Hello John, This may be what you are looking for: http://etext.virginia.edu/washington/twain/servant/index.html Howard Harrelson, author *Twain's 21st Century Reader* On Thu, Nov 22, 2012 at 7:17 PM, John H. Muller < [log in to unmask]> wrote: > Hello, all Twain scholars. > > I am a relative newcomer to the historiography of Twain. My first > book, *Frederick > Douglass in Washington, D.C.* was published in early October by The History > Press. I have recently begun research for "Mark Twain in Washington." I'm > looking for more information on Twain's February 1868 short story, "General > Washington's Negro Body-Servant" that he seemingly wrote while living in > Washington, D.C. > > I've reviewed Twain's D.C.-related journalism online at TwainQuotes.com as > well as the twenty-plus clips that David C. Mearns gathered that are now > held at the LOC's Manuscript Division. Many of the Mearns clips are > articles from the *Daily Evening Star *and *National Intelligence* that > report on Twain in D.C. as oppose to Twain's writings on D.C., with the > exception of a "Letter to the Editor." I've also done independent searches > of the *Star* and other Washington papers for Twain hits from November 1867 > - March 1868. This research has yielded insights into not only Twain's time > in Washington but how he interacted with the local city. > > My own speculation, which I would like to try to prove or disprove, is that > when Twain was in D.C. he would have regularly heard of the story of > General / President Washington's Negro Body Servant. (In D.C. today there > are many urban myths that are told over and over again, so this is where my > speculation comes from.) Following this speculation, my guess is Twain > heard it enough times, and had read about enough times that he grew tired > of it, and this inspired him to write the article in question. In George > Alfred Townsend's 1873 > book< > http://books.google.com/books?id=3DWHoFAAAAQAAJ&source=3Dgbs_navlinks_= > s> > he > writes, =93It was not uncommon as well for Congressmen, Bureau officers, > an= > d > the loitering gentry of Washington to so embarrass themselves at the gaming > tables as to be obliged to sell their body servants.=94 > > I've read through Twain's autobiographical sketches for the *North American > Review*, Justin Kaplan's Pulitzer-Prize winning work that details Twain in > Washington, Fishkin's work "Was Huck Black," Paine's Vol. 1 with a short > chapter on Twain in Washington, and other sources. I haven't found any > specific or substantive references to "General Washington's Negro Body > Servant" in these works, unless I have overlooked them which is possible. I > have checked JSTOR which hasn't turned up anything of consequence. > > A search of Twain's letters at the MT Project show up three annotation hits > on the story. In a Jan. 24, 1868 letter <http://bit.ly/RXSem3> from Twain > (SLC) to his mother and sister he mentions the story as "I have a stupid > article in the Galaxy, just issued." > > This is a synopsis of my research to this point which has yielded limited > success. If there is any existing scholarship on "General Washington's > Negro-Body Servant" that I have overlooked or missed I would appreciate any > advice or guidance. > > Thank you for your time and help. > > Sincerely, > John > > > --=20 > John Muller > 202.236.3413 > [log in to unmask] > Capital Community News > Greater Greater Washington > *Frederick Douglass in Washington, D.C: The Lion of > Anacostia< > http://www.amazon.com/Frederick-Douglass-Washington-D-c-Anacostia= > > /dp/1609495772/ref=3Dwl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=3DUTF8&colid=3DH42HP4SBZ8OA&col= > iid=3DI34OMAR1SV8L9G> > * > Published by The History Press, October 2012 > http://thelionofanacostia.wordpress.com/ > Facebook: http://on.fb.me/uca9za >