Pilgrims and Vandals: Day By Day

July 3? Saturday – Sam wrote from Elmira to his brother Orion Clemens. Sam conveyed Jervis Langdon’s offer to buy the Tennessee Land for $20,000 cash and $10,000 canal stock [MTL 3: 279-80]. (See July 7 entry).

July 5 Sunday – Sam wrote from San Francisco to Elisha Bliss, advising him of staying over one steamer (from June 30 to July 6) “in order to lecture & so persecute the public for their lasting benefit & my profit” [MTL 2: 233].

Sam also wrote Mary Mason Fairbanks about the successful “Venice” lecture. This time the reviews of the papers were unanimously favorable.

July 5 Monday – Sam wrote from Elmira to Mary Mason Fairbanks with excuses why he had not yet come to Cleveland. He was writing next winter’s lecture; he “unexpectedly got aground here,” etc. [MTL 3: 280-1]. Sam had been away from Livy for a few weeks, and it’s most likely that he simply did not want to leave again so soon.

July 6 Monday – Sam sailed from San Francisco on the steamer Montana; his last visit to the city.

July 7 Wednesday – Orion replied to Sam’s July 3? Letter:

[Jervis Langdon] must not buy blindfold, or until he sends his Memphis agent there to examine….Neither you nor Ma nor Pamela know anything about the land….I have laboriously investigated the titles, localities and qualities and I would put its present value at about five thousand dollars, though Ma and Pamela would not be willing to take that.

July 9 Friday – Sam, still in Elmira, responded to a letter from James Redpath and agreed to lecture in Boston [MTL 3: 282].

June 1 Tuesday – Sam answered a letter from John J. Murphy, the New York agent for the San Francisco Alta California. Sam was still reading proofs, with “several chapters to read yet.” He was of two minds about going to California [MTL 3: 254-5].

June 10 Thursday – Sam, Livy and Jervis Langdon arrived at the St. Nicholas Hotel in New York City. Within a day or two, Livy and her father left for Hartford. Sam followed on June 16 [MTL 3: 266n1].

June 13 Saturday – Sam’s letter, “Important to Whom it May Concern” ran in the San Francisco News Letter and the California Advertiser [Camfield, bibliog.].

June 15 Tuesday – John Russell Young had resigned from the New York Tribune, and Whitelaw Reid (1837-1912) took on Young’s duties in mid-May 1869. Sam wrote from New York to Reid.

June 16 Wednesday –Sam left New York for the Hooker-Day wedding in Hartford.

June 17 Wednesday – Sam wrote from the Occidental Hotel in San Francisco to Mary Mason Fairbanks. He had read a few of the scathing reviews of his “Pilgrim” speech by ministers and others.

June 17 Thursday – Sam, Livy and Jervis Langdon attended the wedding of Livy’s childhood friend, Alice Hooker to John Calvin Day [Willis 50]. Livy and her parents left Hartford on June 21 and New York on June 22. Livy spent three days visiting with Fidele Brooks [MTL 3: 267n5].

June 18 Thursday – Sam’s article, “ANOTHER OLD CALIFORNIAN GONE” appeared in the San Francisco Daily Dramatic Chronicle [Fatout, MT Speaks 56-7].

June – Sam wrote a sketch unpublished until 2009: “I Rise to a Question of Privilege” [Who Is Mark Twain? xxiv].

June, late – Sam renewed his friendship with Steve Gillis, now married and living on Bush Street. He also spent time with Bret Harte, editor of the newly founded Overland Monthly, a literary magazine. Harte was on the verge of fame for his own stories, “The Luck of Roaring Camp” appearing that year, and “Outcasts of Poker Flats” the next.

June 21 Monday – Sam wrote from Hartford to Livy the day she left Hartford with her family.

“I don’t think I shall accomplish anything by tarrying here, & so I shall be in New York tomorrow evening” [MTL 3: 265-6]. Note: Sam had talked to Charles Dudley Warner about part ownership of the Hartford Courant, but the results were negative.

June 22 Tuesday – Sam wrote from Hartford to Samuel Bowles, editor of the Springfield, (Mass.) Daily Republican asking if he would sell part interest in the paper. Sam went to New York and arrived at 5 PM. He then went to Fidele Brooks’ home, where Livy was visiting and stayed until 10 PM [MTL 3: 268].

June 23 Tuesday – Sam wrote from San Francisco to Elisha Bliss.

“The book is finished, & I think it will do. It will make more than 600 pages, but I shall reduce it at sea. I sail a week hence, & shall arrive in New York in the steamer Henry Chauncey, about July 22. I may tarry there a day or two at my former quarters (Westminster Hotel,) & then report at Hartford” [MTL 2: 232].

 June 23 Wednesday – Sam wrote from the Everett House in New York City to Livy’s mother, Olivia Lewis Langdon. Sam told Livy’s mother all was well with her daughter. He spent from 11 AM until 2 PM at the Brooks’ home [MTL 3: 268-9].

June 24 Thursday – Sam and Livy probably spent the day together, shopping and visiting the Academy of Design.

June 25 Friday – Sam and Livy returned to Elmira [MTL 3: 277n2].

Sam’s mother wrote him hell about sending his trunks but not yet visiting [MTL 3: 277n4].

June 26 Saturday – Sam wrote from Elmira to his mother, and sister Pamela. Sam notified them that he’d shipped his trunk and valise from New York on June 24. Between June 23 and 26 Sam had received word from Abel Fairbanks raising the amount for only one quarter of the Cleveland Herald, and Sam expressed doubts that he would work out a deal with them.

June 28 Sunday – The Daily Memphis Avalanche, p. 1, ran “Mark Twain on Female Suffrage.”

Mark Twain on Female Suffrage.

     “Mark Twain’ writes to his “Cousin Jennie” on the subject of “Female Suffrage,” as follows:

June 30 Tuesday – Sam dated advertising this day for the coming lecture—an elaborate handbill of protests for him not to speak, listing prominent citizens; his objections; and a final directive by the chief of police that he should go [Sanborn 397; MTL 2: 233n1].