Samuel Langhorne Clemens
known as Mark Twain
1835-1910
One of the greatest American
writers: humorist, essayist,
novelist and adventurer
Early Years Along the River
Born November 30, 1835 in Florida, Missouri
Parents John M. and Jane L. Clemens
6th of 7 children
Early Years Along the River
• Moved to Hannibal, Missouri in 1839
near the Mississippi River
His father and uncle owned slaves;
Sam spent summers playing in the
slave quarters on his uncle’s farm.
Grew up playing and exploring along
the river
Makeshift rafts, playing in the woods
and caves, watching steamboats,
enjoying the swimming holes
Early Years Along the River
Father died
in 1847
when Sam
was 12,
forcing him
to quit
school at
5th grade
and start
working.
Career in Journalism
1847 Sam worked as a printer’s
apprentice for the Hannibal Courier.
1850 worked for his older brother Orion
as a reporter and a printer at the
Hannibal Journal.
He ran the paper if his brother was
away.
1851 “A Gallant Fireman” Sam’s short
humorous account of a grocery fire is
published.
Writing and Traveling
Continued working for newspapers in
New York City and Philadelphia
Traveled and lectured
In 1857 he returned home to be an
apprentice riverboat pilot on the
Mississippi River
Brother Henry died in riverboat accident
Traveling
1859 earned
his steamboat
pilot’s license
and worked
steadily as a
river pilot
between New
Orleans and
St. Louis.
Civil War 1861-1865
1861 Mississippi River closed due to the Civil
War.
Sam’s piloting career ends.
He joined a volunteer group of Confederate
“irregulars” for a few weeks;
Then headed West in search of a new career
in prospecting.
Out West
Brother Orion was Secretary of Nevada
Territory
Sam traveled by stage coach from
Missouri to Nevada in hopes of getting
rich in silver prospecting
Encountered Native American tribes for
the first time, as well as a variety of
unique characters and mishaps
Big Break
1863 Began writing for the Territorial
Enterprise in Nevada.
Published “Jim Smiley and His Jumping
Frog” -- a retelling of a tall tale he
picked up from the miners.
“Mark Twain”
In 1863, Sam adopted his pen name “Mark
Twain”
An important part of being a riverboat pilot is
knowing the waters -- depths, snags, mud,
reefs. To “mark twain” is to sound the depths
and deem them safe to passage.
Means two fathoms, or twelve feet -- safe
water for the steamship.
More than anything, Mark
Twain loved the river.
Writing and Traveling
He traveled to many cities and wrote for
for numerous publications. While
traveling he met abolitionist writers
Frederick Douglass and Harriet
Beecher Stowe, as well as British writer
Charles Dickens.
He also traveled extensively in Europe,
Hawaii and the Holy Land.
He published Innocents Abroad about
his travels 1869.
Attitude on Slavery
Twain wrote that when he was a child
he “had no aversion to slavery” and
was “not aware that there was anything
wrong about it,” which is just like his
character, Huck.
An abolitionist was considered “lowdown,” as Huck would call it, and young
Sam would never have wanted to be
insulted by that name.
Transformation of Conscience
By 1876, however, he questioned the racism
he grew up with.
He later learned that his own father, John
Marshall Clemens, had served on a jury that
sent “slave-stealers” to the state penitentiary.
At the same time, his father-in-law, Jervis
Langdon, had been funding “slave-stealers’”
activities.
Transformation
Published an anti-lynching editorial in
the Buffalo Express.
Influenced by Frederick Douglass, Paul
Laurence Dunbar and other writings by
former slaves.
Wrote an editorial against the
persecution of the Chinese in San
Francisco “Disgraceful Persecution of a
Boy”
Ambition
Illustration from “Life on the Mississippi”
Huckleberry Finn 1884
He wrote the first 11 chapters of Huck
Finn in one summer in 1876. He then
struggled and spent many years writing
the rest.
He wrote other works during that time,
including Life on the Mississippi
published in1883
Huck Finn was published in 1884.
Huckleberry Finn 1884
"All modern American literature
comes from one book by Mark
Twain called Huckleberry Finn.”
- Ernest Hemingway, Green Hills of
Africa
Attitude on Racism
By the time he finished Huck Finn, Sam not only
believed that slavery was wrong, but also that whites
owed some sort of back pay.
He wrote a letter to the Dean of the Yale Law School
in 1885
He paid the expenses of Warner McGuinn, one of
the first black law students at Yale.
“We have ground the manhood out of them. The
shame is ours, not theirs, and we should pay for it.”
— Mark Twain wrote to Dean Wayland 1885
Famous Mark Twain Quotes
“Of all the creatures that were made he [man]
is the most detestable.”
“Whenever I feel the urge to exercise I lie
down until it goes away.”
“If you don’t like the weather in New England,
just wait a few minutes.”
Famous Mark Twain Quotes
“Familiarity breeds contempt -- and children.”
