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=WHoFAAAAQAAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_s> he writes, “It was not uncommon as well for Congressmen, Bureau officers, and the loitering gentry of Washington to so embarrass themselves at the gaming tables as to be obliged to sell their body servants.” 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 -- 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=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=H42HP4SBZ8OA&coliid=I34OMAR1SV8L9G> * Published by The History Press, October 2012 http://thelionofanacostia.wordpress.com/ Facebook: http://on.fb.me/uca9za