November 15 Monday – Sam lectured at Clinton Hall, Clinton, Mass.[MTPO].
He began a letter from to Livy that he finished on Nov. 16.
Livy Darling — / I had to submit to the customary & exasperating drive around town in a freezing open buggy this morning [at Norwich] to see the wonders of the village
November 16 Tuesday – Sam finished the letter to Livy. Later that evening he lectured in Holyoke, Mass.
Livy Darling—
November 17 Wednesday – Sam lectured in Gothic Hall, Danvers, Mass. [MTPO].
November – Sometime during the month (probably in the first half), G.M. Baker of Boston made a formal group photograph of Sam, Josh Billings (Henry Wheeler Shaw 1818-1885) and Petroleum V. Nasby (David Ross Locke 1833-1888) [MTP].
November, mid – Sam, visited unannounced the offices of The Atlantic Monthly at 124 Tremont Street in Boston to thank the unsigned reviewer of Innocents Abroad for a very positive review. This is the famous first meeting between William Dean Howells (who wrote the review) and Sam Clemens. Sam first saw James T. Fields, who had hired Howells.
November 19 Friday – In Boston prior to his lecture, Sam wrote to Mary Mason Fairbanks.
November 2 Tuesday – Sam lectured in Brookville, Pennsylvania – As reported by the Pittsburgh Gazette [MTL 3: 385].
November 20 Saturday – Sam wrote from Boston to James K. Medbery, declining to write a Christmas book for the American Literary Bureau [MTL 3: 400].
November 23 Tuesday – Sam lectured (“Savages”) in Allyn Hall, Hartford, Conn. The Hartford Courant (Nov. 25, p2) review summarized both traditional the traditional lecture audience “class” and expectations, and Sam’s unique “conversational” approach which mixed both serious and comedic:
November 24–25 Thursday – Sam wrote late from Hartford to Livy, who was in New York City at the St. Nicholas Hotel with her father, sister Susan Crane, and John Slee and wife making wedding preparations.
November 25 Thursday – George L. Fall, partner of James Redpath, sent Sam another lecture schedule for December with 16 cities [MTP].
November 26 Friday – Sam lectured in an unidentified town, as cited by his letter to Livy the next day.
November 27 Saturday – Olivia Louise Langdon’s 24th birthday, her last as a single woman. Sam wrote her a short note from Boston: “Had a big house last night, as usual. Didn’t make a brilliant success otherwise, though.” The town has not been identified [MTL 3: 410].
November 28 Sunday – Sam wrote from Boston to Livy about her 24th and his 34th birthday:
“I have kept the day alone, my darling—we will keep it together hereafter, God willing. My own birthday comes Tuesday, & I must keep that alone also, but it don’t matter—I’ve had had considerable practice in that” [MTL 3: 413].
November 29 Monday – Sam lectured (“Savages”) in the Congregational Church, Newtonville, Mass. Though Sam did not like lecturing in churches as he felt it more difficult for the audience to laugh, the Newton Journal however, reported that Sam “elicited shouts of laughter” [MTL 3: 414n2].
Sam wrote from Boston to Livy, sending his schedule [MTL 3: 415].
November 3 Wednesday – Sam lectured in Johnstown, Pennsylvania [MTL 3: 385].
Note: It is possible that Sam did not speak in Brookville or Johnstown – more newspaper evidence might confirm. Letters Sam wrote Livy between Nov. 6 and 9 (Livy’s numbers 129-132) are lost [MTL 3: 391n4].
November 30 Tuesday – Sam’s 34th birthday. He lectured (“Savages”) in Thompsonville, Conn.
James Redpath wrote to advise Sam that Mr. Alfred Reed extended his hospitality for the stop in Trenton, and had increased the fee to $100 [MTP].
November 7 to 13, 1869 Saturday
November 7 to 13 Saturday – sometime during this week Horatio G. Smith of Boston photographed Clemens with Josh Billings (Henry Wheeler Shaw) and Petroleum V. Nasby (David Ross Locke) and titled the photo “American Humorists” [MTL 3: 406, 408n10]. The “V” for “Vesuvius.”
November 9 Tuesday – Sam lectured in Harrington’s Opera House, Providence, Rhode Island. Sam spoke to 1,800 there and later wrote: “Gave good satisfaction.” He wrote from Boston to his sister Pamela:
November 1 1869 to January 21, 1870
November 1 1869 to January 21, 1870 Lecture Tour: At least 49 engagements under the management of James Redpath (All but Brookville and Johnstown are listed courtesy of Barbara Schmidt’s TwainQuotes website, designated as [Schmidt].)
Sometime during this period Clemens wrote to an unidentified man, his photo enclosed:
“All right—will smoke with you, if Redpath can arrange a night that will suit all around. Confound that ferry!” [MTPO: Sales catalog, Thomas R. Madigan, 1935, item 67].
October 29 Friday – Sam left Elmira for Pittsburgh. See locket picture of Livy dated this day by MTP.
October 30 Saturday – Sam arrived in Pittsburgh in the afternoon, for his Nov. 1 lecture. He was the guest of honor at a banquet at McGinley’s Dining Saloon, on Wood Street, given by the lecture committee of the Mercantile Library Association [MTL 3: 382n2]. Lorch says it was an “oyster supper” [105].
October 31 Sunday – Sam continued the Oct. 30 letter to Livy:
“I walked around town this morning with a young Mr. Dean, a cousin of Wm D. Howells, editor of the Atlantic Monthly. He kindly offered to give me a letter of introduction to Mr. Howells, but I thanked him sincerely & declined, saying I had a sort of delicacy about using letters of introduction…”