November 29, 1871 Wednesday

November 29 Wednesday  Sam lectured in Opera House, Newark, New Jersey  “Artemus Ward.”

On this day or the next, Sam wrote from Newark, N.J. to Redpath & Fall. “Well, Troy had telegraphed for Feb. 8. We telegraphed you. You answered with a ‘word with a bark to it—No’ ” [MTL 4: 503; paraphrased]. Note: see source n1 for a full explanation.

November 25, 1871 Saturday

November 25 Saturday – The London Leisure Hour ran reprints from the St. Louis Republican and a story of how Sam took the name Mark Twain—this one relates him writing a sketch about Captain Isaiah Sellers, then asking “John Morris, now steward of the Belle Memphis,” what name he should sign to it. When the leadsman called out “Mark Twain,” it supposedly decided the issue [Tenney 4].

November 24, 1871 Friday

November 24 Friday  Sam lectured in Reading, Penn.  “Artemus Ward.” The theater of Keystone Opera House, as reported by the Berks and Schuylkill Journal of Nov. 25:

Mark Twain, author of “Innocents Abroad,” delivered a lecture on the “Uncommon-place Characters he has met with” at the Keystone Opera House last evening to a full house.”

November 21, 1871 Tuesday 

November 21 Tuesday  Sam lectured in Plymouth Church, Brooklyn, New York  “Artemus Ward.” Plymouth was Henry Ward Beecher’s church. Sam evoked “continuous fits of laughter” [MTL 4: 497]. Advertisements like the one that ran on Nov.

November 20, 1871 Monday

November 20 Monday – Sam took the morning train from Hartford to New York, and made connections to Philadelphia [MTL 4: 493n8]. Sam lectured in the Academy of Music, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania  “Artemus Ward.”

In Hartford, Livy wrote for Sam to Robert M. Howland at the St. Nicholas Hotel in NYC:

Dear Sir

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