I lectured here to-nightⒶemendation—& have lately lectured in several Michigan towns, & in Akron, Ohio, Fort Wayne, Ind.,
Indianapolis, Rockford, Monmouth, Galesburg, Chicago, Peoria, Decatur, & Ottawa, Ill—& a lecture every night—& now have to talk in Iowa City, Sparta, Wis., Toledo, Ohio,
Norwalk, Cleveland, & a lot of places in Illinois, Michigan, & New York City & New
York State, & am getting awfully tired of it.1explanatory note I spend about half as much money as I make, I think, though I have managed to save
about a thousand dollars, so far—don't think I shall save more than a thousand more.2explanatory note
One of Mrs. Pavey's daughters (she married a doctor & is living in an Illinois town
& has sons larger than I am,) was in the audience at Peoria. Had a long talk with
her. She came many miles to be there.3explanatory note Saw a nephew of Tom Collins in Decatur.4explanatory note
The Societies all want to engage me to lecture for them next year, but I can’t promise—I don’t want to lecture any more. I want to get at something else.Ⓐemendation
portion of MS page missing (about 65 words—17 of them now restored from Paine transcript)
That is all of the private.5explanatory note Had a letter from Miss Lou Conrad the other day—was near where she lives, but had
not time to go there.6explanatory note
What do you think of Norwich, N.Y., for a home? I think it will exactly suit you. You can run to New York or visit the sea-side whenever you please, from
there.7explanatory note
No, you can't board & lodge in New York City in any sort of respectable & comfortable
style for less than $25 to $35 a week apiece.
In the spring go yourself, or send Orion8explanatory note—or both of you go—to Norwich, & you will rent or buy a house & be delighted. I only
wish I could live there. IⒶemendation am to lecture every night till Feb. 2. Shall be in Cleveland, Ohio, one day only—Jan. 22.
Affectionately
Sam.
Love to all.
Textual Commentary
Source text(s):
MS, Jean Webster McKinney Papers, Special Collections, NPV, and transcript made for Albert Bigelow Paine (Tr), CU-MARK. The surviving MS now consists of about three and one-third leaves, inscribed on
the rectos only. Pages 1, 2 (‘Private . . . but I can't’), and 4 (‘home? . . . Love
to all.’) survive intact, but a portion of page 3 (preceding ‘That is all . . . N.Y.,
for a’) was cut off, probably by Pamela Moffett, and does not survive. When the MS
was transcribed for Albert Bigelow Paine, however, more of the page did survive, and
the text is emended to include seventeen words that are part of the transcription
but no longer part of the MS.
2 Between 17 November 1868, when his tour began, and the date of this letter, Clemens’s
gross earnings were at least $2,300. He earned a fee of $100 for each performance,
but evidently paid his own travel, lodging, and meal costs. As befitted a newcomer
to the field, his normal fee was half that of some of his competitors, such as Petroleum
Vesuvius Nasby (20 and 21 Jan 1869 to OLLclick to open letter, n. 1; L2, 246, 282, 294).
3 Jesse H. Pavey (1798?–1853), a brutal Hannibal tavern keeper during Clemens’s youth,
and his wife, Catharine (b. 1800?), had a large family that included at least seven
daughters. Clemens’s visitor might have been any one of four of them—Julia, Sarah,
Fanny, or Susan. In 1897, in “Villagers of 1840–3,” he identified her as “Mrs. Strong.”
The Paveys had left Hannibal for St. Louis by mid-1850. In 1855, while working in
St. Louis as a printer, Clemens boarded with the widowed Catharine Pavey (for his
recollections of this family, see Inds, 98–99, 340–41).
4 Thomas K. Collins (1822–85), a dry goods merchant, was one of Hannibal’s foremost
businessmen (Inds, 94, 102, 315). His nephew has not been identified.
5 Pamela must have torn away the top two-thirds of this page, which presumably contained
Clemens’s progress report on his courtship, even before passing the letter on to other
members of the family in St. Louis. She thereby complied with his November 1868 request
for strict confidentiality—“I make no exceptions” (L2, 295).
7 Clemens repeated his previous recommendation (of 24 December) that his sister move
with her family to Norwich, in Chenango County, New York, approximately 140 miles
from New York City (L2, 326–27, 348). She now lived with her mother, two children, and the family’s German
maid, Margaret, at 1312 Chesnut Street in St. Louis, where she also took in boarders.
The family remained at that address until May 1869, the first of several moves within
St. Louis. In April 1870, they moved to Fredonia, in westernmost New York, close to
Lake Erie and about forty miles from Clemens’s Buffalo home (11 May 1869 to JLCclick to open letter; 1 Apr 1870 to Jervis and Olivia Lewis Langdonclick to open letter, TS in CU-MARK; 21 Apr 1870 to OCclick to open letter, CU-MARK; Edwards 1868, 537, 953; Edwards 1869, 569; MTBus, 47, 103, 112).
8 Orion and Mollie Clemens apparently lived in St. Louis throughout 1869 (with Mollie
sometimes visiting her parents in Keokuk, Iowa). It is not known whether they were
currently living with Pamela.
Emendations and Textual Notes
Adopted readings followed by ‘(MTP)’ are editorial emendations of the source readings.
Ⓐ Davenport . . . 14. • a vertical brace spans the right margin of the place and date lines
MS, Jean Webster McKinney Papers, Special Collections, NPV, and transcript made for Albert Bigelow Paine (Tr), CU-MARK. The surviving MS now consists of about three and one-third leaves, inscribed on the rectos only. Pages 1, 2 (‘Private . . . but I can't’), and 4 (‘home? . . . Love to all.’) survive intact, but a portion of page 3 (preceding ‘That is all . . . N.Y., for a’) was cut off, probably by Pamela Moffett, and does not survive. When the MS was transcribed for Albert Bigelow Paine, however, more of the page did survive, and the text is emended to include seventeen words that are part of the transcription but no longer part of the MS.
MTBus, 103–4, partial publication; L3, 43–44, partial publication.
See McKinney Family Papers and Paine Transcriptsclick to open letter in Description of Provenanceclick to open letter.