Autobiography of Mark Twain (151 page)

314.22–23 the Cid, and Great-heart, and Sir Galahad, and Bayard the Spotless] These paragons of virtue are drawn variously from legend, literature, and history. The Cid, Rodrigo Diaz de Bivar (ca. 1030–99), is Spain’s great hero of medieval romance; Great-heart is from Part Two of Bunyan’s
The Pilgrim’s Progress
(1678); Sir Galahad, in Arthurian legend, is the knight whose purity enables him to attain the Holy Grail; Bayard the Spotless is French knight Pierre du Terrail (1475–1524).

314.35 The preacher who casts a vote for conscience’ sake, runs the risk of starving] Clemens expands on this comment in the Autobiographical Dictations of 24 January and 1 February 1906.

314.38–315.1 Mr. Beecher may be charged with a
crime
. . . stand by him to the bitter end] In 1872 Henry Ward Beecher, the world-famous preacher of Plymouth Church in Brooklyn, was accused of committing adultery with Elizabeth Tilton, one of his parishioners. In August 1874 Beecher was officially exonerated by a church council, whose verdict was strongly approved by the parishioners. That same month, Theodore Tilton sued Beecher for alienation of affections; the trial ended in a hung jury in 1875 (29? July 1874 to Twichell, n. 2,
L6
, 202–3; Applegate 2006, 440–42).

314
footnote
Blaine] James G. Blaine (1830–93), the Republican presidential candidate in 1884, was accused by many, including some in his own party, of graft during his terms as congressman. Clemens joined with the faction of Republicans (the “mugwumps”) who repudiated Blaine and pledged to vote for Grover Cleveland, or another candidate, in protest. Their objections to Blaine are set forth in the public letter “To the Republican Voters of Connecticut,” which was signed by some one hundred Connecticut Republicans, including Clemens and Twichell (“Connecticut Independents,” New York
Times
, 13 Oct 1884, 1;
N&J3
, 77–78 n. 39; see AD, 24 Jan 1906).

314
footnote
Hammond Trumbull] See the Autobiographical Dictation of 12 January 1906, note at 272.31–32.

315.1–2 but who so poor to be his friend . . . a vote for conscience’ sake] In 1884 Beecher, formerly a staunch Republican, declared he could not vote for Blaine, and campaigned for
Cleveland, despite the revelation that Cleveland had fathered an illegitimate child. Beecher’s support of Cleveland—and the suspicion it engendered that he felt for Cleveland as a fellow adulterer—earned him public mockery and private threats (Chicago
Tribune:
“Campaign Chronicles,” 30 Sept 1884, 2; “Beecher’s Support of Cleveland,” 20 Oct 1884, 7; Beecher and Scoville 1888, 576–81; Applegate 2006, 462–64).

315.2 Take the editor so charged] Clemens apparently alludes to Charles Dudley Warner, who was editor and part owner of the Hartford
Courant
(see AD, 24 Jan 1906, and note at 317.35–40).

315.14 this old article] That is, “The Character of Man” (AD, 23 Jan 1906).

315.23–24 father of the William R. Hearst of to-day, and therefore grandfather of Yellow Journalism] George Hearst (1820–91) was born into a family of farmers in Franklin County, Missouri. He migrated West with the Gold Rush and by the 1860s owned several silver and copper mines, which he would develop into a colossal mining empire. In 1886 he was appointed to the seat vacated by the death of California Senator John Miller, and was subsequently elected for a full term. In 1880 he acquired the San Francisco
Examiner
, chiefly for the propagation of his political opinions and ambitions; his son William Randolph Hearst (1863–1951) made it the cornerstone of a newspaper empire whose publications were frequently criticized as sensationalist and irresponsible. On Clemens’s attitude toward “yellow journalism,” see Budd 1981.

316.13–14 Sam Dunham . . . Edward M. Bunce] Samuel G. Dunham (b. 1849), brother of Austin Dunham, was a Hartford wool merchant at the time of Blaine’s nomination, and later vice-president of the Hartford Electric Light Company and a director of the Aetna Life Insurance Company (Dunham 1907, 38–39; Geer 1882, 65). Like Ned Bunce, he played billiards regularly at Clemens’s house. Bunce (1841–98), also of a prominent Hartford family, was for many years a cashier at the Phoenix National Bank and a director of the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company (
N&J2
, 382 n. 76, 426 n. 229; “Edward M. Bunce,” Hartford
Courant
, 22 Nov 1898, 5). He was a close friend of the Clemens family; after his early death, Clemens wrote, “Ned was nearer & dearer to the children than was any other person not of the blood” (2 Dec 1898 to Bunce, CtHMTH).

