Day By Day Dates

April 28 Thursday – Not any better and 30 pounds thinner, Jervis Langdon arrived back in Elmira with his wife. His problem was not the simple “dyspepsia” the doctors had thought, but cancer [MTL 4: 124-5n1].

April 29 Friday – In Springfield, New York? Sam telegraphed to Elisha Bliss:

“Send check & quarterly statement to me at Elmira Saml L. Clemens” [MTP, drop-in letters].

April 30 Saturday – Sam wrote from Buffalo to Charles C. Converse, an attorney and son of a prominent Elmira music teacher, about a wrongful characterization of Rev. Thomas De Witt Talmage, (1832-1902) pastor of the Central Presbyterian Church in Brooklyn, in the May “Memoranda” of the Galaxy. Sam patched things up [MTL 4: 123].

May – After reaching an agreement with the Galaxy on payment and copyright, Sam’s first articles for “Memorandum” were published in the May issue.

May 1 Sunday – Sam and Livy left Buffalo and arrived in Elmira. The Elmira Reporter announced that Jervis had returned from the south, and that Sam and Livy were in town. Jervis, knowing his time was short, officially restructured his company to include his son Charles J. Langdon, Theodore W. Crane, and John D.

May 2 Monday – In Buffalo, Sam wrote a short note to James Redpath about lecturing in Cambridge, New York:

Dear Redpath, / I mislaid the letter enquiring about Cambridge, N.Y., till this moment. It got mixed with my loose papers.

May 4 Wednesday – Sam wrote a note of thanks to a fan, Mary Janney [MTL 4: 124].

May 5 Thursday – Sam wrote from Elmira to Elisha Bliss, advising him he would be home in a week (Buffalo) and asking what happened to a paragraph (what Sam thought about himself) in the New York Sun [MTL 4: 125].

May 6 Friday – Sam sent a dispatch from Elmira to Elisha Bliss, confirming receipt of a royalty check for $3,914.62 [MTL 4: 126]. Innocents had sold 60,378 copies, with total royalties to Sam in the amount of $11,300 [127n1].

May 7 Saturday – Sam wrote from Elmira to Elisha Bliss acknowledging his check and letter of May 2. He also wrote about having an oyster dinner in Hartford with a speech once Innocents Abroad hit the 100,000-sale mark. He also mentioned his dispatch of the previous day, his:

May 9 Monday – Sam printed an article titled “Personal” in the Buffalo Express about the May Galaxy article “Smells,” having to do with “bad-smelling laboring men” being admitted “to the pews of the church” [McCullough 199].

May 10 Tuesday – Sam wrote from Elmira to James Redpath and vowed he was out of the lecturing field permanently [MTL 4: 128].

Sam and Livy returned to Buffalo, either this day or the next and found Pamela Moffett waiting [MTL 4: 130-1n1].

May 13 Friday – Sam and Livy wrote from Buffalo to Jervis Langdon, thanking him for sending Livy a check for $1,000. Evidently the seriousness of Jervis’ illness was yet unknown to them, for Livy enclosed a cure for dyspepsia for Jervis [MTL 4: 129-31].

May 14 Saturday – Sam’s article, “Our Precious Lunatic,” was published in the Buffalo Express [McCullough 204]. William Ward, in an article, “American Humorists,” for Beacon, wrote:

May 16 Monday – In Buffalo, Sam wrote but did not send a letter to Henry Wheeler Shaw (Josh Billings) [MTP, drop-in letters].

May 17 Tuesday – Elizabeth N. Buckingham (Horr) wrote from Canton, Ohio to Sam, enclosing Elizabeth Horr’s letter of May 16.

May 20 Friday – Sam wrote from Buffalo to Elisha Bliss, seeking advice about a proposal made by Appleton & Co. of New York, whereby Sam would write two-line captions for various pictures about Innocents Abroad. Bliss’ objections led to Sam declining Appleton [MTL 4: 131-2].

In the evening, the Clemenses entertained the Slees [May 22 to Jervis Langdon].

May 21 Saturday – Sam wrote from Buffalo to Frank Fuller, declining again to lecture [MTL 4: 133-5].

Sam also wrote to James Redpath about a photograph of himself he had ordered 1,500 copies of [MTL 4: 135]. Sam sent the photo to Will Bowen as well:

“Been too busy & too frightfully lazy to write, Bill—do you pity me? [MTL 4: 136].

May 22 Sunday – Sam wrote from Buffalo to Jervis Langdon.

May 26 Thursday – Sam wrote from Buffalo to the Buffalo Street Commissioner.

“The manner in which Delaware street is sprinkled above Virginia is simply ridiculous. A crippled infant with a garden-squirt could do it better” [MTL 4: 141].

May 27 Friday – Sam’s letter to the Buffalo Street Commissioner was printed in the Buffalo Express [McCullough 207].

May 28 Saturday – In Buffalo Sam wrote a note of thanks to Benjamin P. Shillaber, who had sent a poem in response to Sam and Livy’s wedding announcement. Shillaber founded the Boston Carpet-Bag, (1851-3) where Sam had sent “The Dandy Frightening the Squatter” in 1852 [MTL 4: 142-3].

May 29 Sunday – Sam and Livy wrote from Buffalo to Mary Mason Fairbanks. Their plans to stay in the Adirondacks with the Twichells were “pretty definitely fixed” for a six week stay beginning Aug. 1.

May 30 Monday – Livy and Sam wrote from Buffalo to Elisha Bliss (Sam revised), about the suggested Hartford dinner—now the sales figure to be celebrated was 70,000 [MTL 4: 146].

Jervis Langdon and Olivia Lewis Langdon wrote their son, Charles Langdon, who had written asking for an extended stay in Europe. In part:

My dear Son

June – In the Galaxy for this month—MARK TWAIN’S MEMORANDA – Included:

“A Couple of Sad Experiences” – (includes The Petrified Man and My Famous Bloody Massacre)
“The Judge’s ‘Spirited Woman’”
“Higgins”
“Hogwash”
“A Literary ‘Old Offender’ in Court with Suspicious Property in His Possession”
“Post-Mortem Poetry”
“Wit-Inspirations of the “Two-Year-Olds”
Short miscellaneous items: “Murphy,” “A Patriarch,” and “Lady Franklin” [Schmidt].