Mark Twain

Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30 1835 – April 21 1910), better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was a famous and popular American humorist, novelist, writer and lecturer.

Early life

Samuel Clemens was born November 30, 1835 in Florida, Missouri, the third of four surviving children of John and Jane Clemens.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

While he was still a baby, the family moved to the river town of Hannibal, Missouri, hoping their fortunes would improve there. It was this town and its inhabitants that the author Mark Twain later put to such imaginative use in his most famous works, especially The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876).

Related Topics:
Hannibal, Missouri - The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Clemens's father died in 1847, leaving many debts. The oldest son, Orion, soon began publishing a newspaper and Sam began contributing to it as a journeyman printer and occasional writer. Some of the liveliest and most controversial stories in Orion's paper came from the pen of his younger brother--usually when Orion was out of town. Clemens also traveled to St. Louis and New York City to earn a living as a printer.

Related Topics:
St. Louis - New York City

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

But the lure of the Mississippi eventually drew Clemens to a career as a steamboat pilot, a profession he later claimed would have held him to the end of his days, recounting his experiences in his book Life on the Mississippi (1883). But the Civil War put an end to commercial steamboat traffic in 1861, and Clemens had to look for a new job.

Related Topics:
Mississippi - Steamboat - Life on the Mississippi - Civil War

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After a brief stint with a local militia (an experience he recounted in his short story, "The Private History of a Campaign That Failed" (1885), he escaped further contact with the war by going west in July of 1861 with Orion, who had been appointed secretary to the territorial governor of Nevada. The two traveled for two weeks across the Plains by stagecoach to the silver-mining town of Virginia City, Nevada.

Related Topics:
The Private History of a Campaign That Failed - Virginia City, Nevada

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~