Indeed! On Mon, Aug 23, 2021, 5:10 PM Scott Holmes <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Thanks Miki. Willis's book seems to make the issue even more obscure. > I still have no information on the luxury car - who owned it, etc. Also > Willis implies the car was used to travel to Elmira in June of 1876 > whereas Fears uses it for the return trip to Hartford in September. So > it goes .... > > On 8/23/21 2:38 PM, miki pfeffer wrote: > > 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 > >> >