1 After becoming nationally known for his Civil War dispatches to the Cincinnati Gazette, Reid (1837–1912) joined the staff of the New York Tribune in September 1868 as Horace Greeley’s assistant and chief editorial writer, assuming the duties of managing editor in mid-May 1869, when John Russell Young resigned (Duncan, 18–19, 36–39; Cortissoz, 1:148–49; Baehr, 71–72).

2 The gratified individual was Jervis Langdon, who arrived at the St. Nicholas with his wife, daughter, and Clemens on 10 June, en route to Hartford for the 17 June wedding of Alice Hooker and John Day. Langdon was owed five hundred thousand dollars by Memphis, Tennessee, the result of his investment in the northern firm of Brown and Company, which had contracted to pave the city’s streets. When payment for the work was not promptly forthcoming, Clemens used his influence with the New York Tribune to bring public pressure on Memphis. The Tribune editorialized on 15 June (4):

For Memphis’s response, see 26 June 69 to Reid, n. 1 (“Morning Arrivals,” New York Evening Express, 11 June 69, 3; hotel arrivals, New York Tribune, 11 June 69, 8, 12 June 69, 5; 23 June 69 to PAM).