On Mon, Aug 23, 2021, 4:26 PM Scott Holmes <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> In my skimming through Day By Day I found this reference for September
> 11, 1876:
>
> "The Clemens family returned home to Hartford [Sept 14 to Fairbanks].
> The train trip from Elmira to Hartford took ten hours, and always
> exhausted Livy. On this trip Sam first hired a sleeping car, which gave
> the family privacy and lessened the stress for Livy. Their German
> nursemaid, Rosina Hay, was able to keep the girls occupied and Sam
> wasn’t bothered by other passengers’ talk and autograph requests. Sam
> promised that the luxury of a private car would be a permanent one for
> the family [Willis 103]."
>
> Now, looking for references in Day By Day is difficult - I can find no
> entry of Willis but suspect it is Resa Willis.  I know nothing of her
> book but the Amazon write up leaves me in doubt.
>
> "In Resa Willis's affecting and fascinating biography, we meet a
> dignified, optimistic women who married young, raised three sons and a
> daughter,..."
>
> So, if anyone has a copy of her book, "Mark and Livy: The Love Story of
> Mark Twain and the Woman Who Almost Tamed Him",please see if any useful
> information might be had on page 103.  There is nothing about a sleeping
> cat in the letter to Fairbanks.
>
> Thanks
>