Clara “was not a good singer”: Russell McLauchlin was the music and drama critic for The Detroit News until his retirement in 1955. About the quality of Clara’s singing, McLauchlin recounted, “In the long years of Ossip Gabrilowitsch’s incumbency with the Detroit Symphony, the wife of his bosom was occasionally presented as soloist, not at the weekend pop’ but to the stately audience of subscribers. What domestic pressures fruited into those events, I cannot say. All I can say is that they were exceedingly tough on the working press. Mrs. Gabrilowitsch, who was always billed as ‘Mme. CC,’ was not a good singer.” McLauchlin, O.G. the Incomparable: Memoires of Ossip Gabrilowitsch (A Keepsake Edition, Beverly, Mass. June 2002); the full text is available on www.twainweb.net.
“strongly individual”: December 24, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
In any case, potential patrons: IL to HW, March 8, 1904, MTM.
“My brain is so brittle”: December 1, 1905, 1905 Daily Reminder #2, MTP.
When Teresa Cherubini: February 6, 1906, and February 11, 1906, Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
“against the doctor’s advice”: Hill, Mark Twain: God’s Fool, 123.
Isabel carefully charted:
May 3, 1905
May 1, 1905
May 7, 1905
June 15, 1905
July 4, 1905
August 12, 1905 3 attacks
September 12, 1905 Jean—Bathroom—10 a.m.
October 14, 1905 Jean—Study—9:30—
October 20, 1905 Jean—10.30—Bed. 5—PM—Bed—unusually long and severe—Jean is in bad shape. Her malady seems to be increasing in violence—
November 14, 1905 Jean 9.30
November 20, 1905 Jean—9:30–3 Times
November 26, 1905 Jean. 3 p.m. 8 p.m: Katy
December 14, 1905 Jean—9.30
December 25, 1905 Jean ill all day—no climax
January 1, 1906 Jean—11–1.20–7 p.m. very severe
January 5, 1906 Jean is not well—Not only has her malady increased—but her whole physical condition is at a low ebb.
January 22, 1906 Jean ill—9—or 8.50—burned on the hot radiator.
These are various entry dates from the 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
“not any too clearheaded”: May 5, 1906, JC Diary April 30–July 21, 1906, 53348 HL.
About half of the children: “Petit Mal Seizure,” www.mayoclinic.com.
“one at 11.30”: August 12, 1905, 1905 Daily Reminder #2, MTP.
Recent research, however: S. J. Logsdail and B. K. Toone. “Postictal Psychoses: A Clinical and Phenomenological Description,” British Journal of Psychiatry 152 (1988): 246–52.
Psychosis usually develops: Ibid., p. 251.
“the most common of the episodic epilepsy-related psychoses”: C. Christodoulou, M. Koutroumanidis, M. J. Hennessy, R. D. C. Elwes, C. E. Polkey, B. K. Toone, “Postictal Psychosis After Temporal Lobectomy,” Neurology 59 (2002): 1432–35.
According to Dr. John Milton: John Milton, William Rand Kenan, Jr., Professor in Computational Neuroscience at the Claremont Colleges, Personal correspondence, September 8, 2004.
“confusion, visual and auditory”: O. Devinsky, H. Abramson, K. Alper, L. S. FitzGerald, K. Perrine, J. Calderon, D. Luciano, “Postictal Psychosis: A Case Control Series of 20 Patients and 150 Controls,” Epilepsy Research 20 (1995): 247–53.
Jean’s medical history: I shared the record that IL kept of Jean’s attacks with John Milton and with Peter C. Whybrow, M.D., director of the Semel Institute of the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Science at UCLA. Both concur that Jean’s aggressive behavior was the result of a psychotic state (i.e. postictal psychosis) directly linked to her epilepsy.
In Isabel’s papers, there are two mentions: There is also a handwritten note by SW included in the unpublished Webster manuscript referring to the attack: “This … refers to an attack on the maid, Katy … Leary, that Miss Lyon told me about. S.C.W.” January 5, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
“Jean. 3–pm 8 pm Katy”: November 26, 1905, 1905 Daily Reminder #2, MTP.
