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Mark Twain in Buffalo

Mark Twain in Buffalo

Twain in Buffalo Video

Chronology

August 22, 1853 - Seventeen-year-old printer Samuel Langhorne Clemens stops in Buffalo for 1 night on his way to New York City

July 15, 1869 - Clemens visits Buffalo to view the city before moving here.

July 29-31, 1869 – Clemens, along with Jervis and Olivia Langdon, visit Niagara Falls.

August 1869 - Owning a one-third interest in The Buffalo Morning Express, Clemens moves to Buffalo to become an editor for the newspaper.

August 15, 1869 – Begins work as editor of the Express

August 27, 1869 – The New York Tribune publishes the first review of Innocents Abroad (the review was positive).

November 30, 1869 – Clemens' thirty-fourth birthday.

February 2, 1870 - Clemens weds Olivia Langdon in Elmira, NY. Over 100 guests attend the wedding.

February 3, 1870 - Returns to Buffalo with his wife Olivia. Jervis Langdon, Samuel's father-in-law, presents the couple with a mansion at 472 Delaware Ave.

February 3, 1870 – Agrees to serve as editor of the humor section of Galaxy magazine. He is paid $2,400 a year.

August 6, 1870 – Olivia's father Jervis Langdon dies of stomach cancer. Clemens writes a eulogy for Jervis; it is printed in the Express two days later.

August 31, 1870 – Olivia's friend Emma Nye arrives in Buffalo to help Olivia recover from the loss of her father.

September 2, 1870 – Clemens writes in a letter that "Miss Emma Nye is here & is right sick."

September 29, 1870 – Nye dies of typhoid fever.

October 15, 1870 – Clemens prints his "Map and Fortifications of Paris" in the Express.

November 7, 1870 – Son Langdon Clemens is born. Five days later Clemens writes in the first person as Langdon: "I am not corpulent, nor am I robust in any way. At birth I only weighed 4 1/2 pounds with my clothes on-& the clothes were the chief feature of the weight, too, I am obliged to confess."

November 30, 1870 – Clemens' thirty-fifth birthday.

February 7, 1871 – Livy is diagnosed with typhoid fever. Her health later improves, but she would suffer with health issues for the rest of her life.

March 1, 1871 – Clemens sells his interest in the Buffalo Express; the next day, the home at 472 Delaware is put up for sale.

March 18, 1871 - After a series of tragic events, the Clemens family leaves Buffalo for Elmira. Soon they would settle in Hartford, Connecticut.

Main Source: Fears, David H. Mark Twain Day by Day: An Annotated Chronology of the Life of Samuel L. Clemens. Banks, OR: Horizon Micro Publishing, 2008.

History

A brief essay (pdf) on Twain’s pivotal years in Buffalo, 1869-1871.

Mark Twain’s Buffalo

Mark Twain's Buffalo by Charles L Pond