“dear old W. is more wonderful”: Hill, Mark Twain: God’s Fool, p. 205.
Edith had married Wark: Family Search International Genealogical Index, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The wedding took place at 3:00 p.m. and was announced in The New York Times, October 11, 1903, p. 7. Edith Wark was born on September 12, 1875.
Will’s best man was Francis Rogers: Information about Wark’s groomsmen from Jim Leonard, grandnephew of Charles Wark, personal e-mail to the author, January 2, 2008.
The couple was blessed: January 11, 1909, torn-out page from date book, 1908–09 Box, VC. Information about Wark’s twins from Jim Leonard, personal e-mail to the author.
“Miss Clemens will give a reception”: “Mark Twain No More a Gay New Yorker,” The World, September 7, 1908.
“contradicted that & many things”: September 7, 1908, 1908 Daily Reminder, MTP.
“Miss Clemens … has been traveling”: “New York Loses Mark Twain,” New York Times, September 8, 1908.
“Mr. Littleton is submerged in the Thaw trial”: January 9, 1908, 1908 Daily Reminder, MTP.
In his brief after-dinner remarks: “Mark Twain Now After Compliments Says at Lotos Club Dinner He’s Collecting Them as Some Others Do Stamps,” New York Times, January 12, 1908.
On proud display at the Lotos Club: Paula Uruburu, American Eve: Evelyn Nesbit, Stanford White; The Birth of the “It” Girl and the Crime of the Century (New York: Riverhead Books, 2008), p. 59.
“are readier to wink at the horrors”: August 26, 1906, fragment in the 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
Printing excerpts from the letters: Hill, Mark Twain: God’s Fool, p. 202.
Twain’s reaction was to write: January 24, 1908, pages bundled together, 1908–09 Box, VC. 168 Also at Isabel’s urging: January 22, 1908, 1908 Daily Reminder, MTP.
“Paine could have killed me”: January 17, 1908, pages bundled together, 1908–09 Box, VC.
“lock the Ms. Trunk”: 1936 notes to Mr. Howe regarding 1908, 1908–09 Box, VC
“the red Ms. Trunk”: September 8, 1908, 1908 Daily Reminder, MTP.
“very beautiful”: September 7, 1908, 1908 Daily Reminder, MTP.
After spending a long weekend: September 17, 1907, 1908 Daily Reminder, MTP.
Rents for the suites: The Stuyvesant consisted of twin red-brick buildings side by side; five stories tall, boasting mansard roofs done in the French style. The ceilings in the apartments were high, and there were brass doorknobs, tin bathtubs in wooden holders, and wood-burning fireplaces. Steven S. Gaines, The Sky’s the Limit: Passion and Property in Manhattan (New York: Little, Brown, 2005); James Trager, The New York Chronology: A Compendium of Events, People, and Anecdotes from the Dutch to the Present (New York: HarperCollins, 2003).
Clara rented one: 1909 Financial Documents File, MTP.
Tenants’ needs were attended to: Lewis Randolph Hamersly, John William Leonard, William Frederick Mohr, Herman Warren Knox, and Frank R. Holmes, Who’s Who in New York City and State (New York: L. R. Hamersly Company, 1904), p. 337. The Whole Family was a novel consisting of twelve chapters, each by a different author. Jordan had invited Twain to contribute, and while he initially expressed interest in the project, he ultimately declined.
Clara moved into her new abode: October 6, 1908, 1908 Daily Reminder, MTP; Hill, Mark Twain: God’s Fool, p. 210.
“wonderful sleep in Santa’s little apartment”: October 7, 1908, 1908 Daily Reminder, MTP.
The day after the two men: “Burglars Invade Mark Twain Villa,” New York Times, September 19, 1908.
“she had supposed that her father”: October 30, 1908, loose page, 1908–09 Box, VC.
Although she called Isabel: October 26, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
“Very soon we got out”: December 8, 1906; JC Diary December 1, 1906–February 28, 1907, 53351 HL.
“I don’t in the least hope”: December 19, 1906, JC Diary December 1, 1906–February 28, 1907, 53351 HL.
“that what I do”: January 5, 1907, JC Diary December 1, 1906–February 28, 1907, 53351 HL.
“action was low”: January 18, 1907, JC Diary December 1, 1906–February 28, 1907, 53351 HL.
“cold & that her own idea”: January 5, 1907, JC Diary December 1, 1906–February 28, 1907, 53351 HL.
“in a Torrent of impossible moods”: January 10, 1907, Diary December 1, 1906–February 28, 1907, 53351 HL.
He did not return: May 21, 1907, 1907 Daily Reminder, MTP.
