October 17 Tuesday – Sam lectured in Allentown, Penn. He wrote from Allentown to Livy:
Livy darling, this lecture will never do. I hate it & won’t keep it. I can’t even handle these chuckle-headed Dutch with it.
Have blocked out a lecture on Artemus Ward, & shall write it next Saturday & deliver it next Monday in Washington [MTL 4: 474-5].
October 16 Monday to February 27 – 1872 Lecture Tour:
Sam returned to the lecture circuit under the management of James Redpath and the Boston Lyceum Bureau. There were at least 77 engagements using three different speeches.
October 15 Sunday – Sam wrote from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania to Livy. Sam wrote of the town, “an old Dutch settlement, & I hear that tongue here as often as ours.” He was impressed by a cemetery with acres of identical graves with tombstones “the size of a boy’s slate.” Sam had registered with an assumed name at the hotel to guarantee his privacy, even though it meant bypassing a reception and “sumptuous rooms provided” [MTL 4: 470-1].
October 14 Saturday – Sam wrote from the St. Nicholas Hotel in New York to Livy:
“Charley left for home a few minutes ago—9 AM. Well, I do wish I could see you, now, Livy dear, & the splendid cubbie.”
Sam left New York and arrived in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania at 4 PM [MTL 4: 469-470].
October 13 Friday – Sam and Charles Langdon left Hartford. Sam was to begin his lecture tour in three days. He stopped in New York, where he stayed at the St. Nicholas Hotel. Charles Langdon and Sam and Edward L.
October 12 Thursday – In Hartford, Sam declined an invitation by G.K. Jewett.
Dear Sir: / Your kind invitation is received, & I return my hearty thanks for the compliment. But I am compelled to tender my regrets, as well—& they are hearty ones, too, for it is hard to have to miss the opportunity of having personal experience of this great international event. But I am just leaving on a long lecturing tour & cannot get free.
Very Truly Yours,
Samℓ. L. Clemens.
October 11 Wednesday – Sam wrote from Hartford to Redpath & Fall. Having rec’d the lecture list.
“You can lecture me on Saturdays if you have the opportunity. Sometimes one of those idle days is hard to put in” [MTL 4: 468].
October 10 Tuesday – Bill paid to Thomas Carron Co. “$47 for moving; 3 teams moving furniture 11 hours each, 75 plus two hours; 2 men helping at house; 10 hours each, etc.” [MTP]. Note: This bill was likely for moving the family’s goods from the Hartford depot to their rental house in Nook Farm.
October 9 Monday – Sam wrote from Hartford to James Redpath, asking him to send the first part of his lecture list “& let me see where I am to talk.” He requested a copy be sent to Bliss.
October 6 Friday – Sam wrote from Hartford, with an affidavit by John Hooker, to Mortimer D. Leggett (1821-1896), Commissioner of Patents, about the date of his ideas for the elastic strap. Sam included his first drawings, for use with vests and pants. Henry C. Lockwood had applied for a patent on a similar device only six days after Sam’s application [MTL 4: 462-4]. Note: the Oct.