[The following email was written by David Carkeet. I am posting it on his
behalf. -TR]

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Most Forum members are aware of Susan Bailey’s book THE TWAIN SHALL MEET
(co-authored by Deborah Gosselin), which sets forth the theory that Susan
is Samuel Clemens’s great-granddaughter. As many of you know, I have been
researching this claim and the support cited for it, both documentary and
genetic. I have finished the study, and unfortunately my conclusion is that
Susan was mistaken in her belief. I have written up my findings, and the
report has just been posted on twainquotes.com.

http://www.twainquotes.com/Carkeet/AncestryReport.html

The report is written for the general reader unfamiliar with the subject,
so it is both an introduction to the story and a consideration of the
evidence. In the course of my work, I had massive help from many Twainians,
almost all of them named in the report at one point or another, but a
special thanks goes to Barb Schmidt for her steady and insightful
assistance throughout.

Thanks too to these collections for permission to publish previously
unpublished photos and documents: Burton Historical Collection, Detroit
Public Library; Kevin Mac Donnell, Mac Donnell Rare Books, Austin, Texas;
L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Brigham Young University; Mark Twain
House and Museum, Hartford; Mark Twain Project, Bancroft Library,
University of California, Berkeley.

If you have questions about the report, I will be happy to answer them.

--David Carkeet  [log in to unmask]