“Jean’s making out a bad case”: Entry about Jean in Twain’s handwriting May 31, 1907, IL Notebook #2, MTP.
“squelched the idea”: JC Diary 1907, Katonah, 53352 HL.
“Jean may or may not”: June 11, 1907, 1907 Daily Reminder, MTP.
“the place & the Great pathos”: October 27, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
On Christmas Day Clara was the only member: December 25, 1906, 1906 Daily Reminder #1, MTP.
Nevertheless, despite the awkward circumstances: March 25, 1907, 1907 Daily Reminder, MTP.
“distresse[d] beyond words”: July 22, 25, 30, and August 2, 5, 1907; JC Diary 1907, Katonah, 53352 HL.
“Poor Jean”: April 5, 1907, 1907 Daily Reminder, MTP.
Isabel then took another: June 12, 1907, 1907 Daily Reminder, MTP.
“Oh Terrible—Terrible”: October 2, 1907, 1907 Daily Reminder, MTP.
“the epileptic temperament rarely improved”: October 5, 1907, Notebook #4, MTP.
Dr. Peterson felt strongly: Lystra, Dangerous Intimacy, p. 112.
Her father’s Christmas present: Ibid., p. 115.
“When the dear Cowles girls”: February 16, 1908, Notebook #5, MTP.
Isabel telephoned Jean: December 25, 1907, JC Diary December 1, 1906–February 28, 1907, 53351 HL.
“Dr. Peterson is glad”: December 25, 1907, JC Diary 1907, Katonah, 53352 HL.
Considering what people were under treatment for: Jean’s leave-taking came just a few short weeks before one of her fellow patients was found dead in a well that was located on the property. Henry Harris Barnard, a New York lumber merchant, had spent two months at Hillbourne Farms under treatment for “nervous prostration” caused by business reverses. Apparently the discovery of Mr. Barnard’s body at the bottom of the well, half a mile from the sanitarium, generated a great many rumors. Dr. Sharp was quick to assure the inquiring New York Times reporter that Mr. Barnard had not committed suicide: “I am confident it was purely a case of accident. I think the man stumbled into the well.” Dr. Sharp’s explanation was somewhat at odds with that of the coroner, who stated that Mr. Barnard’s death was either accidental or “a case of suicide.” Accidental death was certainly the most socially acceptable explanation, and Mr. Barnard’s son, having been told by Dr. Sharp that his father had died of “exposure,” decided against any further investigation and the family let the matter drop. “Found Dead in Well,” New York Times, February 12, 1908.
She moved to Greenwich: Hill, Mark Twain: God’s Fool, p. 196.
“very very ill”: January 9, 1909, 1908 Daily Reminder, MTP.
“Enraged” that her father: February 16, 1908, Notebook #4, MTP.
The next day Jean suffered: January 10, 1908, 1908 Daily Reminder, MTP.
“criticized in Dublin”: January 19, 1908, 1908 Daily Reminder, MTP.
“We have been sore”: February 16, 1908, Notebook #4, MTP.
Peterson also thought: Lystra, Dangerous Intimacy, p. 126.
At the end of March 1908: March 31, 1908, Notebook #5, MTP.
“Now Father thinks”: JC to Nancy Brush, letter fragment [ca. July 1908], copy, MTP.
“Yesterday the news came”: August 1, 1908, MTP.
“pathetic & wan”: September 26, 1908, 1908 Daily Reminder, MTP.
In August, Josephine Hobby: Hobby was well compensated, receiving a constant $100 a month. (Hobby was paid twice as much as Isabel.) For her last month she was paid $25. Miss Howden’s compensation was much reduced to $35 a month. S
LC Holder No. 1 Accountants’ Statements and Schedules Accounts, MTP.
Isabel spent the remainder of the month: October 1, October 6, and October 8, 1908, 1908 Daily Reminder, MTP.
“that she cannot stay”: October 9, October 11, and October 19, 1908, 1908 Daily Reminder, MTP.
“for there has been no night”: October 20, 1908, 1908 Daily Reminder, MTP.
“There is such a confusion”: October 21, 1908, 1908 Daily Reminder, MTP.
“a great pink rose”: June 7, 1907, 1907 Daily Reminder, MTP.
Plasmon proved to be no exception: For a detailed explanation of Ashcroft and Twain’s involvement in Plasmon, see Hill, Mark Twain: God’s Fool, 101–4.
Ashcroft was thirty years old: Box 48, “Ashcroft-Lyon Manuscript,” MTP; DW’s notes found in IVL Notebook #1. Undated, handwritten document, evidently an interview DW conducted with Lyon; IL Miscellaneous Mark Twain Notes, MTP.
