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].