November 10, 1884 Monday

November 10 Monday – Sam and Cable gave a reading in Town Hall, Melrose, Mass. Cardwell says “The polishing of the readings begun in New Haven was continued in other small towns, including …Melrose” [16]. Extra seats had to be brought in for the large crowd. The next day the Boston Morning Journal reported at length on the performance, describing Twain’s humor as “purely American” [16].

November 9, 1884 Sunday 

November 9 Sunday – In Providence, R.I. Sam wrote to Charles Webster, advising that Pond would “presently begin to render his weekly-or-whatever-it-is account to you, accompanied by money.” Sam wanted these funds untouched and if Webster needed money to apply for it and Sam would draw on Elmira or Hartford banks. Gilder of the Century was “profoundly indebted” to Sam for recommending 

November 6, 1884 Thursday

November 6 Thursday – The “Twins of Genius Tour” continued with a reading at Music Hall, Orange, N.J. Clemens included: “A Telephonic Conversation,” “Col. Sellers in a New Role,” “ A Dazzling Achievement,” “Tragic Tale of the Fishwife,” “A Trying Situation,” “A Ghost Story,” and “A Sure Cure” [MTPO].

November 5, 1884 Wednesday

November 5, 1884 to February 28, 1885 – Mark Twain and George Washington Cable went on a grand tour,” Twins of Genius” tour, with over 100 engagements, managed by James B. Pond. Sam read and delivered passages from numerous works including Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Celebrated Jumping Frog, and others. Cable read from Dr. Sevier and sang Creole songs.

Luckily both men wrote their wives almost daily, and most of those letters have survived.

November 4, 1884 Tuesday 

November 4 Tuesday – Election Day. Sam, a Mugwump, voted for the narrow winner, Grover Cleveland, the first democrat elected president since before the Civil War. Note: for a scholarly treatment of the Mugwumps, see Gerald McFarland’s “The New York Mugwumps of 1884: A Profile” in Political Science Quarterly (Mar., 1963) p 40-58. In MTA, Sam remembered the pact he, Twichell and Rev. Francis Goodwin made to vote for Cleveland.

November 3, 1884 Monday

November 3 Monday  Sam may have gone to New Haven, as implied in his Oct. 31 letter to Pond, to discuss the upcoming reading tour with Pond and perhaps George Warner.

In the evening, Sam wrote from Hartford to Orion. The family admired a colored picture of Jane Clemens and couldn’t decide whether it was a photograph, or a pastille, or water-color.

November 1, 1884 Saturday

November 1 Saturday – J.M. Stevenson for Illustrated Christian Weekly wrote to Clemens: “In response to your courteous note of Oct. 30th anent ‘A True Story’ published in J.C.W.[?] Oct 25th I hasten to say that we supposed it was true…so could not have touched it” [MTP]. Note: Sam wrote on the env., “Loose editing”

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