In her cryptic fashion:
The Fly (William Blake 1794)
Little Fly
Thy summer’s play,
My thoughtless hand
Has brush’d away.
Am not I
A fly like thee?
Or art not thou
A man like me?
For I dance
And drink & sing;
Till some blind hand
Shall brush my wing.
If thought is life
And strength & breath;
And the want of thought is death;
Then am I
A happy fly,
If I live,
Or if I die.
“Not only has her malady increased”: January 5, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
“never to let Jean get between”: November 26, 1905, SW, Webster Manuscript, MTP.
In a victory for Clara: November 2, 1905, 1905 Daily Reminder #2, MTP.
“full and sole authority”: Mark Twain: God’s Fool, Hill, pp. 116–17.
“Mary the good little cook”: November 8, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP
“After this I’ll do my own dirty work”: Webster Interview, 1953, VC.
“sat in pew 16”: September 2, 1905, 1905 Daily Reminder #2, MTP.
“would be glad if I would go”: December 4, 1905, 1905 Daily Reminder #2, MTP.
“That was the reason why”: December 5, 1905, 1905 Daily Reminder #2, MTP.
“the most notable festive occasion”: Budd, Our Mark Twain, p. 192.
The banquet lasted: Ibid.
“I wish it were in my power”: “Celebrate Mark Twain’s Seventieth Birthday,” New York Times, December 6, 1905.
Twain’s speech was so well received: Budd, Our Mark Twain, p. 193.
“They were not present”: “Celebrate Mark Twain’s Seventieth Birthday,” December 6, 1905.
“Col. Harvey is being much criticised”: January 18, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
“mooned about”: January 3–4, 1908, 1908 Daily Reminder, MTP.
“Not that I don’t like the ones”: Webster Interview, 1953, VC.
“living as I am”: March 22, 1908, 1908 Daily Reminder, MTP.
“It is almost as stupid”: Alan Gribben, Mark Twain’s Library: A Reconstruction (Boston: G. K. Hall, 1980), p. 758.
“tears mingled”: December 15, 1905, 1905 Daily Reminder #2, MTP.
“from Mr. Clemens”: December 25, 1905, 1905 Daily Reminder #2, MTP.
“too much responsibility”: Hill, Mark Twain: God’s Fool, p. 116.
“Mr. Clemens found”: November 28, 1905, 1905 Daily Reminder #2, MTP.
“Mr. Clemens’s 70th birthday”: November 30, 1905, 1905 Daily Reminder #2, MTP.
“Such an impulsive man he is”: January 5, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
“that there isn’t much chance”: December 17, 1905, 1905 Daily Reminder #2, MTP.
“It was a delight”: December 18, 1905, 1905 Daily Reminder #2, MTP.
“I was so excited”: January 22, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
When they visited the bedridden Jean: January 24, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
“it had always been his dream”: January 9, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
In an odd coincidence: February 25, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder # 1, MTP.
Paine visited Twain: January 6, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
“collecting of the many notes”: IL, Annotated copy of Mark Twain’s Autobiography (1924), p. xxii; File, MTP.
“Columbia graphophonic”: January 6, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
“his wonderful rising color”: January 9, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
“enchanting & an inspiration”: January 12, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
“he drifted into the Biography chat”: January 14, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
A man can’t tell the truth”: September 10, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
“Who speaks of Care”: January 16, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
At his daughters’ expense: Hill, Mark Twain: God’s Fool, pp. 121–22.
“Jean—11–1.20”: 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
“Jean is not well”: January 5, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
“marked and varied mood changes”: C. Christodoulou et al., “Postictal Psychosis After Temporal Lobectomy,” pp. 1432–35.
“But oh a disturbing element”: January 13, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
“full of pretty women”: January 30, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
“This was a tragic day”: January 27, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
“how at times she was really dangerous”: Webster Interview 1948; IL Miscellaneous Mark Twain Notes, MTP.
The next day, January 28: January 28, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
Susan Crane, Olivia Clemens’s older sister: IL actually gave two dates for Susan Crane’s arrival. In her entry for January 31, she wrote: “Mrs. Crane arrived this afternoon.” The next sentence is crossed out: “Two or three days ago.” Susan Crane could have arrived as early as January 28. 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
“I had a very plain talk”: February 1, 1906 [printed date], February 2, 1906 [entry date], 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
“pair of ratty old daylight pants”: February 2, 1906, Notebook #5, MTP.
