Home at Hartford: Day By Day

August 28 Friday – In a Aug. 31 letter to Sarah A. Sage, Sam refers to his “finished business in New York in about three hours and a half,” so it would seem he and Livy traveled from Onteora back to New York City, and then on to Quarry Farm the next day. (See Aug.

August 28 Saturday – In Elmira Sam wrote to Frederick J. Hall. Sam continued to work soliciting ems per hour information from newspapers, and directed Hall to make up a form to send to various papers. He suggested they obtain an advertising agency, which would allow the use of their name without them having to do the work. He was after country dailies now, not the big newspapers. He wanted to gauge the size of the entire market for his typesetting machine:

August 28 Tuesday – In Elmira Sam wrote a one-liner to Franklin G. Whitmore asking him to send “3 boxes of cigars” [MTP]. Evidently, Sam preferred cigars from Hartford.

Franklin G. Whitmore wrote to Sam that he’d deposited $4,100 into the US Bank for him on the sale of 100 shares of Medlicott [MTP].

August 28 Wednesday – In Elmira Sam wrote a gushing letter of compliment to Daniel Carter Beard about the CY illustrations.

I do not know of any quality they lack. Grace, dignity, poetry, spirit, imagination, these enrich them and make them charming and beautiful; and wherever humor appears it is high and fine, easy, unforced, kept under mastery, and is delicious [MTP].

August 28 Thursday – In Washington, D.C. Sam wrote a short note to Livy, now back in Tannersville, N.Y. Sam complained of “a dreary long separation” and wrote of his plans for the day, which included a quick trip to Philadelphia:

Livy darling, I am up at 6.30 to catch the earliest train for Philadelphia, to assist Mr. Hall in a matter of business, but I shall be back here about nightfall & continue to talk with Jones [MTP].

August 29 Sunday – Sam wrote from Elmira to Joe Twichell, about the baby and the family. The “stock-quotation of the Affection Board” was the priority the children put upon family and friends.

“Four weeks ago the children still put Mamma at the head of the list right along, where she had always been. But now: Jean / Mamma / Motley /Fraulein [last two are cats] / Papa.”

August 29 Tuesday – Sam had scrutinized Charles Webster’s dealings with the Independent Watch Company stock and wrote from Elmira to his niece, Annie Webster who evidently answered Sam’s questioning letter of Aug. 27 immediately:

August 29 Wednesday – Sam wrote from Elmira to Orion, complimenting on part of the board game he completed, probably the William the Conqueror segment Sam asked about in his Aug. 16 letter to Mollie Clemens.

“You can go on with other reigns, now, but you needn’t print any more till I tell you. Send the printing bill when you please” [MTP].

August 29 Saturday – Sam and Livy returned to Quarry Farm [The Twainian Sept-Oct 1956, p4; Susan Crane’s letters to Paine]. They arrived “before supper” [Aug. 31 to Sage]. Livy’s diary entry:

“Quarry Farm Aug 29th / Here we are back again after our pleasant trip away. We enjoyed our stay in the Catskills exceedingly….We found the children all well and glad to get us back”[MTP].

August 29 Monday – Sam wrote to an unidentified man, who evidently reported that someone else printed Sam’s words.

August 29 Wednesday – Mary C. MacDonald wrote to Sam with her heart full of thanks for his letter; she would write to Mr. Riley at once and to the Century Co. and send them his letter [MTP]. Note: Mary had written several times seeking aid in placing her art.

Franklin G. Whitmore wrote to Sam that he’d sold 100 shares Am. Bank Note Co. and altogether had raised $8,065.50; remaining to be sold, 100 shares ea. Of St. Paul Roller Mill, Crown Point, Burr Index [MTP].

August 29 Thursday – Francis Dalzell Finlay wrote from Pitcher Creek, Texas to Sam:

August 29 Friday – Sam left Washington and traveled to Onteora Park near Tannersville, N.Y., where Livy and the children waited. In his Aug. 31 to Orion and Mollie Clemens Sam wrote “From Washington to Onteora betwixt 6 in the morning & 9 in the evening is a most exhausting trip.” The rest of the summer would be spent at the resort.

George Standring wrote from London to keep Sam up to date on various typesetter developments there. He enclosed reports from the Pall Mall Gazette and the London Star (neither extant) [MTP].

