My response to rumors and supposotion is to ask for hard evidence. Show me
the postmarked envelope in which he sent his first letter signed as Mark
Twain. Likewise, with the John Phoenix rumor, show me the piece signed by
John Phoenix (or any piece published anywhere signed with the name "Mark
Twain" before Sam used it).
I've searched extensive databases of newspapers all over the US from that
period (including the relevant CA papers and Mississippi River newspapers)
and there is not a single piece signed with the name "Mark Twain" or using
"mark twain" as a name of a character except for the piece in Vanity Fair, a
journal Twain read. Several scholars before me have searched the relevant
Mississippi River papers and CA newspapers with the same result. So, show me
a newspaper or magazine, or show me the postmarked envelope.
By the way, his first use of the name was not a piece published in Carson.
It was a piece written while he was in Carson and sent to Virginia City.
Kevin
@
Mac Donnell Rare Books
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Austin TX 78730
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Richard Reineccius" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, August 25, 2013 4:16 PM
Subject: TWAIN IN 1863 - WAS HE IN CARSON?
> =0AAN OPINION FROM SAN FRANCISCO:=0A=A0 =0A=A0 The purpose and place of
> th=
> e adoption of "Mark Twain" by the young Mr. Clemens is not completely
> solve=
> d. From my reading, the first use by him was his tag on a piece PUBLISHED
> i=
> n Carson, but MAILED FROM Sacramento to Nevada's capital, raising the
> quest=
> ions of what was the postmark on the envelope of the sent piece, was he
> sta=
> ying at the time in the California capital or just passing through or
> stopp=
> ing for some hours, and if so - which way was he headed when he visited
> the=
> Sacto post office?=0A=0A=0A=A0=A0=A0 A minor additional detail might be:
> "=
> Was he waterborne or sitting at a table or desk on solid land, or even
> rock=
> ing and rolling on the train to downhill to Sacramento=A0 when he
> deliberat=
> ely signed the submission with his chosen handle?" =0A=0A=A0=A0=A0 Whether
> =
> he was on his way to San Francisco or on his way back to Nevada is
> interest=
> ing, if not vital.=A0 A transit change in Sacramento was necessary at the
> t=
> ime: The ferries (steamboats) were busily plying the river from there to
> Sa=
> n Francisco/Oakland since the early 1848 gold rush, and the massive influx
> =
> of immigrants on ships and prairie schooners the following year, called
> arg=
> onauts. (A publication was named for them - I don't recall if it published
> =
> any Twain works)=0A=0A=A0=A0=A0 BRIEF HISTORY NOTE:=A0 Abraham Lincoln and
> =
> his cabinet and advisors were so gleeful that the U.S. Army had expanded
> th=
> e empire to include Mexico's northern lands of California and the
> whole-dan=
> ged present SW United States, they advertised for contractors to construct
> =
> the Chicago to Sacramento California trans-continental railroad, and a
> gang=
> of four Sacramento businessmen that included Leland Stanford quickly
> forme=
> d a company to do the job halfway, starting at this end. (A partner,
> banker=
> Crocker, got busy importing undocumented Chinese laborers from Shanghai
> to=
> do the hard work - and dynamite duty the Irish refused to do -- another
> st=
> ory.)=0A=0A=0A=A0=A0=A0=A0By '63 the westernmost chunk of the original
> road=
> , Sacramento to Truckee, was complete and trains were rolling in both
> direc=
> tions, with Clemens one of its patrons.=A0 Though still stung by seeing
> rai=
> lroads as destroyers of riverboat travel in the Midwest, no river could
> get=
> a boat over the Sierra Nevada divide.=A0=0A=0A=A0=A0=A0 =0A=0A=A0=A0=A0
> So=
> thedate and direction of travel when he did the posting of his first Mark
> =
> Twain submission is of interest.=A0 Also, whether it was a silly story
> (phu=
> nny) or serious journalism could have been on his mind, as well as whether
> =
> he had any intention of keeping the name. The first Eastern Literary World
> =
> submission was signed San Francisco, intended as a funny tale of gambling
> o=
> n a lead-filled jumping frog, of course.=A0 You could say he really chose
> t=
> he name then, writing it down while sitting comfortably at a fancy hotel
> in=
> downtown San Fran. He also signed the Innocents Abroad/New Pilgrim's
> Progr=
> ess manuscript there (here). =0A=0A=0A=A0=A0=A0 WHERE WAS HE WHEN HE
> SIGNED=
> HIS POST? =0A=A0=A0=A0 Was Twain, therefore, born as a Nevada City
> author,=
> Hannibal author, or can Sacramento, San Francisco, Calaveras County, or
> Ca=
> rson City lay claim? Or the train, or ferry to/from SF and Sacto?=A0 Or
> doe=
> s he belong to Hartford, Elmira or one of his other Eastern cities?=A0 Or
> H=
> annibal?=A0 All of the above?=0A=0A(Another rumor - Southern CA humorist
> Jo=
> hn Phoenix may have published under the name!)=A0 =0A=A0=0ARichard R - in
> O=
> akland, San Francisco Bay =A0
> =0A=0A=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
> =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=0A=0A=0AFrom Kevin's
> post:=0A=0A.....=0A=
> =0ABut the war came and ended his chosen=0Acareer. He was soon off to
> Nev=
> ada, and by 1863, when he visited=0ACarson City, he was indeed a writer
> and=
> had a body of work and=0Aneeded a nom de plume. He abruptly adopted the
> =
> name "Mark=0ATwain" while in Carson City in Feb 1863 and ten years later =
> =0Awhen asked about it he claimed to have gotten it from Capt
> Sellers=0Aw=
> ho he said had recently died and had used the name "Mark=0ATwain" before
> h=
> im. This has been proven factually false.=0ASellers was not yet dead in
> Fe=
> b, 1863 and no piece by Sellers (or=0Aanyone else) has ever been found
> sign=
> ed "Mark Twain" before=0ATwain's use in Feb 1863.=0A.....=0A
>
>
>
> -----
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