“keeps away from anything”: April 9, 1906, Notebook #1, MTP.
“who is going to have charge”: February 5, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
Peterson was forty-seven years old: E. J. Fine, D. L. Fine, L. Sentz, and E. D. Soria, “Contributions of the Founders of Craig Colony to Epileptology and Public Care of Epileptics: 1890–1915,” Journal of the History of Neuroscience 4 (1995): 77–100.
He served as chairman: Derek Denny-Brown, “Presidents of the Second Fifty Years,” Centennial Anniversary Volume of the American Neurological Association, 1875–1975 (New York: Springer Publishing Company, 1975), pp. 164–67.
Peterson was appointed president: “Contributions of the Founders of Craig Colony,” p. 78.
In his chapter “Epilepsy”: Peterson, Nervous and Mental Disorders, p. 639.
“All these days”: February 9, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
“As I grow older”: February 10, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
“Mr. Clemens he suggested”: February 24, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
“Lakewood, very bad day”: March 25, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
“quite pale”: March 27, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
“This is the wretched day”: March 24, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
An astounding thirty thousand copies: Cynthia Griffin Wolff, introduction to Edith Wharton, The House of Mirth (New York: Penguin, 1985), p. vii.
“Perhaps I’m discouraged”: March 18, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
Isabel, like others in Wharton’s reading audience: March 18, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
thirty-year-old Charlotte Teller Johnson: Charlotte was once married to Frank Minitree Johnson, a Washington, D.C., civil engineer.
“her revolutionary tribe”: Also present were Tschaykoffshi, Robert Collier, Nikolas Burenin, Arthur Brisbane, David Graham Phillips, Robert Hunter, Ernest Poole, Dr. Walter Weyl, Leroy M. Scott, and Howard Brubaker.
“13—such a hellish superstition it is”: April 11, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
“paid me damn compliments”: April 17, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
“calamity for me”: May 5, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
“[Crossed out: I am sitting here”: May 6, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
The two discussed their various writing projects: April 13, 1906, Berg Collection, NYPL.
“twenty-five or twenty-seven years ago”: Mark Twain, What Is Man?, ed. Shelley Fisher Fishkin, Oxford Mark Twain (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996).
“not a ‘perfect setting’”: Paine, Autobiography, p. xiii; File IL’s annotated copy, MTP.
When one reads the tally: K. Patrick Ober, Mark Twain and Medicine (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2003), p. 157.
“petit-mals … fearfully long”: May 4, 1906, JC Diary April 30–July 21, 1906, 53348 HL.
“My memory about where the various friends”: May 3, 1906, JC Diary April 30–July 21, 1906, 53348 HL.
“little short touches of absentmindedness”: May 1, 3, 4, 5, 14, 15, 1906, JC Diary April 30–July 21, 1906, 53348 HL.
“As soon as I wakened”: May 4, 1906, JC Diary April 30–July 21, 1906, 53348 HL.
“mental and nervous improvement”: June 23, 1906, MTP.
“Why must I live on aimlessly”: JC Diary April 30–July 21, 1906, 53348 HL.
“Two years!”: JC Diary April 30–July 21, 1906, 53348 HL.
“What can I do?”: October 6, 1906, JC Diary September 12–November 30, 1906, 53350 HL.
“I think it was a glory of a thing”: March 3, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
“Jean’s insolences”: June 10, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
While Jean and Isabel enjoyed: September 28, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
“In Jean’s present condition”: September 29, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
“I cast my thoughts toward the ones”: July 5, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
“take hold of the condition mentally”: October 3, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
“I have seen it only three times”: Leary, Mark Twain’s Correspondence with Henry Huttleston Rogers, pp. 489–90.
Jean had a distinctive cry: CC to Julia Langdon, January 23, 1910, MTP.
Usually people who experience grand mal seizures: The Merck Manual, Home Edition, chapter 73: “Seizure Disorders.”
the House of Mirth: Paine, Autobiography; annotated copy, p. xiii, MTP.
