DID YOU KNOW?
A Biography of
Mark Twain
Submitted by Michael Joseph Lynch
Samuel Langhorne Clemens AKA “Mark Twain”
achieving it, sometimes finding it hard to feed his family. He was an unsmiling fellow; according to one legend, young Sam never saw his father laugh. His mother, by contrast, was a fun-loving, tenderhearted homemaker who whiled away many a winter's night for her family by telling stories. She became head of the household in 1847 when John died unexpectedly. Twain stayed in Hannibal until age 17.
Now, Hannibal was situated on the Mississippi River, which was a splendid place to grow up. Steamboats arrived there three times a day, tooting their whistles; circuses, minstrel shows, and revivalists paid visits; and tradesmen such as blacksmiths and tanners practiced their entertaining crafts for all to see.
However, violence was commonplace, and young Twain witnessed much death.
This next article is about a man I heard about when I spent some time in Hannibal, Missouri in the year 2000, where the entire town is dedicated to him, being a river town next to the Mississippi River. He was the celebrated author of several novels, including two major classics of American literature: “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” and “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” He was also a riverboat pilot, journalist, lecturer, entrepreneur, and inventor.
Anyway, Mark Twain was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens in the tiny village of Florida, Missouri, on November 30, 1835, the sixth child of John and Jane Clemens. When he was 4, his family moved to nearby Hannibal, a bustling river town of 1,000 people.
John Clemens worked as a storekeeper, lawyer, judge, and land speculator, dreaming of wealth but never