To Stephen J. Field
9 January 1868 • Washington, D.C.
(MS: CU-MARK, UCCL 00177)

Washington, Jan. 9, 1868.

Dear Judge—

I wish you would recommend the appointment of Harvey Beckwith to a Special Revenue Agency for San Francisco—by Special Revenue Agent I mean an officer who ferrets out illicit [distilleries ]& other whisky frauds & brings the law upon [them. Beckwith ]is a first-rate man in every way—steady, faithful, smart & particularly energetic. He is honest, also, but he can’t help that—he will do the best he can. Beckwith was Superintendent of the great “Mexican” silver mine at Virginia City, Nevada for several years, & also held such a position in the “Gould” & Curry” afterward.1 These facts are certainly sufficient evidence of his capacity. In politics he was a for the war, while it lasted, & is a conservative Democrat, now.2 You see yourself that his virtues are of no common order. God never made two such men. However, you know Harvey Beckwith yourself, I suppose, & better than I, for aught I know, though I have known him six years. He would like to have that office, I would be very glad if he could get it, & the nation generally would rejoice—at least they would if they knew Beckwith.

Your friend

Sam. L. Clemens.

[letter docketed:] From Sam L. Clemens | Jan 9th 1868 | [flourish]

Explanatory Notes | Textual Commentary

Editorial Signs

Click to add citation to My Citations.

1 Clemens hoped that Field would recommend Beckwith to President Johnson, who at this time held the power to appoint special revenue agents without the approval of the Senate. The need for such agents was a result of widespread attempts to evade the extremely high whiskey tax, which had risen from twenty cents to two dollars per gallon since 1863. Twenty-four special agents were currently employed by the Treasury Department to uncover producers of illicit untaxed whiskey and to investigate “other whisky frauds,” which often involved collusion between government officials, distillers, and politicians. Although Beckwith was not appointed to a special agency, in May 1868 the president did nominate him to be superintendent of the United States branch mint at San Francisco. The Senate, however, declined to confirm him (“Editorial Notes,” San Francisco Alta California, 9 Feb 68, 2; Chommie, 143–44; McCulloch, 19; Senate 1887, 16:240, 288–89). Clemens had known Beckwith since at least October 1862, when he mentioned him as superintendent of the Spanish, or Mexican, mine in a news story for the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise (ET&S1, 166). Beckwith’s connection with the Gould and Curry mine has not been documented.

Click to add citation to My Citations.

2 Associate Justice Field’s politics were the same as Beckwith’s: although pro-Union during the war, he returned to the Democratic party after it, supporting President Johnson’s lenient policy toward the South. In a letter to the Alta dated 23 December Clemens wrote:

On the Democratic side of the fence, Judge Field, of California, is talked of more and more every day in connection with the Presidency of the United States.... [The Democrats] must have a man whose record as a Union man is spotless; and one whose conservatism cannot be gainsaid. Thus far, Judge Field is the only man they have found who fills this bill. (SLC 1868)

Description of Texts and Provenance

Source text(s):

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

Previous publication: L2, 150–151.

Provenance:donated to the University of California as part of the Stephen Johnson Field Collection by Mrs. George E. Whitney (born Mary Lewis Swearingen), the sister of Field’s wife of forty years, the former Sue Virginia Swearingen. Mrs. Field died in 1901, two years after her husband’s death in 1899 (Hogan and Schnitzer, 41, 44, 45, 52). In 1970, the Field collection was transferred from the Rare Book Room of Doe Library to The Bancroft Library. This letter was deposited in CU-MARK in 1971.

Emendations and textual notes:

distilleries • disterilleries [‘il’ over ‘er’]

them. Beckwith • them.—|Beckwith