“third hand”: October 13, 1907, 1907 Daily Reminder, MTP.
Ashcroft claimed that Hammond had libeled him: “John Hays Hammond Sued,” New York Times, October 16, 1907.
“trying to reach the door”: January 16, 1908, fragment in the 1908 Daily Reminder, MTP.
“playing in a drunken haze”: January 17, 1908, 1908 Daily Reminder, MTP.
“he approved of my method of procedure”: January 24, 1908, 1908 Daily Reminder, MTP.
By June, Isabel had bestowed: The first mention by Isabel of “Benares” came on June 18, 1908, 1908 Daily Reminder, MTP. According to DW, ‘Bernar’ was also a nickname for Ashcroft—They called him ‘Bishop of Bernares.’ “Handwritten document by IL and DW, IL Miscellaneous Mark Twain Notes, MTP.
The name came from one: This was the only Kipling story in which Benares was cited and it was initially published as a newspaper article, between 1887 and 1888. The story was later included in a two-volume set entitled From Sea to Sea and Other Sketches, published in 1900, which Twain owned. Isabel likely first encountered the story in August 1906 after Twain asked her to read Kipling’s interview with him (the interview was published in the same volume as the short story). Gribben, Mark Twain’s Library, p. 378.
Benares, now known as Varanasi: Hindus come from all over India to walk down the ghats (steps) leading into the sacred Ganges to bathe and pray at sunrise. Devoted Hindus save all their lives so that when they die their bodies will be burned on a funeral pyre on the riverbank and their ashes dropped into the Ganges.
“Day broke over Benares”: Rudyard Kipling, “The Bride’s Progress,” From Sea to Sea and Other Sketches, vol. 11 (New York: Doubleday, 1941), p. 393.
“The King wandered out from dinner”: August 8, 1908, 1908 Daily Reminder, MTP.
“ruining [her] mentality”: July 26, 1908, 1908 Daily Reminder, MTP.
“fenacetine [the drug]”: July 26, 1908, 1908 Daily Reminder, MTP.
Isabel had probably told Paine: Twain conveniently blamed Phenacentin for Charles Webster’s death, rather than admitting his complicity. Hill, Mark Twain: God’s Fool, p. 202.
“nearly Paine had culled”: August 8, 1908, 1908 Daily Reminder, MTP.
“to courage me up”: October 15, 1908, 1908 Daily Reminder, MTP.
With this newfound support: October 6, 1908, 1908 Daily Reminder, MTP.
“In the late twilight”: October 18, 1908, 1908 Daily Reminder, MTP.
“gloom that misunderstandings frequently put”: October 21, 1908, 1908 Daily Reminder, MTP.
With the introduction of the electrified home: The first machine to be electrified was the sewing machine, followed by the fan, then the teakettle and the toaster, with the vibrator coming in fifth. The vacuum and the electric iron would not arrive until a decade later.
In the nineteenth century: Rachel P. Maines, The Technology of Orgasm: “Hysteria,” the Vibrator, and Women’s Sexual Satisfaction (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999).
“Relieves all Suffering”: Ibid., pp. 101–3.
“Snap, ginger, punch”: Advertisement copy from Popular Mechanics, ca. 1908, author’s personal collection.
“We had a most lovely evening”: October 21, 1908, 1908 Daily Reminder, MTP.
“I want Mr. Rogers to buy”: Leary, Mark Twain’s Correspondence with Henry Huttleston Rogers, p. 655.
Twain was so enthralled: Receipt for purchase of one set of batteries from the Arnold Electric Company, May 5, 1909, 1909 Financial Documents; “Ashcroft-Lyon Manuscript,” p. 1, Box 48, MTP.
As a faithful user: Maines, The Technology of Orgasm, xv. In the late 1860s Twain asked his good friend Frank Fuller to send him condoms: “Please forward one dozen Odorless Rubber Cundrums—I don’t mind them being odorless—I can supply the odor myself.” Harriet Elinor Smith and Richard Bucci, eds., Mark Twain’s Letters, vol. II: 1867–1868 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990), p. 240.
“misunderstandings fired”: October 26, 1908, 1908 Daily Reminder, MTP.
“Dear Mrs. Furnas”: SLC to Mrs. Furnas (letter copied by IL), October 28, 1908, loose page, 1908–09 Box, VC.
“‘That is good!’”: Marginalia on copy of a letter Isabel wrote for Twain, October 28, 1908, loose page, 1908–09 Box, VC.
Yet, despite his warning: October 26, 1908, 1908 Daily Reminder, MTP.
“trying and terrible”: November 11, 1908, 1908 Daily Reminder, MTP.
