September 19 Wednesday – From Hartford, Sam wrote a letter to the editor of the Hartford Courant, which ran on page 2 on Sept. 20 as, “A Tramp of the Sea.” Sam threw some light upon the mystery of a “schooner with a black crew of thirteen and only one white man,” (the Jonas Smith). On return from Bermuda Sam’s ship had come in contact with the mystery vessel [MTLE 2:&nb
September 18 Tuesday – John Brougham (1810-1880) wrote to Sam, criticizing the detective character in a possible play (Simon Wheeler) [MTP]. Note: Sam wrote on the env “Jhn Brougham Sept 77 About Detective”
September 17 Monday – In Cambridge, Mass., Howells wrote to Sam, advising him not to give “that story about the captain” to “those fellows” in some unidentified club, as “They’d be sure to slap it into print.” Howells wanted to use Sam’s story about John T. Lewis from Sam’s Aug. 25 letter, calling Lewis the “Elmira life-preserver” [MTHL 1: 202].
September 16 Sunday – H.J. Mettenheimer wrote from Cincy to Sam, clipping enclosed that claimed Clemens had written a St. Louis insurance man asking for “a full history of the rise and fall of life insurance in the West.” H.J. volunteered such information [MTP]. Note: Sam wrote on the env “A lie probably started by Raymond”
September 15 Saturday – Sam wrote from Hartford to George Bentley, publisher of the London Temple Bar. Sam sent Bentley the first of four articles he’d written for Howells and the Atlantic on his Bermuda trip, and now sent the second. Sam conveyed Andrew Chatto’s desire for the advance sheets of the articles if Bentley did not want them.
September 12 Wednesday – Joe Twichell wrote from Keene Valley, NY to quote a paragraph from Charles Kingsley’s Life, Am. Edition p. 407 which contained the botanical word “Oreodoxa” which he thought Sam should have used in his article “to take off the flavor of the cabbage.” He hoped Sam was “up for a long walk this fall” [MTP].
September 11 Tuesday – Samuel C. Upham sent Sam a printed poem, “The Land We Adore” handwriting on the bottom, “Mr. Samuel L. Clemens with compliments of The Author” [MTP]. Note: Sam wrote on the env “ ‘Poetry’ by the man who said that if Prentice Mulford would put his mind to it he could easily cast Twain & Harte’s literature far into the shade.”
September 10 Monday – Sam wrote from Hartford to Etta Booth, a girl of eight when Sam first saw her in Virginia City in 1863. Etta had written to Sam from New York. Sam responded:
September 4 Tuesday – If the intentions in the two letters of Sept. 3 to Mary Fairbanks and the Howlands were carried out, the Clemens family left Elmira and returned to their home in Hartford.
September 3 Monday – Sam wrote from Elmira to Mary Mason Fairbanks. Sam encouraged Mary to visit, and wrote about his desire to travel to Germany next May 1, “& settled down in some good old city…& never stir again for 6 months. Then come home.” Sam’s mother was visiting Quarry Farm, and the Clemens family would go home to Hartford the next day [MTLE 2: 148].