Samuel Clemens was born on November 30‚ 1835 in Florida‚ Missouri‚ the sixth of seven children. At the age of 4‚ Sam and his family moved to the small frontier town of Hannibal‚ Missouri‚ on the banks of the Mississippi River.Missouri was also a slave state. Sam’s father owned one slave and his uncle owned several. In fact‚ it was on his uncle’s farm that Sam spent many boyhood summers playing in the slave quarters‚ listening to tall tales and the slave spirituals that he would enjoy throughout his life. In 1847‚ when Sam was 11‚ his father died. After father's death he left school‚ having completed the fifth grade‚ to work as a printer’s apprentice for a local newspaper. His job was to arrange the type for each of the newspaper’s stories‚ allowing Sam to read the news of the world while completing his work.
At 18‚ Sam headed east to New York City and Philadelphia‚ where he worked on several different newspapers and found some success at writing articles. By 1857‚ he had returned home to embark on a new career as a riverboat pilot on the Mississippi River. With the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, his pilot career came to an end. In search of a new career‚ Sam headed west in July of 1861‚ at the invitation of his brother‚ Orion‚ who had just been appointed Secretary of the Nevada Territory. Along the journey Sam encountered Native American tribes for the first time as well as a variety of unique characters‚ mishaps and disappointments. These events would find a way into his short stories and books‚ particularly Roughing It. After failing as a silver prospector‚ Sam began writing for the Territorial Enterprise‚ a Virginia City‚ Nevada‚ newspaper where he used‚ for the first time‚ his pen name‚ Mark Twain. Wanting a change by 1864‚ Sam headed for San Francisco where he continued to write for local papers. In 1865‚ Sam’s first “big break” came with the publication of his short story‚ “Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog ” in papers across the country.
A year later‚ Sam was hired by the Sacramento Unionto visit and report on the Sandwich Islands (now Hawaii). His writings were so popular that‚ upon his return‚ he embarked upon his first lecture tour‚ which established him as a successful stage performer. Hired by the Alta California to continue his travel writing from the east‚ Sam arrived in New York City in 1867. He quickly signed up for a steamship tour of Europe and the Holy Land. His travel letters‚ full of vivid descriptions and tongue-in-cheek observations‚ met with such audience approval that they were later reworked into his first book‚ The Innocents Abroad in 1869. It was also on this trip that Clemens met his future brother-in-law‚ Charles Langdon. Langdon reportedly showed Sam a picture of his sister‚ Olivia‚ and Sam fell in love at first sight.
After courting for two years‚ Sam Clemens and Olivia (Livy) Langdon were married in 1870. They settled in Buffalo‚ New York‚ where Sam had become a partner‚ editor and writer for the daily newspaper the Buffalo Express. While living in Buffalo‚ their first child‚ Langdon Clemens‚ was born. After their daughter Susy was born, Langdon died of two forms of Diphtheria. Although Sam enjoyed financial success during his Hartford years‚ he continually made bad investments in new inventions‚ which eventually brought him to bankruptcy. In an effort to economize and pay back his debts‚ Sam and Livy moved their family to Europe in 1891. When his publishing company failed in 1894‚ Sam was forced to set out on a worldwide lecture tour to earn money. In 1896‚ tragedy struck when Susy Clemens‚ at the age of 24‚ died from meningitis while on a visit to the Hartford home. Unable to return to the place of her death‚ the Clemenses never returned to Hartford to live.
In these later years‚ Sam’s writings turned dark. They began to focus on human greed‚ cruelty and questioned the humanity of the human race. His public appearances followed suit and included a harshly sarcastic public introduction of Winston Churchill in 1900. Even though Sam’s lecture tour had managed to get him out of debt‚ his anti-government writings and speeches threatened his livelihood once again. Labeled by some as a traitor‚ several of Sam’s works were never published during his lifetime either because magazines would not accept them or because of a personal fear that his marketable reputation would be ruined. In 1903‚ after living in New York City for three years‚ Livy became ill and Sam and his wife returned to Italy where she died a year later. After her death‚ Sam lived in New York until 1908 when he moved into his last house‚ “Stormfield”‚ in Redding‚ Connecticut. In 1909‚ his middle daughter Clara was married. In the same year Jean‚ the youngest daughter‚ died from an epileptic seizure. Four months later on April 21‚ 1910‚ Sam Clemens died at the age of 74.
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