March 23 Thursday – Clara Spaulding arrived at the Clemens home after a trip through the South [MTNJ 2: 458n85].
Frank Fuller wrote to Sam somewhat apologetic for his loss in the “steam-generator” speculation of 1877. He encouraged Sam to buy shares in the Indiana, Bloomington & Western Railroad [460].
March 22 Wednesday – In Boston, Howells wrote a short note to Sam concerning the “Library of Humor” work and his plans to go to Europe [MTHL 1: 395].
March 21 Tuesday – From Hartford, Sam typed a letter to Hattie and Karl Gerhardt.
“DON’T YOU IMAGINE ANY NONSENSE ABOUT DISPLEASING US. I AM NOT THE SORT OF PERSON WHO MANIFESTS DISPLEASURE BY SILENCE. I SEND A CABLEGRAM ON THE SPOT. UNTIL YOU GET THAT SORT OF CABLEGRAM, YOU CAN REST PERFECTLY EASY, THAT NO TROUBLE IS BREWING.”
March 20 Monday – Sam wrote from Hartford to Charles Webster, asking him to:
“…thank Mr. Whitford for his efforts to get me a stenographer, but I had already secured one, just before your letter came” [MTNJ 2: 517].
Sam also typed a short note to John Russell Young, who had replied to Sam’s request for a visit. “Name the day yourself” Sam offered [MTP].
March 19 Sunday – Susy Clemens’ tenth birthday.
Charles B. Paine (8 yr. Old boy in Hallowell, Me.) sent a pre-printed invitation for an autograph [MTP]. Note: Sam wrote on the env., “No”
William D. Howells wrote [MTP].
March 18 Saturday – John Russell Young wrote thanks for Sam’s congratulations on his consulship. Young preferred Japan but bowed to Grant’s “superior and supreme judgment.” He was going to Washington on Tuesday but would still like to visit Sam [MTP]. Note: Sam wrote on the env., “Jno Russell Young / U.S. Minister to China.”
March 16 Thursday – After meeting with Sam, Roswell H. Phelps, after conferring with his boss at the Continental Ins. Co., Hartford, outlined in a letter his acceptable conditions for his employment as a stenographer. “Suppose we make it at the rate of $100. per month and all expenses for the time I am actually absent from this office?” [MTP]. These must have been acceptable because Sam quickly agreed and wrote Webster on Mar. 20 of his choice [MTNJ 2: 517].
March 15 Wednesday – Hartford schoolteacher, Roswell H. Phelps, visited Sam to apply for stenographer on the upcoming trip to the Mississippi. Negotiations for salary took place. Phelps may have shown Sam some fundamentals of shorthand, because there are several practice pages of shorthand from this period in Sam’s notebook [MTNJ 2: 453n59].
In Boston, Howells wrote Sam:
March 14 Tuesday – Sam typed a note from Hartford to Frank Fuller, about missing him in New York on his recent trip. Their relationship had been rather vacant since the “steam-generator” fiasco of 1877, when Sam lost $5,000. It’s not clear who re-initiated contact. (See also Mar. 23 entry.)
March 13 Monday – Sam’s mother, Jane Clemens, and his sister, Pamela Moffett, arrived in Hartford to visit Sam, Livy and the children. They stayed until Apr. 8 [MTHL 1: 393]. Note: MTNJ 2: 457n81 puts the end of the visit at Apr. 7.