May 14 Friday – Sam wrote from Hartford to his mother and sister. He related the advice he’d given to Orion. No holiday planning, Sam further advised, otherwise the Gate City might prefer his “successor” [MTLE 5: 103].
The May 31 bill from Western Union shows a telegram sent to New York, recipient unspecified (see May 31 entry).
May 13 Thursday – Sam wrote from Hartford to Thomas H. Murray, responding to his May 8 letter. Murray had written about Sam courting Laura Wright. Sam did not mention Laura Wright. He told a story about being approached by an old man in Germany, who claimed he’d once saved Sam and Thomas’ lives on a runaway stage over a precipice. The geezer hit Sam up for ten dollars, which he paid, probably amused.
May 12 Wednesday – Sam wrote a short note from Hartford to Orion, who landed an editor position at the Keokuk Gate City newspaper (see May 14 entry). Sam encouraged him in that direction, probably feeling the book would never be publishable, advising him to: “Drop the book & give your entire mind to the newspaper. Concentrate—concentrate. One thing at a time” [MTLE 5: 101].
May 10 Monday – Sam bought a copy of Sir Gibbie, by his British friend, George MacDonald [Gribben 442]. Lindskoog compares Sir Gibbie and Huckleberry Finn, identifying twenty plot elements in common [28]. Sam also purchased Jane Austen’s (1831-1894) Mrs. Beauchamp Brown (1880) from the same bookseller, J.R. Barlow of Hartford for $1.00.
May 9 Sunday – Orion wrote from Keokuk, announcing he obtained a position as local news editor on the Keokuk Gate City. He would earn $13 a week to $15 if his work proved satisfactory, and hoped he might get to where he would not need Sam to send any more money. He would still work on his autobiography and send what he could every Monday [MTP].
May 8 Saturday – Sam wrote from Hartford to Frank Bliss, denying ever having offered a free book to a man named Wood. “The book to Watson is all right. Wood is apparently a bloody fool” [MTLE 5: 100].
Thomas H. Murray wrote from McKinney, Tex. to Sam
May 7 Friday – Sam finished the May 6 letter to Howells. He’d had a telephone call from Warner that Howells could not come to Hartford due to his own trip to Washington, and Sam told him that he was “doing the right thing; when one is short for time, he should be free to alter arrangements with friends, without prejudice or cussedness” –language he claimed, humorously, that Livy used (he often ascribed his language to Livy).
May 6 Thursday – Sam wrote from Hartford to Orion, helping him with his “autobiography.” Sam added “…the elder Bliss has heart disease badly, & henceforth his life hangs upon a thread” [MTLE 5: 97].
May 5 Wednesday – Sam was invoiced $16.10 by the Put-In-Bay Island Wine Co., in Ohio for a half-barrel (24 & ½ gallons) of red wine. This company advertised N. American native varieties on their invoices: Catawba, Delaware, Norton’s Virginia, Ives, and Concord Grapes. Bill marked paid. Sam had this shipped to Cleveland, probably for the Fairbanks family [MTP].
May 4 Tuesday – Charles Howard Young wrote from Hartford, Mercier to Young Apr. 4 enclosed from Paris, thanking Sam for his autograph [MTP].