About Mark Twain American Author AND HUMORIST “The man with a new Idea is a crank until the idea succeeds” ~Mark Twain

CHRONOLOGY OF MARK TWAIN’S LIFE 1835Born prematurely at Florida, Missouri, November 30. Halley’s Comet was in the skies above. 1839Family moved to Hannibal, Missouri, Mr. Clemens began to operate general store Family moved into house known as Mark Twain Boyhood Home. 1847March 24 - Mr. Clemens died. 1848Sam Clemens apprenticed to Joseph Ament of Missouri Courier newspaper. 1850Brother Orion returned to Hannibal in September, purchased Western Union newspaper, Sam began working for his brother. Joined Cadets of Temperance. 1852Sam edited Orion’s newspaper while Orion was on trip. Sam submitted two sketches to Saturday Evening Post, no pay. His sketch, “The Dandy Frightening the Squatter” was published in the May issue of Carpet-Bag of Boston, Massachusetts. 1853Sam left Hannibal in June to become a journeyman printer in St. Louis, New York and Philadelphia. Brother Orion took their mother, Jane Clemens, and Henry Clemens to Iowa, ending Clemens family residence in Hannibal. 1854Sam visited Washington, DC in February. Summer in Muscatine, Iowa, with brother Orion on Muscatine Journal. 1855Winter and spring in St. Louis. To Keokuk, Iowa, worked for brother Orion in Orion’s Daily Post until fall of 1856.

1856In Cincinnati, Ohio, as assistant in job printing shop. 1857April became apprentice river pilot under Captain Horace Bixby of the Paul Jones. 1859April 9 - became fully licensed pilot. 1861River days ended with start of Civil War. Brief stop in Hannibal and soldiering days recalled as “A Private History of a Campaign that Failed.” Traveled by stage coach to Carson City, Nevada, with brother Orion who had been appointed Secretary to the Territorial Governor of Nevada. 1862After brief stint as miner, Sam Clemens settled in as reporter on the Virginia City, Nevada, Territorial Enterprise in August. 1863First used pen name “Mark Twain” on Enterprise. 1864Left for California in December and job with San Francisco Call newspaper. 1865Visited Jackass Hill in California where he heard the jumping Frog story and tried gold mining. “Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog” in 18 November New York Saturday Press. 1866Working for Sacramento Union, sent as correspondent to the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii). Upon return to California gave his first lecture on trip experiences.

1867Went to New York via Nicaragua. Made Midwest lecture tour that included stops in St. Louis, Hannibal, Quincy and Keokuk. The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County published. Excursion trip on board steamer Quaker City to Europe and the Holy Lands (recalled in his first book The Innocents Abroad). Brief period as secretary to Senator Stewart of Nevada in Washington, DC. 1868Contracted for first book, The Innocents Abroad which came out in Traveled to California to obtain the release of some of his letters published in newspapers there. Midwest lecture tour in November and December. 1869Engaged to Olivia Langdon of Elmira, New York on February 4. In August bought part interest in Buffalo Express newspaper and started work as editor. First book, The Innocents Abroad, published. Lecture tour November to January, Married Olivia Langdon in Elmira on February 2, Son, Langdon, born November 7, died in infancy. 1871Trip to London, England. Moved to Hartford, Connecticut in October. Received patent for adjustable garment strap. 1872Daughter, Susy, born March 19. Built large house preserved today as Mark Twain House in Hartford, 351 Farmington Avenue. 1873Received patent for self-pasting scrapbook, one invention that made money for Mark Twain. 1874Daughter Clara born June The Adventures of Tom Sawyer published.

