, along with a second article written this day “An Excellent School” [ET&S 1: 343].