• New York to St Louis: March 1867

    Submitted by scott on

    Railroads from New York to St. Louis, 1867:

    Scharnhorst ( The Life of Mark Twain: The Early Years, 1835-1871, page 383) has Twain entering St. Louis after a transfer of trains in Terre Haute.   These seems unlikely as the only line to East St. Louis from the east in 1867 was the Ohio and Mississippi.  The Indianapolis and St. Louis was the second line to reach St. Louis and it was not completed until 1870.

  • March 3, 1867

    Submitted by scott on

    March 3 Sunday – On a snowy night Sam left New York for St. Louis on the 8 o’clock New Jersey Central. It was a 52-hour rail connection. On the same day the New York Sunday Mercury published “The Winner of the Medal,” by “that prince of humorous sightseers, Mark Twain, whose contributions to California light-literature has gained him a front-rank position among the sparkling wits of the Land of Gold” [MTL 2: 11n3, 18n1].

  • March 5, 1867

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    March 5 Tuesday – The New York Saturday Evening Express published “Barnum’s First Speech in Congress,” by Mark Twain, on page one [MTL 2: 11-12n3]. Sam arrived in St. Louis at midnight after sitting up for two nights in coach due to full sleeping cars. Sam was returning home after six years and four months. He went directly to his sister Pamela’s house at 12 Chestnut Street, where he “sat up till breakfast time, talking and telling lies.” Sam’s niece, Annie Moffett, was almost fifteen and his namesake nephew, Sammy, was six [Sanborn 320-21; MTL 2: 18n1].