American Vandals Abroad Tour - Day By Day

January 13 Wednesday – Sam gave his “Vandals” lecture in the Methodist Episcopal Church in Ottawa, Illinois. The reviews were mixed but Sam began a letter to Livy that called it a “botch.”
My Dearest Livy—

January 14 Thursday – Sam gave his “Vandals” lecture at the Burtis Opera House, in Davenport, Iowa. Afterwards he wrote again to Livy: Livy, darling, I greet you. We did have a splendid house tonight, & everything went off handsomely. Now I begin to fear that I shan’t get a chance to see your loved face between Jan. 22 & Feb. 13 as I was hoping & longing I should. Because I have just received some new appointments by telegraph—the ones I expected. Please add them to your list—carefully, & don’t make any mistake: Thus:
Marshall, Mich., {underline} Jan. 25.

January 15 Friday – Sam gave his “Vandals” lecture in Metropolitan Hall, Iowa City, Iowa. Livy wrote Mary Mason Fairbanks, inviting her to Elmira for a reunion of the Quaker City passengers [MTL 3: 42].

January 16 Saturday – Sam slipped and fell on the ice in Iowa City earning a sore hip. That evening, Sam traveled by train to Chicago, and along the way wrote a letter of apology to the landlord in Iowa City. Sam had yelled at the man for waking him up too early, 9 AM [MTL 3: 45-7].

January 17 Sunday – Sam wrote from Chicago to Livy, telling her about the spill on the ice and his sore hip, and his written apology to the landlord. “Have you got a good picture yet, Livy? —because I want it so badly” [MTL 3: 45-7].

January 18 Monday – Sam was unable to get to Sparta, Wisconsin for a scheduled lecture. He arrived in Cleveland at daylight [MTL 3: 49].

January 19 Tuesday – Sam wrote from Cleveland to Livy.
“I haven’t shaved for three days—& when Mrs. Fairbanks kissed me this morning, she said I looked like the moss-covered bucket…. They are hurrying me—Fairbanks called up stairs to know what part of the chicken I wanted—told him to give me the port side, for’ard of the wheel” [MTL 3: 50].

January 2 Saturday – Sam made an error in his schedule, not appearing on Dec. 29 in Fort Wayne, Indiana. This was a make up date and he gave the “American Vandal Abroad” lecture at Hamilton’s Hall in Ft. Wayne. Afterward he wrote from Ft. Wayne to Livy:

January 20 Wednesday – Sam gave his “Vandals” lecture in White’s Hall (Young Men’s Hall), Toledo, Ohio, then stayed the night in Toledo at the home of John B. Carson and family.

January 22 Friday – Sam returned to Cleveland, staying with the Fairbankses. He gave his “Vandals” lecture for the Protestant Orphan Asylum Benefit, Case Hall, Cleveland, Ohio.
The Cleveland Leader reported Sam’s remarks that prefaced his lecture:

January 23 Saturday – Sam wrote from Cleveland to Joseph and Harmony Twichell congratulating them on the birth of their second child, Julia Curtis Twichell on Jan. 9. Sam was upbeat about Livy, describing her picture that had arrived, and her letters that came:
“Every other day, without fail, & sometimes every day…those darling 8-page commercial miracles; & I bless the girl, & bow my grateful head before the throne of God & let the unspoken thanks flow out that never human speech could fetter into words” [MTL 3: 67].

January 24 Sunday – Sam wrote from Cleveland to Livy. He was relieved that Livy still had “faith in me.” Livy’s parents had expressed doubts about Sam, that he was a wanderer by nature. Sam answered the accusation:
“Does a man, five years a galley-slave, get in a habit of it & yearn to be a galley-slave always?…And being pushed from pillar to post & compelled so long to roam, against my will, is it reasonable to think that I am really fond if it & wedded to it? I think not” [MTL 3: 75].

January 25 Monday – Sam lecture his “Vandals” in Academy of Music, Marshall, Michigan [MTPO].

January 26 Tuesday – Sam gave his “Vandals” lecture in Batavia, Illinois. Sam spent the night in Batavia and wrote another long love letter to Livy [MTL 3: 76].

January 27 Wednesday – Sam left early in the morning for Freeport, Illinois, where Sam gave his “Vandals” lecture in Fry’s Hall.

January 28 Thursday – Sam gave his “Vandals” lecture at Russell Hall, Waterloo, Iowa [MTPO].

January 29 Friday – Sam gave his “Vandals” lecture at the Bench Street Methodist Church in Galena, Illinois. Afterwards, Sam wrote from Galena to Livy:

January 3 Sunday – In a letter of Jan. 14 to Livy, Sam answered her question of what he did on this day. Where was I on Sunday, Jan 3? In Fort Wayne. Had my breakfast brought up, & lay in bed till 1 P.M. I did want to go to church, & the bells sounded very inviting, but it seemed a plain duty to rest all I could….Yes I lay abed till 1 P.M. & read your Akron & Cleveland letters several times—& read the Testament—& re-read Beecher’s sermon on the love of riches being the root of all evil—and read Prof.

January 4 Monday – Sam gave his “Vandals” lecture at The Metropolitan, Indianapolis, Indiana. 

John Morris wrote:

January 5 Tuesday – The Indianapolis Journal reviewed Sam’s lecture:

January 6 Wednesday – Sam gave his “Vandals” lecture at Brown’s Hall in Rockford, Illinois to about a thousand people [Schmidt].

January 7 Thursday – After the Rockford lecture and past midnight, Sam wrote from Rockford to Mary Mason Fairbanks, and to Livy. (Over half of Sam’s nearly daily love letters to Livy have been lost.) That evening Sam again gave his “Vandals” lecture at Library Hall, Chicago, Illinois [MTL 3: 8-9].

January 8 Friday – Sam traveled to Monmouth, Illinois, 170 miles southwest of Chicago. The Chicago Tribune’s review worked to place the reader in the hall on that night of January 7, 1868:

January 9 Saturday – The Rockford Register printed a review of Sam’s lecture there:
We never saw an audience so determined to laugh “out loud” …we confess to having laughed ourselves until our sides fairly ached…We congratulate those who were present, and we feel deep sympathy for those who remained away and missed a grand opportunity of hearing a speaker who, as a humorist and wit, stands unrivaled on the American stage [MTL 3: 8-9n1].

March 1 Monday – Sam gave his “Vandals” lecture at Concert Hall in Geneseo, New York [MTPO].
Sam wrote from Rochester, NY to Livy: