To Olivia L. Clemens
4 December 1871 • Geneva, N.Y.
(MS: CU-MARK, UCCL 00685)

llc

Geneva, Dece 4.

Livy darling, I am thus far.1 Coming up from Homer I got acquainted with Rev. Mr. Foster, Episcoapal City Missionary of Syracuse, a noble, splendid fellow—a Twichell. He tells yarns, smokes occasionally, has weaknesses & lovable vices, just like a good, genuine human being, instead of a half-restored theological corpse like some [ pea preachers]. Sails right into the meat & marrow of a thing with a [whole-hearted] cordiality that makes you think what a pity it is there are so many people in the world who never know what it is to have anything more than a ‸mere‸ lukewarm, half-way interest in the pleasures & duties that fall to their lot.2

Foster was a Colonel, & was in 14 battles in the war—was in active service from the beginning of the war to the end of it. Only entered the ministry a year ago. But I think it requires more than war pluck to be a city missionary & wade into filthy Irish slums & back streets & face the insults & the hateful beastliness that offend eyes & [ not ] nose & spirit in such places. Foster looks about my age, but he has several children—the eldest a clerk in a bank, aged 17! I don’t know Foster’s age. I gave him “Waterloo,” & told him to read it & then mail it to you, as I had marked it somewhat.3 I guess we’ll have him up to Hartford, some day, & let him see Twichell.4

Last night when the lecture was over, two ladies came forward heartily & shook me by the hand & called me “Sam Clemens, the very same old Sam”—& when the explanations came out, by & by, they were two-little-girl friends of my early boyhood—children with me when I was half as old [as] Sammy Moffett. They both saw me once, ten years ago, but I did not see [them. ( One] [ had has] been married 13 years & the other about 20. One was Mary Bacon & the other Kitty Shoot. They seemed like waifs from some vague world I had lived in ages & ages & ages ago—myths—creatures of a dream.5

Livy dear, I didn’t see Dr Taft—he wasn’t in. I suppose I forgot to tell Patrick. You just send for the doctor & have a talk with him—or send Mrs Twichell to him.6

I suppose the watches haven’t reached you yet. Livy darling, my diamonds are a daily & nightly & unceasing delight to me, they are so beautiful. I thank you with all my might, my darling.7

Saw Dr Merrill last night & treated him the best I knew how.8

Livy dear, my shirts are doubtless lying in the Express office, since you don’t speak of their arrival.

With lots of love for you, & Mother & the cubbie.

Samℓ.

Mrs. Samℓ. L. Clemens | Cor Forest & Hawthorne | Hartford | Conn. [postmarked:] [geneva] n.y. dec 5

Explanatory Notes | Textual Commentary

Editorial Signs

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1 On 4 December Clemens lectured on Artemus Ward in Geneva to “a good house—good in numbers, and appreciative in character,” but the Geneva Gazette was unimpressed, noting that he appeared “very—tired, some might denominate it even less complimentarily” (“‘Mark Twain’ was favored . . . ,” 8 Dec 71, 3).

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2 James P. Foster had an equally positive impression of Clemens, whom he described in a letter signed “J. P. F.,” in the Syracuse Journal of 6 December:

Your correspondent was on Monday [4 December] introduced to Mr. Clemens, and was his fellow passenger in a long railroad ride, and is confident . . . that he is possessed of a good generous heart. The writer has seen something of the literary “Bohemians” of the world, and Mr. Clemens is not of such. It is doubtless hard for him to dissociate the ridiculous even from the sublime,—but he has refined instincts, and his humor will do our young men, and old ones, a substantial good. (Foster)

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3 Waterloo: A Sequel to The Conscript of 1813, an English translation of a historical novel by Émile Erckmann and Alexandre Chatrian (New York: Charles Scribner and Co., 1869). On 7 January 1872 Olivia reported that she had still not received the book from Foster (CU-MARK).

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4 Foster was three or four years older than Clemens. He had much in common with Joseph H. Twichell, a fellow clergyman, family man, and Civil War veteran. Foster had risen to the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the 128th New York Infantry. Twichell had served from 1861 to 1864 as chaplain of an infantry regiment in the 71st New York Volunteers (Heitman, 2:101; Strong, 20–37).

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5 The two women had not approached Clemens “last night,” but rather on 2 December, after his lecture in Homer. Mary E. Bacon (b. 1842?) was the only daughter of Catherine Lakenan Bacon (b. 1817) and George Bacon (1809–74), Hannibal’s leading wholesale grocer; her married name is unknown. Mildred Catherine (Kitty) Shoot (b. 1840?), was one of the daughters of Mary Pavey Shoot (b. 1822?) and William Shoot (1809–92), the proprietor of Hannibal’s finest hotel and co-owner of a livery stable. She had married Charles P. Heywood (1833–1909), the paymaster of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad and later a United States revenue collector, in 1858 (Inds, 347–48; Holcombe, 908, 954–55; Portrait, 279–80; Hannibal Census, 307; Mildred C. Heywood to SLC, 15 Jan 1910, CU-MARK).

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6 Here Clemens began replying to the following letter, which Olivia had sent to Geneva (CU-MARK):

UCCL00682

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Clemens’s attempt to consult with Dr. Cincinnatus A. Taft, doubtless about Olivia’s pregnancy, occurred at the end of his 18–20 November visit to Hartford, apparently while Patrick McAleer was driving him to the railroad station (15 Nov 71 to OLC, n. 8). Miss Lee may have been Susan Lee Warner’s sister.

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7 The “diamonds” must have been a gift for Clemens’s thirty-sixth birthday (30 November). Several weeks later a lecture reviewer noted the “glittering diamond ring” that he wore while performing (“Mark Twain,” Pittsburgh Gazette, 12 Jan 72, 4). For Olivia’s report on the watches, see 5 Dec 71 to OLC, n. 2.

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8 George V. R. Merrill (b. 1841) had moved to Elmira as a young boy and was apparently a longtime friend of the Langdon family’s. After distinguished service as a surgeon in the Civil War, he did not resettle in Elmira until 1873; as Olivia’s 29 November letter indicates, he was now living in Geneva (Towner, “Personal References,” 108). It is possible that Clemens misdated his meeting with Merrill and in fact met him on 2 December, the same night he met his old Hannibal friends. In any event, he did not accept Merrill’s invitation to stay at his house.

Description of Texts and Provenance

Source text(s):

MS, Mark Twain Papers, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley (CU-MARK).

Previous publication: L4, 506–9; LLMT, 362, brief paraphrase.

Provenance:See Samossoud Collection in Description of Provenance.

Emendations and textual notes:

pea preachers • peareachers

whole-hearted • whole-|hearted

not • [‘t’ partly formed]

them. ( One • them.—( | One

had has • hads

geneva • [gene] va [badly inked]