Summer of 1887: Day By Day

August 5 Friday – In Elmira Sam reported to Franklin G. Whitmore, “Have made splendid progress on my book this week.” This was a comment added below his signature on a letter containing aspects of the Paige machine, threats of lawsuit, bills sent, disputes about a $20,000 contract being fulfilled to Pratt & Whitney for work on the typesetter, and the like.

August 6 Saturday – Sam wrote to Charles R. Brown, letter not extant but referred to in Brown’s Sept. 2 [MTP].

August 8 Monday – Richard Watson Gilder of Century Magazine had written Sam (unlisted in MTP’s Incoming file). Sam responded:

Oh, I didn’t know what you meant by “the play.” But it has occurred to me that you mean that 3-act German-English farce, — & so you’ve cost me a day — & I couldn’t spare it, by George! I’ve gone over it & revised…[MTP].

August 9 Tuesday – Theodore Frelinghuysen Seward wrote to Sam, asking if he might have the “idiot” comment Sam made about Tonic-Sol method being a “rational mode” over the conventional (Staff method), “which was the invention of an idiot.” Sam wrote “NO. SLC” on the letter [MTP].

Franklin G. Whitmore (Whitney ca. Aug. 9 enclosed) wrote, “Your letter with the Pratt & W’s enclosures rec’d,” and that Paige was down sick under a doctor’s care [MTP] 

As usual, the family vacationed in the summer of 1887 at Quarry Farm, leaving Hartford on June 21, spending a week in New York, and arriving in Elmira on June 29, Sam devoted his working months at the farm to reading and writing, indulging in particular his taste for history and biography with Thomas Babington Macaulay's The History of England from the Accession of James II (1849), The Memoirs of the Duke of Saint-Simon on the Reign of Louis XIV and the Regency (1857), Prince Metternich’s Memoirs (1880), George Standring’s The People’s History of the English Aristocracy (1887), and rereadin

July – Edward McGlynn, Roman Catholic clergyman and social reformer was ex-communicated for his support of Henry George for Mayor of New York. Webster & Co. Had planned to publish a book by McGlynn but the action by the church killed the market for the book. Such losses led Sam to list McGlynn, Beecher, the Hawaiian King, and Stanley in his notebook, together with, “Let’s insure Lt. Gen.

July 1 Friday – Charles J. Langdon wrote enclosing $200 from the Beech Creek RR bonds [MTP].

Check #  Payee  Amount  [Notes]

3733  F.G. Whitmore  125.00  Finances

3734  Patrick McAleer  50.00  Coachman

3735  John O’Neil  60.00  Gardener

July 10 Sunday – In Elmira and evidently past his bout with dyspepsia, Sam wrote to Mollie Clemens about a perfect day on the idyllic hilltop in his octagonal study at Quarry Farm.

July 11 Monday – Sam must have been advised of Webster’s return, for he took the ten-hour trip to New York City, where he wrote Franklin G. Whitmore in Hartford. Sam sent Grant’s Memoirs for James Scrugham Quinn (RR agent) and wanted them given to him “right away before he can buy.” He wrote he was returning to Elmira the next day [MTP] Note: J.

July 12 Tuesday – Sam returned to Elmira and Quarry Farm [July 11 to Whitmore]. He wrote Frederick J. Hall encouraging him to rush into the canvass for King David Kalakaua’s collection of Hawaiian Legends book, while “this flurry is up” [MTLTP 219]. Note: Sam’s dictum for an optimized subscription method limiting itself to two books a year, seems to have been ignored due to all the wondrous possibilities.

July 13 Wednesday – Frederick J. Hall wrote to Sam, replying to his July 12 note that it might do to rush the Kalakaua’s Hawaiian legends book into canvass.

July 14 Thursday – James W. Paige per Charles Van Schuyver wrote to Sam, having received his of July 12. Paige had just consulted with H.W. Beadle, patent lawyer on a patent claim, who said they had “a very effective case…we were the first to employ an auxiliary type-driver” [MTP].

