September 9 Wednesday – Pamela Moffett would have had time to answer Sam’s rather harsh Sept. 4 letter about her son, Sammy Moffett. From Elmira, Sam offered salve and explained his thinking, though he remained critical of “giddy mothers & unwise teachers.”
September 8 Tuesday – In Cambridge, Mass., Howells wrote Sam that “A True Story” was to be published in the Atlantic; he thought it “extremely good” [MTHL 1: 24].
September 7 Monday – Sam traveled to Buffalo and in the evening was at the Academy of Music for the opening of the Gilded Age play. At the close of act four, Sam was called to the front of the private box and asked to say a few words. His short message was advice not to attend your own play on opening night. Sam seemed overcome by it all, but received an ovation. The critics in Buffalo gave Sam more of the same he’d received in Rochester—good, but needs amending.
September 6 Sunday – Sam wrote from Elmira to Frank Fuller, responding to two letters. Sam declined to invest in Fuller’s investment opportunities, due to the high cost of Sam’s new house [MTL 6: 228].
September 5 Saturday – Sam wrote a note of thanks from Elmira to William W. Belknap in the matter of Sam’s nephew, Samuel Moffett, attempting to gain an appointment to the Naval Academy [MTL 6: 227].
September 4 Friday – Sam and Livy wrote from Elmira to John Brown. Sam wrote of working on the manuscript that would become The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, writing on average 50 pages a day. Soon afterward, Sam’s “well dried up” and he put aside the manuscript after burning a chapter he didn’t like [Powers, MT A Life 354]. Sam had not answered Brown’s July letter, so felt the need to explain.
September 3 Thursday – Frank Fuller wrote to Sam, still lobbying for his penny postcard scheme:
My Dear Mark:—
It is evident now for what you were made. It was to take the inflation out of conceited inventors. You see, though, what this smart Aleck says.
September 2 Wednesday – William Dean Howells wrote to Sam:
My dear Clemens: / I telegraphed you last night to send on your manuscript, which I’d like very much to see. Your letter came just as I was packing up to come home, and I had not strength of mind enough to answer it, though it may not appear to a man of more active intellect a very heavy job to say yes or no.
September 1 Tuesday – Louis John Jennings (1836-1893) editor of the New York Times (1869-76) wrote apologies to Clemens for the misunderstanding. Sam had thought Jennings had turned down an offered piece and accused him of “overcharging” by asking $250. “I honestly thought that the article you were kind enough to offer to use was not worth to us $250—and as a matter of business I though it best to tell you frankly.
August 31 Monday – The opening night of the stage play of The Gilded Age; or, Colonel Sellers took place at the Opera House in Rochester, New York. Sam was expected to attend. Although no outbreak has since been documented, Sam telegraphed from Elmira to John T.