1877Was speaker at John Greenleaf Whittier’s 70th birthday celebration With family to Europe: Heidelberg, Alps, Italy, Munich. 1880Daughter Jean born July Made trip up the Mississippi from New Orleans to Minnesota to refresh memory and gather information for Life on the Mississippi. Visited Hannibal. 1883Life on the Mississippi published. 1884National lecture tour with George Washington Cable, November to February Adventures of Huckleberry Finn published. Mark Twain’s publishing firm releases a best-seller, Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, an autobiography that returned more than $350,000 to the Grant family. 1888Master of Arts degree from Yale University. 1889Met Rudyard Kipling in Elmira, New York. 1890Visited ailing mother in Keokuk, Iowa. Later her funeral in Hannibal. 1891Mark Twain’s Memory Builder Game put on the market, his third patent Clemens family to Europe: Germany, France, Italy. 1893Speaking successes earned Twain title “Belle of New York.” 1894Clemens in bankruptcy following failure of printing firm and investments Clemens bankrupt. Made round-the-world lecture tour to pay off debts. Daughter Susy died of meningitis August Paid last of debts from bankruptcy, in full.

1900To England to argue copyright law before House of Lords. 1901Honorary doctorate degree at Yale University. 1902Last visit to Hannibal. Handed our graduation diplomas to Hannibal High School graduating class. On to Columbia, Missouri, to receive honorary Doctorate Degree from University of Missouri. Helped dedicate Eugene Field House in St. Louis 1903Sailed for Florence, Italy with Olivia, who was very ill. Olivia died in Florence in 1904 on June Returned to New York, living in brownstone at 21 Fifth Avenue th birthday dinner at Delmonico’s in New York. Biographer Albert Bigelow Paine joins family at their house. 1907Traveled to Oxford University in England to receive honorary degree. 1908Moved into his last house, Stormfield, at Redding, Connecticut on 18 June. Visitors included Helen Keller and Laura Hawkins Frazer (model for Becky Thatcher). 1909Daughter Clara married Ossip Gabrilowitsch at Stormfield, October 6. Daughter Jean died December In Bermuda for health. Heart complications set in, Returned to home Stormfield, died April 21. Buried in wife’s family’s plot, Woodlawn Cemetery, Elmira, New York.

THE MARK TWAIN’S HOUSE Step back to the Gilded Age during guided tours of the 19-room, Tiffany- decorated mansion where Mark Twain raised his family and worked from 1874 to During this incredibly productive period, Twain created such classics as The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. The Mark Twain House is located at 351 Farmington Avenue, Hartford, Connecticut 06105, midway between Boston and New York City, with easy access from Interstates 84 and 91. The House is less than one hour from such other major New England attractions as Mystic Seaport, Yale University and its associated museums, Basketball Hall of Fame and Yankee Candle.

BOOKS BY MARK TWAIN Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Author: Mark Twain A seminal work of American Literature that still commands deep praise and intense controversy. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is essential to the understanding of the American soul. This unprecedented edition, which contains portion of the recently discovered first half of the orignal manuscript, is indispensable to a full understanding of the book. The changes, deletions, and additions made in the first half of the manuscript show that Twain frequently checked his impulse to write an darker, more confrontational book than the one he finally published. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer - Author: Mark Twain Mark Twain's classic yarn about an orphan growing up on the Mississippi river Autobiography of Mark Twain - Author: Mark Twain, Charles Neider (Editor) This book of anecdotes, written as a diary at different periods of his life, provides a revealing portrait Twain's life and times. Inventing Mark Twain: The Lives of Samuel Langhorne Clemens - Author: Andrew Hoffman This biograhy describes a childhood shadowed by his father's business failures and the deaths of his father and two siblings before his 12th birthday. In addition to his fame as an adult, Clemens was dogged by financial and personal problems including failed investments, the deaths of three children, and the loss of his beloved wife. Hoffman carefully considers all these issues and comes up with the portrait of a complicated man

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer MOST of the adventures recorded in this book really occurred; one or two were experiences of my own, the rest those of boys who were schoolmates of mine. Huck Finn is drawn from life; Tom Sawyer also, but not from an individual -- he is a combina- tion of the characteristics of three boys whom I knew, and therefore belongs to the composite order of archi- tecture. The odd superstitions touched upon were all preva- lent among children and slaves in the West at the period of this story -- that is to say, thirty or forty years ago. Although my book is intended mainly for the en- tertainment of boys and girls, I hope it will not be shunned by men and women on that account, for part of my plan has been to try to pleasantly remind adults of what they once were themselves, and of how they felt and thought and talked, and what queer enterprises they sometimes engaged in.

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