The Hamburg canal connection has a potential tie to Frank M. Thorn (aka "Hy Slocum") who had his home in East Hamburg. Would the "Common Council" that was tasked with addressing the canal nuisance be the same group as the Erie County Board of Supervisors? I note that I identified Thorn as a member of this group of Supervisors between 1870 and 1880. As to Leonora and Augustus, a quick and dirty search on google advanced book search shows the book JULIA DE GRAMONT by Lady Cassandra Hawke (1788) features two characters with that name. The book is not in Gribben's MARK TWAIN'S LIBRARY: A RECONSTRUCTION. But we are all eagerly awaiting Gribben's updated reference volumes to see what has been added. Barb