“The past does not repeat itself, but it
rhymes.”
“The reports of my death are greatly
exaggerated.”
Marriage and Family
On one of his trips to Europe and the Holy
Land, Sam met Charles Langdon
Charles showed him a picture of his sister.
Sam and Olivia’s first date was to a reading
by Charles Dickens in New York.
Sam married Olivia (Livy) Langdon in 1870.
They settled in Buffalo, NY where he worked
as a partner and writer for the Buffalo
Express.
Olivia
Langdon
Clemens
Olivia Clemens 1845-1904
Olivia was the daughter of an affluent
New York family.
Her father was an abolitionist.
She had poor health, suffering from
tuberculosis of the spine between the
ages of 14-20, which affected her life.
Her inheritance, along with Sam’s
earnings from his writing and lectures,
allowed them somewhat of a lavish
lifestyle.
Marriage and Family
Their first child, Langdon Clemens was
born in Buffalo 1870.
Sam moved his family back to
Connecticut to be closer to his
publisher (1871).
1873 Langdon died of diphtheria.
Mark
Twain
with
two
friends
in
1871.
Marriage and Family
1873 daughter Suzy was born.
1874 daughter Clara was born.
1880 daughter Jean was born.
1874-1891
The family lived in Hartford, CT
During these years, Sam completed
some of his most famous works:
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, 1876
The Prince and the Pauper, 1881
Life on the Mississippi, 1883
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,
1884
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s
Court, 1889
Telephones and Typewriters
Mark Twain claimed to be the first in his
town to own a telephone.
He also is credited with being the first
to submit a typewritten manuscript to a
publisher.
The first commercial typewriter was
mounted on a sewing machine stand
and typed in all capitals.
Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn
It is believed that while Mark Twain was
writing Tom Sawyer, he wasn’t sure whether
or not he was writing for children or adults.
With Huck Finn, it was clear -- he wrote for
adults, but the narrator was an innocent child
who had seen a lot of pain, death and
suffering.
He modeled both boys after himself and boys
he knew when he was growing up.
Tom Sawyer
and
Huck Finn
Bad Investments
Although he enjoyed some financial
success during those years, he also
made a bad investments, primarily in a
new kind of typesetting machine, which
eventually brought him to bankruptcy.
Europe and Tragedy
1891 Sam and Livy moved their family
to Europe in 1891 in order to
economize and pay back debt
1894 Publishing company failed and
Sam embarked on a European Lecture
Tour to earn money
1896 Suzy (24 years old) died of
meningitis while on a visit to Hartford
More Travels
1891-1900 Clemens's traveled the
world.
He saw lots of war, cruelty and
Imperialistic countries exploiting weaker
ones.
He was angry at what he saw.
He wrote Following the Equator
Returning to America
His finances were restored
1900 returned to America
Vice President of the Anti-Imperialist
League
Writings turned dark as Mark Twain
questioned the greed and cruelty of the
human race
More Tragedy
Daughter Suzy died of meningitis 1896
Livy, who was an invalid in the last
years of her life, died in 1904
Jean, his youngest daughter, and many
say “favorite” daugther, died in an
epileptic seizure in 1909
Clara
At the age of 21, she
accompanied her father
on an around-the-world
lecture tour 1895-96.
The following year, the
family moved to Vienna
so Clara could study
piano. There, she met
her future husband,
classical Russian pianist
Ossip Gabrilowitsch.
Clara
She gave up piano for
singing and performed in
theaters in New York.
She moved with her
family back to New York
in 1900, but continued
her long-distance
romance.
Clara
She cared for her mother
in her final years.
Had a nervous
breakdown after her
mother’s death and
spent a year in
sanitarium.
Clara
1909 Clara and Ossip
resumed their
relationship and were
married that year.
He died of cancer in
1939.
They had one daughter,
Sam Clemen’s only heir,
Nina.
Clara
Nina lived on a trust fund
her mother set up for her
and was supported by
royalties from her
grandfather’s writings.
Nina tried to make it as a
photographer, but failed,
and died of an drug
overdose in L.A. in 1966
when she was 55 years
old.
“I know now what the soldier feels when
a bullet crashes through his heart.”
— Mark Twain after his daughter Jean’s
death in 1909.
The End
“I came in with Halley’s
Comet in 1835…. I
expect to go out with
it.”
Mark Twain died in
1910.
Bibliography
Fishkin, Shelley Fisher. (1995) PBS’s Huck Finn
Teacher’s Guide.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/cultureshock/teachers/huck
/essay.htm
MacDonnell, Kevin. (2005) Collecting Mark Twain: A
History and Three New Paths. Antiquarian
Booksellers’ Association of America.
http://www.abaa.org/books/abaa/news_fly?code=53
Merriman C.D. (2006) Mark Twain.
http://www.online-literature.com/twain/
The Mark Twain House (2004). Mark Twain: The
Man.
http://www.marktwainhouse.org/theman/bio.shtml