19 March 1872 • (1st of 2) • Elmira, N.Y. (MS: CU-MARK, UCCL 00734)
Born, in Elmira, N. Y., at 4.25 AM March 19, 1872, to the wife of Saml. L. Clemens, of Hartford, Conn., a daughter. Mother & child doing exceedingly well. Five-pounder.1explanatory note
In witness whereof, &c,
Orion Clemens Esq | 54 College street | Hartford | Conn on the flap: l postmarked: elmira n y. mar 19
Olivia Susan (Susy) Clemens was named for her grandmother, Olivia Lewis Langdon, and her aunt, Susan Langdon Crane. Like her brother, she seems to have been somewhat premature: the Twichells were “taken aback by the sudden news of the nativity at Elmira” (19–22 Mar 72 to the Twichells, n. 1click to open link; SLC 1876–85, 2). Among the first friends notified of the birth were Abel and Mary Mason Fairbanks, who—with their fifteen-year-old daughter, Mary (Mollie)—were at the St. Nicholas Hotel in New York City on 20 March, perhaps having just traveled from Cleveland in response to a telegram from Clemens. (If so, their detour to New York City added about sixteen hours of rail travel to their journey.) In any case, they arrived at the Langdon home soon after 20 March and stayed for several days, returning to New York by 26 March. Clemens did not immediately make a public announcement of the birth, as he had for Langdon in November 1870—somewhat to his regret, because of Langdon’s precarious health (“Morning Arrivals,” New York Evening Express, 20 Mar 72 and 26 Mar 72, 3; L4 , 227–28, 235–36, 238). Nonetheless, the news found its way into the press. The earliest notice that has been found appeared in the Buffalo Courier on 29 March: “This birth is recorded in a New York paper: Clemens—In Elmira, N. Y., March 10, a daughter to the wife of Mark Twain, the humorist. Weight, ten pounds” (“Personal,” 1). The “New York paper” has not been identified. The Hartford correspondent of the Boston Globe also reported, in a dispatch dated 30 March, “Mark Twain’s last, is a daughter about two weeks old” (“Connecticut,” 2). These items were then picked up by a number of western papers (for example: “Mrs. Mark Twain . . . ,” Salt Lake City Deseret Evening News, 10 Apr 72, 4; “Personals,” San Francisco Chronicle, 11 Apr 72, 1; “Personal,” San Francisco Evening Bulletin, 13 Apr 72, 4; “Mark Twain’s last . . . ,” Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 14 Apr 72, 3; “Miscellaneous Items,” Sacramento Union, 20 Apr 72, 8).
The bottom quarter of the page has been cut away, possibly because it contained some personal message to Orion.
MS, Mark Twain Papers, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley (CU-MARK).
L5 , 59–60.
see Mark Twain Papers in Description of Provenance.
More information on provenance may be found in Description of Provenanceclick to open link.