September 17 Friday, before – Sam wrote in his notebook plans for a one-day outing to Springlake Beach, New Jersey during the ten-day stop in New York after the family’s return from Keokuk [MTNJ 3: 256n94]. No evidence of the considered side-trip was found, though there certainly was time for such a side-trip and Frank M. Scott’s letter of Sept. 18 hints the trip may have been made Sept.
September 16 Thursday – In Elmira at Quarry Farm, Sam wrote to an unidentified person.
There are some who do not lie; & they are proof that it is possible for one to get rid of the habit of talking in his sleep [MTP]. Note: Sam wrote a PS that he thought the remark was plain but that “three persons of average intelligence” couldn’t understand it even after explaining it.
Sam also wrote to Franklin G. Whitmore:
September 15 Wednesday – In Elmira Sam wrote a few lines to Bacheller & Co.
Wrote that I had a sermon. Would wait a month & if it then could still bear my own inspection, would forward it [MTP]. Note: this “sermon” was “Concerning a Reformed Pledge: A New-Year Sermon.”
Sam also wrote to Franklin G. Whitmore. Only the envelope survives [MTP].
September 14 Tuesday – In Elmira Sam wrote to Andrew Chatto, who had sent a statement and notes for deposit, as well as a pamphlet of compositors’ prices. Sam noted that the English (as now) always seemed to make their own systems that don’t always translate across the Atlantic:
…I seem to discover a most curious thing: that over there you measure type by the 1000 ENS instead of ems, & have done so all this century. I can’t see how we came to change [MTP].
September 13 Monday – Jane Clemens wrote a rambling two-page letter for Sam & Family about not knowing what to write, of wanting to leave Keokuk, of dead relatives and of her daughter “Mela” (Pamela) being there for a visit on her way to see her son Samuel. Jane signed the letter, “An Old Citizen” [MTP].
Frederick J. Hall wrote to Sam of progress and several details at the Webster & Co.
September 11 Saturday – In Elmira Sam wrote to Frederick J. Hall, asking again when Webster would arrive back from his trip to Europe. Sam submitted a proposed reply to someone who had asked why Webster & Co. Needed data about compositor production.
September 10 Friday – In Elmira Sam wrote to J. Chester, and headed the letter “Private.” This is a response to Chester’s Sept. 8 letter for Lincoln University. Since 1882 he had contributed to the support of several Negro students at Lincoln. When a student, Willis, decided to stay on for graduate studies, Sam chose to cut his support.
September 9 Thursday – Life Magazine, which began as a humor periodical, ran a center spread cartoon captioned “Literature at Low Tide,” characterizing several American authors as carnival barkers. In the foreground, dispensing laughing gas through a hose, Mark Twain takes a coin from Buster Brown who takes in the gas.
September 8 Wednesday – In Elmira Sam wrote to J.M.G. Wood (on the letter addressed to Jack G. Wood, Aurite City, La. Sam’s letter is obviously a response to one received (not extant), an invitation to read:
I wish I could but I can’t. I never venture to read when I am writing anything, lest I get my attention diverted from my work, & have a long, hard pull of it getting back into the swing again.
September 7 Tuesday – In Elmira Sam wrote a short note to Franklin G. Whitmore in Hartford, sending funds he wished safe-deposited, with notes to Bissell & Co., his Hartford banker [MTP].
The Israel Putnam Monument Commission awarded the contract for an equestrian statue of the colonial soldier to Karl Gerhardt. This came after months of deliberation [MTNJ 3: 253n84].