Day By Day Dates

April 12 Tuesday – A.G. Newman, burglar alarms, NYC wrote to Sam. “Referring to enclosed Statements of a/c would say that with your permission I propose drawing on you for the Amt $222.46 on the 22nd inst., when I trust you will find it convenient and agreeable to honor the same, and greatly oblige” [MTP].

April 13 Wednesday – Laura C. Redden Searing (1839-1923; pseudonym: “Howard Glyndon”) wrote from Sherwood, NY to ask Sam for coaching about subscription publishing [MTP]. Note: Sam wrote on the env., “Howard Glyndon Poetess”; not in Gribben.

April 14 Thursday – Emma E. Brewster wrote a postcard from Kingston, NY to ask Clemens how he pronounced his name, Clē–mens or Clĕm-ens? [MTP].

Jane Grey Swisshelm wrote from Hyde Park, Illinois to thank Sam for pictures sent, and to relate her difficulties in sitting 20 times in hope of a good portrait for a frontispiece in her book [MTP].

April 15 Friday – Sam wrote from Hartford to Frank Bliss. Sam had lost Hinckley’s address and asked Bliss to:

“…drop Hinckley a line & say the Postmaster General has responded favorably…therefore he can notify that fellow to retire from the pirate-book trade” [MTP]. See insert.

April 16 Saturday – Sam wrote from Hartford to Mollie Fairbanks, asking for the date of her visit and the train she’d be on so he might be at the station to meet her [MTP].

Sam also wrote to Laura C. Redden Searing, who wrote on Apr. 13, seeking advice on subscription book-selling. Sam advised:

April 17 Sunday – In Boston, Howells wrote to Sam about Osgood and questions of the contemplated Library of Humor, about being pressed to finish his novel, A Modern Instance, being serialized in the Century Magazine; and about another proposed work for Sam, an etiquette book [MTHL 1: 361-2].

April 18 Monday – Charles Webster wrote from Fredonia that it would take him until Saturday to “arrange his affairs,” then he could stay longer when he came. He related judgments about Slote’s employee, Robb, “who was a good designer & engraver and understands his business.” He also related experiments with Kaolatype, using an iron plate and a glass plate. He was getting familiar with Sam’s various business interests, so he might take them over [MTP].

April 19 Tuesday – Sam completed the Apr. 11 letter to the Gerhardts by adding a paragraph about Livy being too busy to add to his letter [MTP].

April 21 Thursday – Clement T. Rice wrote from Brooklyn to ask Sam for his endorsement to be used in securing a position in the customs house [MTP].

April 22 Friday – Sam wrote from Hartford to Francis Augustus Teall (1822-1894). Francis was one of the most distinguished proofreaders of his time. He was associated with Appleton Publishing House. He had charge of the Proof Department of their Encyclopedia. He was Assistant Editor of the Century Dictionary published in 1889.

April 23 Saturday – Wm. Hudton, Hartford billed $31.05 for 2,300 lbs., “hay & weighing” [MTP].

Karl & Hattie J. Gerhardt wrote from Paris to Sam and Livy with details of their expenses since arriving in France. Hattie was taking French lessons, and Karl was hard at work on his art school projects [MTP].

April 26 Tuesday – Sam wrote from Hartford to Charles Webster.

“All right. The reasons why Kaolatype hasn’t paid, seem to be very simple. But I think you will make it pay. You will remember I gave Sneider a week’s grace—let his wages cease with that” [MTP].

Western Union Telegraph Co. bill of Apr. 30 shows telegram sent this date to New York, recipient not specified (see that entry for others).

April 27 Wednesday – Hartford and New York Steamboat Co. billed $1.50 for “1 box plants from Elmira; Apr. 25 from NY, Lake Eire & Western RR” [MTP].

Western Union Telegraph Co. bill of Apr. 30 shows telegram sent this date to Brooklyn, recipient not specified (see that entry for others).

April 28 Thursday – Sam wrote a short note from Hartford to the A.V.S. Anthony, that he would:

“…hand that book to Osgood, when he comes, & he can take it to Boston; if it is too bulky, I guess we’ll tear out that particular fac-simile & let him take that” [MTP].

April 29 Friday – Sam wrote from Hartford to Charles Webster.

April 30 Saturday – Mrs. Gilbert of Hartford billed $54 for “36 lessons in German from Mar. 21 to May 1”; paid [MTP]. Note: Four different Mrs. Gilbert’s are listed in the 1875 City Directory.

May 1 Sunday – Sam wrote three letters from Hartford to Webster, explaining that he considered the $5,000 loan to Slote, three days before Slote, Woodman & Co. failed, to be a debt of honor, and that “Slote should have antedated the firm’s note to the beginning of 1878 so that Clemens could get full payment of the debt” [MTNJ 2: 392-3n119; MTP].

May 2 Monday – Sam wrote from Hartford to Charles Webster:

“Let Dan furnish money to pay bills with, just as long as he will” [MTP]. 

May 3 Tuesday – Sam wrote a one-liner from Hartford to Charles Webster, asking if there wasn’t a payment to be made on the Watch stock before May 10 [MTP].

May 4 Wednesday – Charles Webster wrote a postcard sized note to Sam that his letters came daily but he had been too busy to answer them. “I have a good deal to tell you & will try to write tomorrow. I saw Sneider yesterday, he refuses to show me the experiment.” He also made Slote pay up [MTP].

May 5 Thursday – Charles Webster wrote to Clemens that Dan Slote was “either a knave or a fool” and that he was in cahoots with Sneider to “bleed” Clemens [MTNJ 2: 353]. Note: replied May 6.

Emerson O. Stevens (1865-1900) Wrote from Cleveland, Ohio

Mr. Twain,—Dear Sir:

May 6 Friday – Sam had initially hired Charles Webster to take charge of the Kaolatype investment, but he soon became a general business manager. Samuel Webster writes: “Mark Twain started at once to unload instructions, plans, and bright ideas onto his new helper.

May 7 Saturday – Sam wrote from Hartford to Webster. His opinion of Slote had, by this time, gone completely dark.

Dear Charley— / The fact that we are into Dan near $900, reconciles me to the other things. He must never have a cent of that while he lives.

   Come up here Monday—we can get through our talk before 6 P.M.—I leave then, for South Manchester [Conn.] to be gone till midnight.—or, come Tuesday, if you prefer.

May 9 Monday – Sam wrote from Hartford to Karl and Hattie Gerhardt. After going on about how he liked the way they kept their finances, Sam admitted, “I am not as business-like, myself, as I ought to be—consequently I peculiarly detest the like thing in others.” Sam told of plans to go to the “Sound-side near New Haven about June 1st” and his hope that Paris would not be as “wintry & hideous as it was at this time in ‘79” [MTP]. 

May 10 Tuesday – Arnold, Constable & Co., NYC billed Sam $4.50 for “3 caps”, paid May 13 [MTP].