316.17 George] George Griffin.

317.23–24 General Hawley, the editor-in-chief . . . of the paper . . . his post in Congress] In addition to being editor and part owner of the Hartford
Courant
, Joseph Roswell Hawley (1826–1905) was a lawyer, antislavery crusader, founder of the Connecticut Republican party, Civil War veteran (retired as a brevet major-general), and, briefly, governor of Connecticut (1866). At the time of Blaine’s nomination he was a U.S. senator (13 and 14 Feb 1869 to OLL,
L3
, 97 n. 5).

317.33 Charles Hopkins Clark’s editorship] Clark (1848–1926) became editor-in-chief in 1900; he had been on the editorial staff since 1871, the year he graduated from Yale (29 Apr 1875 to Holland,
L6
, 471 n. 2).

317.35–40 Charles Dudley Warner . . . election day] Clemens was in error: Warner neither refused to toe the
Courant’s
party line nor resigned as editor. In an 1884 letter Clemens chastised Warner, along with others, for concealing his private reservations: “Even
I
do not loathe Blaine more than they do; yet Hawley is howling for Blaine, Warner & Clark are eating their daily crow in the paper for him” (31 Aug 1884 to Howells, NN-BGC, in
MTHL
, 2:500–503; Kenneth R. Andrews 1950, 115).

317.41 conversation with the learned American member] Probably Matthew Riddle (see AD, 23 Jan 1906, 314.15–18 and note).

318.3–4 James G. Batterson . . . Travelers Insurance Company] Batterson (1823–1901) was also president of the New England Granite Works and an amateur Egyptologist (“James G. Batterson,” New York
Times
, 19 Sept 1901, 7).

318.23–24 At that time the voting was public] Only in the 1890s did the secret ballot begin to be used in the United States. In Connecticut in 1884, the voter was observed; he was permitted to fold the ballot so that it could not easily be read, but social and political pressures guaranteed that this option was seldom exercised (Lynde Harrison 1890).

318.37–319.1 Twichell had most seriously damaged himself . . . his vote for Cleveland] Clemens’s extended account of Twichell’s vote and its aftermath is distorted. In the first place, Twichell is represented as having voted for Cleveland; in fact, he could not bring himself to support the Democrats in any cause, and cast his vote for the Prohibition Party candidate. Furthermore, although Twichell’s vote did cause “displeasure,” as he put it, “among my friends and parishioners,” there is no evidence that he was ever asked to resign his pastorate (Kenneth R. Andrews 1950, 115–16; Strong 1966, 87–88; Courtney 2008, 216–20).

319.22–23 Mr. Hubbard . . . business manager and part owner of the
Courant
] Stephen A. Hubbard (1827–90) had been part owner and managing editor of the Hartford
Courant
since 1867 (McNulty 1964, 91; “Obituary,” Hartford
Courant
, 13 Jan 1890, 1).

320.4–6 fortieth anniversary . . . weeks ago] Twichell’s fortieth year as pastor of Asylum Hill Congregational Church was celebrated on 13 December 1905 (“Rev. Mr. Twichell 40 Years Pastor,” Hartford
Courant
, 14 Dec 1905, 12).

320.32–34 I saw her first in the form of an ivory miniature . . . the following December] Olivia’s brother, Charles Langdon, was a youth of seventeen when his parents sent him on the
Quaker City
excursion as a safe alternative to a traditional grand tour. He struck up a friendship with Clemens near the end of the voyage, and showed him the miniature of Olivia on 5 or 6 September 1867, when the ship was in the Bay of Smyrna (link note following 8 June 1867 to McComb,
L2
, 63–64). Clemens’s Autobiographical Dictations leave some room for doubt about the dates of his first meetings with Olivia. The dictation of 13 February 1906 states that they were introduced on 27 December 1867 and met again five days later; this ignores a known meeting on 31 December, when Clemens went with the Langdons to hear Dickens read at Steinway Hall (see AD, 12 Oct 1907). It is possible that this, and not the twenty-seventh, was
the day he met Olivia (
L2:
8 Jan 1868 to JLC and PAM, 145–46 n. 3; “Itinerary of the
Quaker City
Excursion,” 394–95; “Mr. Dickens’ Readings,” New York
Times
, 31 Dec 1867, 4; for the excursion see “Notes on ‘Innocents Abroad,’ ” note at 227.13–14).

