Traveling with Twain

Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) passed through Buffalo, a growing commercial capital of western New York, on August 22, 1853, headed for New York City. He returned to Buffalo 16 years later to co-own and co-edit the Buffalo Morning Express, for which he would write some 120 features, editorials and news items. At first he lived in a one-room, boarding-house apartment. Then, after a four-month, pre-wedding lecture tour to augment his income, he returned to Buffalo with his wife, Olivia Langdon Clemens, to occupy a grand, two-and-a-half story, 15-room Second Empire Style house. The fully furnished home included three servants, a stable, horse and carriage with the newlywed’s monogram on the panel, all a gift from Olivia’s father. But the happy home at 472 Delaware, what Twain called “a constant delight,” turned to “a state of absolute frenzy.” Olivia’s father died from cancer, a house guest died of typhoid fever, which was also contracted by Olivia. Her baby, Langdon, born a month prematurely, appeared close to death. In 1871 Twain quit journalism, sold the house and interest in the Express at a loss and moved his family to Elmira.

October 4-October 6