This is my problem, my recollection is vague but I believe the issue was with the Italian authorities and may have had something to do with "vexatious visit". I did check in the Livy biography reference by Barbara but there, too, is only the mention of Roosevelt and U.S. Customs. On 12/30/21 2:47 AM, Wolfgang Hochbruck wrote: > Shipping deceased U.S. citizens back to the States can't have been > that difficult, or maybe it depended more on regulations in the > respective countries -- between ca. 1890 and the First World War, > there were more American consular offices f. i. in Germany than at any > other time in U.S. history. Freiburg had one. I did some research on > how the consul at the time, Theophilus Liefeld, helped Cora Crane to > get the mortal remains of Stephen back to the U.S. Funeral parlors > especially in places with a lot of tourist trade also specialised in > embalming and shipping. The only time Stephen Crane came to Freiburg, > it was feet first. > > best > > Wolfgang > > Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Hochbruck > Department of English / > Centre for Security and Society > Albert Ludwigs University > 15 Rempart St. > D- 79098 Freiburg > > Am 30.12.2021 um 04:00 schrieb Scott Holmes: >> I recall some mention of possible difficulties in returning Livy's >> body to the United States from Italy. I have been unable to find a >> reference to the American ambassador, or someone of near his rank, >> clearing the way to ship her body as proper documentation had not >> been obtained. The remark that recurs in my mind is that such >> clearance was given because of Mark Twain's celebrity and that an >> ordinary person would have been stymied and unable to send a body >> home again. >> >> The only reference to bureaucratic interference in Livy's death that >> I have been able to find is a mention in Day by Day "FLORENCE, June >> 7.—A funeral service of the simplest character took place over the >> body of Mrs. Samuel L. Clemens in the Villa Quarto to-day after a >> vexatious visit from sanitary officers and compliance with annoying >> regulations. Only members of the family were present." There was no >> reference to this comment other than MTP. >> >> I'm working on an essay touching on Twain's relationship with >> bureaucracies and this instance seems an important encounter. There >> are many others but this one is what prompted me to consider this >> question.