Good news tonight, just got word from Senator Boucher's office that April 21, 2010 is Mark Twain Day in Connecticut. As for the project, I'm finding about two connections a day. Way better than I ever imagined. There will be several articles released over the weekend which should cover all of Fairfield County and I'm hopeful we'll connect even more towns as a result. I've started a Google map of the locations and will forward that when it is complete. Current Twain Connections are: Easton, Connecticut- Helen Keller; Ida M. Tarbell. "I have visited Stormfield [Twain's home in Redding] since Mark Twain's death [April,1910]. The flowers still bloom; the breezes still whisper and sough in the cedars, which have grown statelier year by year; the birds still sing, they tell me. But for me the place is bereft of its lover." -Helen Keller Bethel & Bridgeport, Connecticut- P.T. Barnum; Barnum urged the Clemens on March 23, 1875 to pay a visit to his summer home, Waldemere, in Bridgeport, Connecticut: ?You must not creep and crawl and sweat out of giving us at least a week?s visit with your wife when the weather is warmer.? Danbury, Connecticut- Twain had a cat named Danbury and William Webb Sunderland & his son Philip Nichols Sunderland, the builders of Twain's Redding home- Stormfield, were from Danbury. Also, Judge William Scoville Case and State's Attorney Stiles Judson visited Twain on November 19, 1908. They tried the Stormfield burglars. February 21, 1872 - Twain lectured on "Roughing It". Ridgefield, Connecticut- Architect, Cass Gilbert, who is best known for the Woolworth Building in NYC, also owned the Keeler Tavern and was a close friend of Twain's. Also, Edward Windsor Kemble and Henry Knox of Ridgefield are connected to Twain. Westport, Connecticut- Ned Wakeman, who was the prototype for Twain's ship captain in Roughing It. Twain wrote: "I'd rather travel with that old portly, hearty, jolly, boisterous, good-natured sailor...than with any other man I've ever come across," Norwalk, Connecticut- E.K. Lockwood (Lockwood Museum) traveled with Twain while he was researching/writing Innocents Abroad. CosCob/Greenwich, Connecticut- Jean Webster, talented daughter of Twain business partner Charles Webster. Windsor, Connecticut- Elisha Bliss, Jr. of American Publishing Company. Clemens stayed with the Blisses while in Hartford in August and October 1868 to work on his book Innocents Abroad. Manchester, Connecticut- The Monday evening club in which Mark Twain participated met at the Charles Cheney mansion in Manchester, about 0.2 mile from Cheney Hall. The Monday Evening Club was an organization which included the best minds of Hartford. Dr. Horace Bushnell, Prof. Calvin E. Stowe, and J. Hammond Trumbull founded it back in the sixties, and it included such men as Rev. Dr. Parker, Rev. Dr. Burton, Charles H. Clark, of the Courant, Warner, and Twichell, with others of their kind. Clemens had been elected after his first sojourn in England (February, 1873), and had then read a paper on the "License of the Press." The club met alternate Mondays, from October to May. There was one paper for each evening, and, after the usual fashion of such clubs, the reading was followed by discussion. Members of that time agree that Mark Twain`s association with the club had a tendency to give it a life, or at least an exhilaration, which it had not previously known. Chatham, Connecticut- has a guest book signature by Twain at an inn he stayed at there. New Haven, Connecticut- Twain visited New Haven in 1885 and befriended Warren McGuinn, an African-American student who was struggling to remain in school. Twain paid the young man's expenses at Yale and McGuinn went on to become a respected lawyer who would later mentor Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. Saybrook , Connecticut- Fenwick (Hall) Hotel where Twain and family stayed and where some believe he began writing Tom Sawyer. Hartford, Connecticut- Obviously the Hartford area has many friends and the Mark Twain House Museum. January 31, 1873 Twain lectured in Hartford - Benefit for Father Hawley, Allyn Hall, Hartford, Connecticut. Topic "Sandwich Islands". All services having been donated, the benefit netted $1,500 for Father Hawley. Vernon, East Hartford, Buckland, Vernon, Tolland, Westford, Ashford, North Ashford, West Woodstock, and New Boston, Connecticut- All these towns connected an amazing trek via Joe Twichell and Twain made from Hartford to Boston in 1874. "Livy darling, we started from the end of east river bridge, East Hartford, 2 hours & a half ago. Vernon is 11 miles from Hartford. The day is simply gorgeous?perfectly [matchless]" Norfolk, Connecticut- Both Twain?s daughters Jean and Clara stayed at the sanitarium in Norfolk. September 22, 1906: Clara Clemens Concert, Eldridge Gymnasium, Norfolk, Connecticut. Simsbury, Connecticut- Twain lectured Simsbury?s McLean Seminary in 1891. Also, Clemens and Joe Twitchell often visited the Daniel Wadsworth Tower. Sharon, Connecticut- Frank and Harriet Sprague. Frank J. Sprague is an amazing individual. He was an American naval officer and inventor who contributed to the development of the electric motor, electric railways, and electric elevators. He became known as the ?Father of Electric Traction?. Frank and Harriet attended Clara's wedding in October 1909. Fairfield, Connecticut- A "Mr. Forbes" of Fairfield, CT visited Stormfield on November 14, 1908. We're looking into who he was. New Britian, Connecticut- After his December 13, 1869 lecture in New Britain, Connecticut, Clemens wrote James Redpath directing a change in the advertisement of his lecture. ?About twice a week I have to make an annoying apology to the audience.? Pursuant to Clemens?s letter of 10 May 1869, Redpath had distributed a circular to lyceums announcing that ?Mark Twain?s? only lecture for the season of 1869?70 will be entitled ?The Curiosities of California?. Clemens had remained committed to such a lecture at least into early summer, then abandoned it by 27 September, five weeks before the beginning of his tour. Redpath must have adjusted his publicity promptly, perhaps with an amended circular, for newspaper advertisements in host cities generally reported the new topic??Our Fellow Savages of the Sandwich Islands.? Nevertheless, Clemens sometimes had to explain the substitution at the last moment. Norwich, Connecticut- November 13 & 14, 1869 Twain lectured in Norwich, Connecticut. Topic: "Our Fellow Savages of the Sandwich Islands". West Meriden, Connecticut- Twain lectured in West Meriden sometime around December 11-13th, 1869. East Haddam, Connecticut- William "Will" Gillette. The Sellers play was given in Hartford, in January (1875), to as many people as could crowd into the Opera House. Raymond had reached the perfection of his art by that time, and the townsmen of Mark Twain saw the play and the actor at their best. Kate Field played the part of Laura Hawkins, and there was a Hartford girl in the company; also a Hartford young man, who would one day be about as well known to playgoers as any playwright or actor that America has produced. His name was William Gillette, and it was largely due to Mark Twain that the author of Secret Service and of the dramatic "Sherlock Holmes" got a fair public start. Clemens and his wife loaned Gillette the three thousand dollars which tided him through his period of dramatic education. Their faith in his ability was justified. Waterbury, Connecticut- On May 21, 1901, the Waterbury Clock Co. received a letter from Mark Twain stating, "Please send me a watch. $1 enclosed." This refers to the highly successful and inexpensive "Watch That Made The Dollar Famous" made by the company. In Following the Equator, he wrote: "In a minor tournament I won the prize, which was a Waterbury watch. I put it in my trunk." Stonington, Connecticut- James Hammond Trumbull. Trumbull was born in Stonington, Connecticut. The Hartford Monday Evening Club (which Trumbull had helped found in January 1869) gathered fortnightly to hear and discuss an original essay presented by one of its members. Clemens attended the meeting of 17 February 1873 and heard Congregational clergyman Nathaniel J. Burton read an essay entitled ?Individualism.? To James Hammond Trumbull 15 February 1873 J H Trumbull Esq Dr. Sir: I shall be very glad indeed to meet with the Club as a member on next Monday Evening, & am thankful, too. And I willingly ?excuse the informal character? of the notice?am even grateful for it; for if you had started in to make it formal you might have got it in [Sanscritt ], & that would just simply have made trouble with Ys Truly Sam. L. Clemens Southington, Connecticut- Joseph Hopkins Twichell (1838-1918) was pastor of the Asylum Hill Congregational Church at 814 Asylum Street in Hartford. He was born in Southington, Connecticut. Twitchell played a significant role in many of the most important events occuring in the Clemens family. He was the presiding clergyman at Sam's marriage with Livy, and at their daughter Clara's wedding with Ossip Gabrilowitsch. Twitchell also provided support during the darkest periods for the family; he was present at the death of Susy, and officiated over the funerals of both Livy and Jean, and well as over Sam's funeral in New York City.