Keokuk Board of Health sent Sam printed vital statistics for the city ending June 30, 1887 [MTP].

July 15 Friday – In Elmira Sam responded to Frederick J. Hall’s question about the Hawaiian King’s book. The prospectus was not ready, so Sam felt the recent publicity didn’t have “enough permanency…to do us any real good,” and that moving up the canvass for the book “might disarrange Mr. Webster’s plans, anyway.” Based on checks reported received by Hall from Slote & Co. And from American Pub.

July 16 Saturday – James W. Paige per Charles Van Schuyver wrote to Sam, “Yours of the 15th inst. Just received.” He elaborated on technical aspects of the motor and of the Thorne typesetter [MTP].

July 17 Sunday – Orion Clemens wrote to Sam (Orion C. Conatser to Orion July 14 enclosed) Orion called him “a Tennessee namesake of mine” and wrote asking what he would offer for the quit claim deed on the land he referred to [MTP].

July 18 Monday – In Elmira Sam sent thanks to an unidentified man for sending him a copy of “The Beecher Memorial,” which he already had. Sam mentioned he had been working on a book for three years that was “nearly half done” [MTP].

July 19 Tuesday – James W. Paige wrote to Sam enclosing a copy of additional claims about the “driver device.” He would forward a letter just received from Pratt & Whitney [MTP].

July 2 Saturday – In Elmira Sam attended the baseball game but declined to umpire. From the Brooklyn Eagle of July 3, 1887, p 16.

THE MAYOR PLAYED BALL

L.. — —

But Mark Twain and Thomas K

Beecher Declined to be Umpires

ELMIRA, N.Y., July 2

July 21 Thursday – In Elmira Sam wrote to William (Billy) Gross of Brown & Gross, Hartford booksellers:

Whatinthehelldoyoureckonamancando with a History that begins with Volume V? (Lecky’s History of the 18th Century.) Shove along the other 4 volumes and don’t fool around [MTP].

July 23 Saturday – In Elmira Sam telegraphed Franklin G. Whitmore that he was on his way to Hartford.

I am coming & shall be glad to meet all of you at my house next Wednesday eve & talk the thing all over have statics and other information ready that can bear upon the matter [MTP].

July 24 Sunday – In Elmira Sam wrote his mother, Jane Clemens about being away for daughter Jean’s seventh birthday in two days; teaching a new dog to “let the cats alone” and how they’d love to visit but “it’s a long way, & even the dead can’t travel in such weather, without spoiling.” His paragraph about Jean is revealing:

July 25 Monday – In Elmira Sam wrote to his brother-in-law Charles Langdon for Livy, requesting $1,500 be remitted to Bissell & Co., Hartford bankers, with the check mailed to Franklin G. Whitmore. In the afternoon, Sam left for N.Y.C., and read the fourth volume of Metternich’s memoirs on the train in the evening (a ten-hour trip). He stayed at the St.

July 26 Tuesday – Jean Clemens’ seventh birthday. (See July 24 entry.)

In New York City at the St. James Hotel, Sam wrote to Livy:

Livy darling. I have finished up what I had to do here, & shall start to Hartford at 4.30. Charley [Webster] is a constant sufferer from his neuralgia, but has lately found a doctor who gives him several hours’ relief per day.

July 27 Wednesday – Sam’s telegram to Franklin G. Whitmore on July 23 about a meeting at his house “next Wednesday eve [this day]…” to “talk the thing all over have statics and other information ready,” suggests Sam’s research into the Paige typesetter and a meeting, at least informally, of stockholders.

Orion Clemens wrote to Sam; check for $155 received; he discussed his research and writing into English kings [MTP].

July 29 Friday – Livy wrote to her sister-in-law, Mollie Clemens that she and Susan L. Crane were reading Charles Kingsley’s His Letters and Memories of His Wife (1877); Sam’s notebook carries a July entry which suggests he was also was reading the book:

The Deity filled with humor. Kingsley. God’s laughter [MTNJ 2: 37; Gribben 372].