Scott,

Hamlin Hill in GOD’S FOOL.  pp. 87-88 discusses Clemens’s clash with Livy’s
doctor over a final bill for services that he refused to pay. Also the role
of Francis B. Keene, U. S. Consul in Florence in getting necessary papers
to transport the body.

Barb

On Thursday, December 30, 2021, Scott Holmes <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> This is my problem, my recollection is vague but I believe the issue was
> with the Italian authorities and may have had something to do with
> "vexatious visit".  I did check in the Livy biography reference by Barbara
> but there, too, is only the mention of Roosevelt and U.S. Customs.
>
> On 12/30/21 2:47 AM, Wolfgang Hochbruck wrote:
>
>> Shipping deceased U.S. citizens back to the States can't have been that
>> difficult, or maybe it depended more on regulations in the respective
>> countries -- between ca. 1890 and the First World War, there were more
>> American consular offices f. i. in Germany than at any other time in U.S.
>> history. Freiburg had one. I did some research on how the consul at the
>> time, Theophilus Liefeld, helped Cora Crane to get the mortal remains of
>> Stephen back to the U.S. Funeral parlors especially in places with a lot of
>> tourist trade also specialised in embalming and shipping. The only time
>> Stephen Crane came to Freiburg, it was feet first.
>>
>> best
>>
>> Wolfgang
>>
>> Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Hochbruck
>> Department of English /
>> Centre for Security and Society
>> Albert Ludwigs University
>> 15 Rempart St.
>> D- 79098 Freiburg
>>
>> Am 30.12.2021 um 04:00 schrieb Scott Holmes:
>>
>>> I recall some mention of possible difficulties in returning Livy's body
>>> to the United States from Italy.  I have been unable to find a reference to
>>> the American ambassador, or someone of near his rank, clearing the way to
>>> ship her body as proper documentation had not been obtained. The remark
>>> that recurs in my mind is that such clearance was given because of Mark
>>> Twain's celebrity and that an ordinary person would have been stymied  and
>>> unable to send a body home again.
>>>
>>> The only reference to bureaucratic interference in Livy's death that I
>>> have been able to find is a mention in Day by Day "FLORENCE, June 7.—A
>>> funeral service of the simplest character took place over the body of Mrs.
>>> Samuel L. Clemens in the Villa Quarto to-day after a vexatious visit from
>>> sanitary officers and compliance with annoying regulations. Only members of
>>> the family were present."  There was no reference to this comment other
>>> than MTP.
>>>
>>> I'm working on an essay touching on Twain's relationship with
>>> bureaucracies and this instance seems an important encounter. There are
>>> many others but this one is what prompted me to consider this question.
>>>
>>