“went to pieces”: September 24, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
“waiting for the electric lights to go out”: June 9, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
The Clemens family, with their host of illnesses: The mixing of alcohol and chloral hydrate was contemporaneously known as a Mickey Finn.
“[Crossed out: I have to sleep on Bromidia”: June 12, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
“he is overflowing”: May 31, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
“Now I’m not sure”: October 5, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
“his disgust at those who worship”: June 3, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
“discussion of the Immaculate Conception”: June 20, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
“After a talk like the ones he gives me”: March, 11, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
“48 years ago”: May 26, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
“My soul is not moored”: September 9, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
Amused by the scarlet stockings: September 7, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
“gaudy things”: December 27, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
“his Suitable white clothes”: October 8, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
“Darlingly he cocked his head”: February 12, 1908, 1908 Daily Reminder, MTP
“on a mossy bank”: October, 8, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
By the fall of 1906: Budd, Our Mark Twain, p. 207.
“often went off on R[oger]’s boat”: DW, undated, handwritten document, IL Miscellaneous Mark Twain Notes, MTP.
“I’ve just been cutting the King’s hair”: August 25, 1908, 1908 Daily Reminder, MTP.
“& rubbed his damp hair”: January 20, 1907, fragment in the 1907 Daily Reminder, MTP.
“[Crossed out: I didn’t think he would want it”: March 19, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
“But in the after
noon AB”: September 28, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
“Old Fraud”: June 28, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
“That is our ritual”: August 6, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
“if I am good”: August 6, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
In August, Isabel traveled: August 13, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
“the most polished of young creatures”: October 29, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
At that moment Isabel believed: August 14, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
This meant that Clara and Jean: December 29, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
Financing would come from his $30,000 agreement: January 12, 1907, 1907 Daily Reminder, MTP.
“He won’t allow himself: April 9, 1907, 1907 Daily Reminder, MTP.
“is the possessor of a rich contralto voice”: “Miss Clemens in Concert. Mark Twain Makes a Speech at His Daughter’s Debut,” New York Times, September 23, 1906.
She refused: Hill, Mark Twain: God’s Fool, p. 147.
“Katonah plan”: October 18, 1906; JC Diary April 30–July 21, 1906, 53348 HL.
While the trip north was brief: October 22, 1906, JC Diary September 12–November 30, 1906, HL.
Hillbourne Farms was located: From roughly 1905 to 1944, Hillbourne Farms, later known as Hillbourne Club, was a sanitarium specializing in the treatment of epilepsy. Dr. E. A. Sharp created the institution around 1905 on farmland that he had purchased the previous year. By 1910, Dr. Armstrong had replaced Dr. Sharp as the resident doctor and director of Hillbourne. It was around this time that the name changed to Hillbourne Club. In 1944, Dr. Armstrong died. Two years later, Hillbourne morphed into a “vacation resort” under the management of Mr. Herman Bain. Shell Oil used the facility, which then included a “lodge house and three guest houses,” for training seminars (“Shell Oil School in Sylvan Setting,” New York Times, February 10, 1947). When it was sold, two years later, as a “resort-hotel property on Rte 22,” the former Hillbourne property included “three hotel buildings, [a] swimming pool, tennis court, ski run, bowling alleys, gymnasium and stables” (“Resort Hotel Sold,” New York Times, May 10, 1949). In 1951, the main two houses on the property, then known as Idlewood Hotel, burned. Two years later Idlewood Holding Corporation sold the land and remaining buildings to the American Legion, post 1575. The American Legion moved to the site in 1956 and opened the swimming and wading pools for use by area residents. In the late 1980s, a portion of the property was sold to establish the Katonah Museum of Art. The art museum and the American Legion still occupy the site. Christina Rae, assistant to the Bedford Town Historian, personal correspondence with the author, July 17, 2006; Frances R. Duncombe, Katonah: The History of a New York Village and Its People (Katonah, N.Y.: Katonah Village Improvement Society, 1961), p. 477; “Hillbourne Club a Private Health Resort,” Undated pamphlet, 1910 (Town of Bedford, Office of Town Historian).
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