321.7–8 nine years that we spent in poverty and debt] Clemens paid his debts in full in 1898, with the proceeds from his 1895–96 world lecture tour and the book based on it,
Following the Equator
(see “Something about Doctors,” note at 190.10–12).

321.18 As I have already said in an earlier chapter] See the Autobiographical Dictation of 13 January 1906.

321.25–27 her father’s house in Elmira, New York . . . with the whole Langdon family] Jervis Langdon (1809–70), a native of New York State, married Olivia Lewis in 1832, and the pair settled in Elmira in 1845. He became prosperous in the lumber business and then wealthy in the coal trade, which he entered in 1855. His extensive operations included mines in Pennsylvania and Nova Scotia, and a huge rail and shipping network supplying coal to western New York State, Chicago, and the Far West. An ardent abolitionist, Jervis Langdon served as a “conductor” on the Underground Railroad, and counted Frederick Douglass, whom he had helped to escape from slavery, among his friends. He died in 1870 of stomach cancer, leaving bequests totaling a million dollars. Olivia’s inheritance was to remain central in the life of the Clemens family. Charles Jervis Langdon (1849–1916), Olivia’s brother, succeeded his father in the management of the family’s coal business; he also exercised considerable responsibility for his sister’s inherited investments. In 1880 he served on Governor Alonzo B. Cornell’s staff as commissary general, and was for many years one of Elmira’s police commissioners (24 and 25 Aug 1868 to JLC and family,
L2
, 244 n. 3; “In Memoriam,” Elmira
Saturday Evening Review
, 13 Aug 1870, 5; Towner 1892, 615).

321.28–29 I was to be one of the editors of the Buffalo
Express
, and a part owner of the paper] With the financial assistance of Jervis Langdon, Clemens purchased a one-third interest in the Buffalo
Express
in August 1869, becoming at the same time “associate editor” (
MTB
, 1:385–89; see 14 Aug 1869 to Bliss,
L3
, 296 n. 2).

321.30 a friend] John D. F. Slee, chief officer of Langdon’s coal firm, played a part in the “conspiracy” described by Clemens. In December 1869 Slee wrote to Clemens that “boarding
anyhow
is miserable business” but that he had arranged rooms in a respectable boardinghouse and would appreciate advance notice of the couple’s arrival, that he might “meet and accompany you to your ‘Quarters’ ” (Slee to SLC, 27 Dec 1869, CU-MARK; 27 Feb 1869 to OLL, 24 and 25 Nov 1869 to OLL,
L3
, 119 n. 4, 406 n. 1).

321.37–38 Delaware Avenue, and had laid in a cook] The Clemenses’ new house in Buffalo was at 472 Delaware Avenue. The cook and housekeeper, Ellen White, was a former Langdon family servant (6 Feb 1870 to Bowen,
L4
, 54–55 n. 5).

322.3 So the comedy ended very pleasantly] For other accounts of the Clemenses’ wedding and the surprise in Buffalo, see the link note following 28–31 Jan 1870 to Twichell,
L4
, 42–49.

322.27 Patrick’s daughter Nancy] Anne (Nancy) McAleer, born in 1883, was a near contemporary of Jean’s (
Hartford Census
1900, 8B;
Hartford Census
1910, 7B).

322.31–42 Patrick McAleer, faithful and valued friend of our family . . . served it thirty-six years] McAleer (1844?-1906) was born in County Tyrone, Ireland, and emigrated to America at age sixteen. He married Mary Reagan of Elmira, New York; they had nine children, one of whom evidently died in infancy (“Coachman Many Years for Mark Twain,” Hartford
Courant
, 26 Feb 1906, 6;
Hartford Census
1910, 7B). McAleer moved with the Clemenses from Buffalo to Hartford, working for them, almost without interruption, until 1891. He returned briefly to the Clemens household in Dublin, New Hampshire, in 1905; in a letter of 20 May 1905 to his daughter Clara, Clemens described his delight in seeing him again:

And Patrick! He is a vision out of a time when your mother was a girl & I a lad! And what a pleasure he is to my eye, & how the view of him fits in with the rest of the scenery! The same, same Patrick—trim, shapely, alert, competent for all things, taking two steps to any other man’s one, not a gray hair nor any other sign of age about him, & his voice that same old pleasant sound! He served us twenty-two years & is a youth yet. (MoHM)

323.13–14 They lost one . . . assistant editor of a Hartford daily paper] One of McAleer’s sons, Edward McAleer, a plumber, died in January 1905 at age thirty; nothing is known of a son who worked for a newspaper (“Killed by a Fall,” Hartford
Courant
, 30 Jan 1905, 5).