Repost of the material on SLC meeting Alexander Campbell. Mark Twain's Autobiography contains a yarn which he told on 29 March, 1906. It concerns his apprenticeship to Mr. Ament immediately after his fathers death. The "Cambellites" with Alexander Campbell eventually formed an alliance with Barton W. Stone to form the "Christian Church, (Disciples of Christ)." It is a matter of coincidence that Barton Stone died at the home of his daughter, Amanda Bowen, in Hannibal, MO. He had ridden to Hannibal from the Ozark region where he was preaching. He became ill and went to his daughter's home to rest. He died of pneumonia. The Bowen boys, who were Stone's grandchildren, were childhood playmates of Mark Twain. Will Bowen is mentioned by Twain several times and was one of the models for the neighborhood boys in his writings. The "Disciples Historical Society" newsletter "The Harbinger and Discipliana," September, 1953, carries the following article by Claude E. Spencer (curator) which discusses the autobiography and adds to the documentation which disclaims any truth for it. No pamphlet example exists that we know. Mr. Spencer spends the first part of his article giving the reader an abstract of the biography portion relating directly to Campbell. This extract follows that introduction . . . Extract from: Mark Twain Meets Alexander Campbell . . . ? By Claude E. Spencer . . . The correcting of the page with the extra, for good measure, that was thrown in by the mischievous foreman forms the punch line to a yarn as only Mark Twain could tell it. The story should be read aloud to get the complete savour of it. A few years ago The South African Sentinel gave part of the story under the title "Mark Twain Meets Alexander Campbell." This was later reprinted by The Scroll of the Campbell Institute. Perhaps after some research the conclusion might be reached that The Sentinel should have used the title "Mark Twain Meets Alexander Campbell." Mark Twain's father died early in 1847 and Mark was immediately apprenticed to Mr. Ament, the editor and proprietor of the Hannibal Courier, with whom he remained until 1849 or 1850 when his brother Orion bought the Hannibal Journal and Mark went to work for him. The episode of the printing of the Campbell sermon occurred while Mark was with Mr. Ament. An exact date is not given, although it must have been in 1847, 1848, or 1849. Alexander Campbell did a lot of travelling and he liked to write about his travels. Nearly every year of the Millennial Harbinger which he edited, 1830-1863, contains some account of his goings and comings. And he told where he went, who he stayed with, and what was said, and he gave the dates of these visits. By his own account in the Millennial Harbinger, Mr. Campbell was in Hannibal twice from 1845 through 1852. The first time was in 1845 when he arrived from Palmyra, Mo., Tuesday afternoon, November 4, and left early Thursday morning for Pittsfield, Ill. Since there was no meeting house owned by the Disciples, Mr. Campbell "spoke twice to the citizens and strangers in the Methodist meeting house." Certainly he did not tarry long enough to read proof on a Saturday afternoon; nor did he return to read proof any of the following Saturday afternoons for they are all accounted for. Then, too, Mr. Twain was not yet a printer's apprentice in 1845. The next trip made to Hannibal by Alexander Campbell was in November, l852 when he opened there his Missouri campaign for endowment for Bethany College. He arrived Saturday, the 13th, at one o'clock in the afternoon and departed for Paris, Mo., Monday evening, the 15th. Mr. Campbell wrote, "This town has greatly improved and grown since my first visit in 1845. . . Our brethren have erected a very convenient and comfortable meeting house . . . I delivered two discourses at Hannibal, one on the Lord's day, . . and one on Monday." He commented on the generosity of the church in pledging five hundred dollars for the Bethany College fund. Again Mr. Campbell's Saturdays are all accounted for and one cannot see how or when the pamphlet could have been printed. Then, too, Mr. Twain was passed being a printer's apprentice for Mr. Ament in 1852. Mark Twain's story and Mr. Campbell's accounts do not agree at any point. Some questions can be asked with the hope that further research will give the answers. Did Alexander Campbell make a trip to Missouri without recording it in the Harbinger? Have we missed an obscure reference? Was Mark Twain mistaken as to whom he was working for when the incident occurred? Could he have been working for his brother Orion? If the latter is true, did Campbell get mixed-up in his reporting? Or did Twain simply tell a good yarn? In any event, our interest is bibliographical. We want a copy of this yellow backed, sixteen page pamphlet, slightly smaller than six by nine inches in size, with a Hannibal, Mo., imprint. We would even be satisfied with the proof sheets of the page with its missing words or the one with its J. C. initials, or the one as corrected by the mischievous foreman, or the final one with the O.K. by Mr. Campbell! 1. Mark Twain's Autobiography, 1924, vol. 2, pp. 279-282. 2. The South African Sentinel, January, 1949, pp 6-7. 3. The Scroll, March, 1949, pp. 413-415. 4. The Millennial Harbinger, February, 1846, pp. 61-72. "Our Tour to the Far West." 5. The Millennial Harbinger, January and February, 1853, pp. 6-9, 64-74. "Notes of Incidents in a Tour Through Illinois and Missouri." Marc Parsons, [log in to unmask], St. Charles, MO