March 15 Tuesday – In Boston, William Dean Howells wrote to Sam:
I wish to acquaint you with Mr. Wilson Barrett, to whom we all took such a liking when he was here. I wish you might see him as Hamlet; but if not, he is very good as Wilson Barrett [MTHL 2: 588]. Note: Barrett was an English actor who toured the U.S. several times between 1886 and 1897.
March 14 Monday – In Hartford Sam wrote to Charles E. Deuel (1864-1932), a student at Trinity College in Hartford (he would become a pastor in Wyoming, Idaho, Chicago and Santa Barbara, Calif.) Deuel had some project and wished help from Sam.
Won’t you kindly drop in at my house when you have a spare moment, & give me an idea of about what is required of me?…I am not averse from the undertaking, if I find it is within the scope of my pretensions [MTP].
March 13 Sunday – In Hartford Livy wrote to Mary Emily Mantz (1863-1940), betrothed of Samuel Moffett, now in San Francisco (they married on Apr. 13, 1887). His mother, Pamela Moffett, had undoubtedly filled in the Clemenses on Samuel’s love life on her recent visit [MTP].
Orion Clemens wrote to Sam, “worried yesterday over the news that a cashier had stolen forty thousand dollars from your firm” [MTP].
March 12 Saturday – Henry Ward Beecher was laid to rest at the Greenwood Cemetery after a simple funeral, as per his wishes [Brooklyn Eagle, p.6 “Ashes to Ashes”]. Sam did not attend.
Sarah Orne Jewett for Longfellow Memorial Committee wrote from Boston inviting him to read at the Mar. 31 Authors’ Reading in the afternoon [MTP].
March 11 Friday – Frank M. Scott, cashier and bookkeeper for Webster & Co., was arrested for embezzling $20,000. He had been siphoning off funds each month since his hire in July 1885. From the N.Y. Times of Mar. 13, 1887, p.2 (See Mar. 18 entry for more details.)
A WEAKNESS FOR DISPLAY
FRANK SCOTT HAD IT AND IS NOW IN JAIL
March 10 Thursday – The New York Tribune editorial of this date, “How Juries are Obtained in This Town,” evoked a spot in Sam’s notebook:
March 9 Wednesday – The New York newspapers, including the Times (“THE GREAT PASTOR DEAD”) and the Brooklyn Eagle (“THE CITY’S LOSS”), ran front-page headlines of Beecher’s death.
March 8 Tuesday – Henry Ward Beecher died of a cerebral hemorrhage at 9 A.M. after only a few hours struggle. He was 73. His family would, in time, repay Webster & Co. The $5,000 advance for his autobiography [Powers, MT A Life 514]. A great controversy arose in Chicago over “the failure of the Congregational ministers to adopt unanimously the resolution to send a telegram of condolence to Mrs. Beecher at their meeting yesterday” [New York Times, Mar.
March 7 Monday – The Monday Evening Club met at the Clemens home [Livy to her mother, Mar. 3, MTP].
H.M. Olmstead, Treas. Of Crown Point Iron Co., N.Y. sent a printed form letter of a “Preambleand Resolution” adopted at their Mar. 2 meeting [MTP].
March 5 Saturday – Theodore and Susan L. Crane arrived at the Clemens home for a visit [Livy to her mother, Mar. 3, MTP].