August 3 Tuesday – What Fishkin calls “noisy hoopla that engulfed Elmira” was the arrival and speech of Frederick Douglass. “The event drew delegations from virtually every city and town within a hundred miles. Sixty-three guns were fired at 11 A.M. Well before the parade began, the ‘excitement reached the white folks, and the streets were thronged with expectant people.’” At least four bands provided music. The parade route went around the Langdon home.

August 3 Thursday – Charles E.S. Wood wrote: “The White Elephant is now all he ought to be and I’m proud of him. After final disposals here is the residue of 1601. The old sheets I destroyed” [MTP].

August 3 Friday – Sam wrote from Elmira to Charles Webster about the history game. Never mind applying for a patent just yet, Sam advised. He’d written to Munn & Co., sending the $25 fee and asked them to search the records to see “whether my game-idea is old or new, patentable or unpatentable” [MTP].

August 3 Monday – Tisdale & Davis, “mfg and dealers in tobacco & cigars”, Hannibal, Mo., for 500 “Old Fish” cigars. Sam wrote on this bill: ‘These are first-rate S.L.C.” No paid date [MTP]. Only Sam would enjoy a cigar named “Old Fish.”

August 3 Tuesday – In Philadelphia, Sam attended a hearing before Judge Butler in U.S. Circuit court. Sam’s New York attorneys, Alexander & Green, argued that a preliminary injunction should be issued to restrain John Wanamaker & Co. of Philadelphia from selling Grant’s Memoirs, on the ground that it was a subscription book and not sold in the book trade [NY Times, Jul 22, 1886 p.3 “Gen. Grant’s Book in Court.”].

August 3 Wednesday – By this date Sam had returned to Elmira, where he wrote Charles Webster, concluding “our outlook is disturbing,” with the combined income from the Pope’s book and McClellan’s book only paying expenses. They had lost the Grant letters book, and Beecher had died, changing his book from an autobiography to a biography by the family, even if they could come to terms.

August 3 Friday – Sam’s notebook:

Webster & Co. wrote to Sam c/o Theo. Crane. The Scribner matter about use of Sheridan’s excerpts was settled; they waived their rights to a second article upon payment of $600 cash [MTP].

Franklin G. Whitmore wrote to Sam that he had this day paid James W. Paige and Charles Davis $2,048.19 for July expenses [MTP].

[Chk #] 4311, Dr. C C Rice, Aug. 3, $100 $105

TW Crane ditto, $100 (4312) [3: 477].

August 3 Saturday – In Elmira Sam answered Robert Underwood Johnson’s letter of Aug. 2 about which issue of Century excerpts of CY would appear and who would be the illustrator:

Beard is the artist. As for me, I’d as soon it went into the Nov. No. as the Dec. Suppose you drop in & discuss with Mr. Hall [MTP].

August 3 Sunday – In Onteora Park near Tannersville, N.Y. Sam wrote to Senator John P. Jones after reading one of his speeches in the newspaper. Since he perceived that Jones had “more than common appreciation of the force of statistics” and so asked Webster & Co. to send Jones the new edition of Rowell’s Newspaper Directory, listing 1,500 dailies and 12,000 other periodicals. This was all part of Sam’s campaign to get Jones excited about the market for the Paige typesetter. Sam added, I think I could sell Arnot a privilege. He is worth $7,000,000 [MTP].

August 30 Tuesday – Sam wrote from Elmira to Charles Eliot Norton.

August 30 Wednesday – Sam’s sister Pamela Moffett wrote him; Sam added a postscript sending it on to Annie Webster. Pamela emphasized that Charley had made everything perfectly satisfactory, and that she’d been distressed by Orion’s writing to Sam about her affairs, even though he’d meant well.

August 30 Thursday – William C. Hutchings wrote from Brooklyn, where he took his dying wife after doctors in Hartford recommended taking her home. He PS’d an enclosed clipping from the NY World, but it’s not in the file [MTP]. Note: Sam wrote on the env., “The German Critic’s opinion”—may refer to the missing clipping contents.

William Swinton wrote from NYC, disappointed that since Sam’s reply was marked “Private” he couldn’t publish it, and asked again for a story [MTP].