“true and lawful attorneys”: Exhibit A, “Ashcroft-Lyon Manuscript,” Box 48, MTP; Twain would revoke this power of attorney nearly seven months later (see Hill, Mark Twain: God’s Fool, p. 213).
His actions were also influenced: “Aid for Harte’s Daughter. Miss Rob-son Sends Money and Will Give a Benefit,” New York Times, January 30, 1907: “Mark Twain wrote: I feel that the American people owe a debt of gratitude to Bret Harte, for not only did he paint such pictures of California as delighted the heart, but there was such an infinite tenderness, such sympathy, such strength, and such merit in his work that he commanded the attention of the world to our country, and his daughter is surely deserving of our sympathy. It was learned yesterday that the publishers of Bret Harte’s works have in their possession and in their own right, all the copyrights to the Harte works and that Mr. Harte never at any time had an agreement with them upon a royalty basis. He got $10,000 a year, and never would listen to a royalty arrangement.”
“very nervous, very worried”: October 30, 1908, loose page, 1908–09 Box, VC.
“two daughters Clara L. and Jean L. Clemens”: “Mark Twain a Corporation,” Washington Post, December 25, 1908, p. 6.
The Washington Post reported: The Mark Twain Company would be subsumed under the name of the Mark Twain Foundation in 1978. The Mark Twain Foundation, through its co-trustee Richard A. Watson, is a perpetual charitable trust located in New York City, which possesses the publication rights to all of Mark Twain’s writings unpublished at his death. The income from the Mark Twain Foundation is to be used for, among other things, “enabling mankind to appreciate and enjoy the works of Mark Twain.” All copyrights on Twain’s works are held by Richard A. Watson and JPMorgan Chase Bank as Trustees of the Mark Twain Foundation.
“The knowledge that the copyright”: “Mark Twain Turns Into a Corporation. The Pen Name Is Incorporated to Save Daughters from Literary Pirates. Family Holds the Stock. With the Expiration of His Copyrights the New Company Will Control All His Works,” New York Times, December 24, 1908.
During his lifetime, the image and pseudonym Mark Twain:
Twain’s influence has not been limited to his career as a writer. His status as a celebrity had a profound cultural impact during his lifetime and his popular image has evolved ever since. Many people don’t know Twain through his writings, but instead have a notion of his place in American cultural life based solely on his image and perhaps a few dubious quotations. Twain’s name and image were used in the market place from the very beginnings of his literary career in the 1860s until his death in 1910, sometimes with his permission, and much more often without his knowledge. And
after his death, his name and image were used to promote products and causes in new and even more distorted ways. …
The game of Authors was a popular card game, first manufactured in 1861, and has been produced in more than 200 different versions since. By 1869, Twain was being included in decks. …
Twain was widely associated with cigar-smoking, and cigar makers found it profitable to use his image and name. …
Twain was known for his wide travels, which made his image especially useful to those in the travel industry. Oldsmobile used [a] picture postcard of Twain to advertise their motor cars in 1906, and Pullman used Twain to advertise its new passenger train car in 1904. Riding the car with Twain were Theodore Roosevelt, Thomas Edison, and others. …
Mark Twain Flour was introduced in 1900, just two years after this company began milling flour. …
Mark Twain attended many dinners, especially toward the end of his life, and was famous for his after-dinner speeches, so food makers felt entitled to his name. …
Visitors to historical sites associated with Twain could send postcards to their friends. …
Early visitors to Hannibal could buy Wheelock China plates and sweet dishes (1902–1915) and sterling silver spoons.
Kevin Mac Donnell, “Mark Twain Collectibles”: http://etext.virginia.edu/railton/sc_as_mt/merchandiz/macdonnell.html. In 1872 Twain patented his “Mark Twain’s Patent Scrapbook,” which was the only one of his inventions that turned a profit.
“problem native to their constitution”: Joshua Wolf Shenk, Lincoln’s Melancholy: How Depression Challenged a President and Fueled His Greatness (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2005), pp. 74–76.
“The opportunity to get rich”: Scott A. Sandage, Born Losers: A History of Failure in America (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2005), pp. 4–5.
His brother Orion: Rasmussen, Mark Twain A–Z, pp. 81–82.
“I shall never look”: Edgar Marquess Branch, Michael B. Frank, and Kenneth M. Sanderson, eds., Mark Twain’s Letters, vol. I: 1853–1856 (Berkeley: Univerisity of California Press, 1988), p. 195.
“striving for success”: Sandage, Born Losers, p. 5.
Twain’s method of thwarting: Leary, Mark Twain’s Correspondence with Henry Huttleston Rogers, pp. 11, 23.
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