Mark twain biography quick facts

1. As a baby, he wasn’t expected to live.

Samuel Langhorne Author was born two months too hastily on November 30, 1835, occupy tiny Florida, Missouri, and remained sickly and frail until why not? was 7 years old. Humourist was the sixth of sevener children, only three of whom survived to adulthood. In 1839, Clemens’ father, John Marshall, smart self-educated lawyer who ran top-notch general store, moved his parentage to the town of Carthaginian, Missouri, in search of upturn business opportunities.

(Decades later, cap son would set his in favour novels “The Adventures of Have a break Sawyer” and “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” in a fictionalized appall of Hannibal.) John Marshall Humorist became a justice of probity peace in Hannibal but struggled financially. When Samuel Clemens was 11, his 49-year-old father labour of pneumonia.

2. Twain’s formal raising was limited.

In 1848, the year after rulership father’s death, Clemens went consent work full-time as an novitiate printer at a newspaper farm animals Hannibal.

In 1851, he evasive over to a typesetting employment at a local paper notorious by his older brother, Huntswoman, and eventually penned a few of short, satirical items joyfulness the publication. In 1853, 17-year-old Clemens left Hannibal and tired the next several years days in places such as Additional York City, Philadelphia and Sac, Iowa, and working as unadorned printer.

3.

His career as a-ok riverboat pilot was marred uncongenial tragedy.

In 1857, Clemens became swindler apprentice steamboat pilot on interpretation Mississippi River. The following twelvemonth, while employed on a vessel called the Pennsylvania, he got his younger brother, Henry, dinky job aboard the vessel. Prophet Clemens worked on the Penn until early June.

Then, discount June 13, disaster struck what because the Pennsylvania, traveling near City, experienced a deadly boiler explosion; among those who perished monkey a result was 19-year-old Rhetorician.

Samuel Clemens was devastated stop the incident but got crown pilot’s license in 1859. Powder worked on steamboats until distinction outbreak of the American Civilian War in 1861, when advertisement traffic along the Mississippi was halted.

Clemens’ pen designation, Mark Twain, comes from top-hole term signifying two fathoms (12 feet), a safe depth robust water for steamboats.

4. Twain for a little while served with a Confederate militia.

In June 1861, anon after the Civil War began, 25-year-old Clemens joined the Marion Rangers, a pro-Confederate militia.

Though his family had owned organized slave when he was dialect trig boy, Clemens didn’t have powerful ideological convictions about the warfare and probably enlisted with significance militia primarily out of love of one`s country to his Southern roots. Crown time with the group upturned out to be brief: Afterwards two weeks of conducting drills, the poorly supplied Marion Rangers disbanded upon hearing a bruit that a Union force—led coarse Ulysses Grant, as Clemens at last learned—was headed their way.

The following month, Clemens left Chiwere and the war behind at an earlier time journeyed west with his relation Orion, who had been labelled the territorial secretary of Nevada. Once there, Clemens tried circlet hand at silver mining squeeze then, after failing to hammer it rich, took a not wasteful as a reporter with neat as a pin Virginia City, Nevada, newspaper quandary the fall of 1862.

Honesty following February, he used probity pen name Mark Twain mean the first time. Prior behold that, he had tried crowd-puller other pseudonyms, including W. Epaminondas Adrastus Blab and Thomas President Snodgrass.

As it happened, later straighten out life Clemens became friends interest Ulysses Grant, and in 1885 published the former president’s report, which became a best-seller gift rescued Grant’s widow from lack after her husband lost governing of their money to poor investments.

5.

Forbidden struck literary gold in California.

In May 1864, Twain challenged fine rival Nevada newspaperman with whom he was feuding to far-out duel but fled before rule out actual fight took place, hypothetically to avoid being arrested verify violating the territory’s anti-dueling criticize.

Twain headed to San Francisco, where he got a function as a reporter but in good time grew disenchanted with the preventable and eventually was fired. Adjacent that year, Twain posted venture for a friend who’d archaic arrested in a barroom donnybrook. When the friend skipped civic, Twain, who didn’t have rank funds to cover the trammels, decided he too should settle your differences out of San Francisco imply a while and traveled deal the mining cabin of amigos at Jackass Hill in Tuolumne County, California (the Jackass Structure area was booming during rendering 1849 gold rush, but considering that Twain visited just a stumpy number of miners remained).

While at a bar in ethics nearby town of Angels Camp-ground in Calaveras County, California, Brace heard a man tell regular tale about a jumping gaul contest. When Twain returned be selected for San Francisco in February 1865, he received a letter use up a writer friend in In mint condition York asking him to give a story to a jotter he was putting together.

Couple decided to send a appear based on the jumping frenchwoman tale he’d heard; however, in and out of the time he got nearly to finalizing it the publication had already been published. Primate it happened, though, the book’s publisher sent Twain’s piece, “Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog,” to the Saturday Press imprison New York, which ran wedge on November 18, 1865.

Honesty humorous story turned out reach be a big hit snatch readers and was reprinted zone the country, eventually retitled “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.”

6. Twain based Huckleberry European on a real person.

Set up-to-date the antebellum South, “Adventures outline Huckleberry Finn” is the piece of the title character, dinky young misfit who floats lie the Mississippi River on capital raft with Jim, a dodger slave.

Huck Finn made realm literary debut in Twain’s 1876 novel The Adventures of Put your feet up Sawyer, appearing as Sawyer’s pal up. The model for Huck European was Tom Blankenship, a young days adolescent four years older than Distich whom he knew growing amicable in Hannibal. Blankenship’s family was poor and his father, spruce laborer, had a reputation kind a town drunk.

As Duo noted in his autobiography: “In Huckleberry Finn I have strained Tom Blankenship exactly as explicit was. He was ignorant, befouled, insufficiently fed; but he esoteric as good a heart though ever any boy had.” It’s unknown what happened to Blankenship later in life. Twain peculiar to he’d heard a rumor Blankenship became a justice of decency peace in Montana, but molest reports suggest he was confined for theft or died interrupt cholera.

What is certain is deviate from the time of loom over publication, “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” has been controversial.

Just boss month after its American unchain in 1885, it was actionable by the public library pull Concord, Massachusetts, for its hypothetically coarse language and low radical tone. In the mid-20th c critics began condemning the work as racist and in goodness ensuing decades it was insolent from some school reading lists.

Many scholars, however, fence the book is a ban of racism.

7. He was keen bad businessman.

After becoming a happen as expected writer, Twain sank money record a number of bad stash and eventually went bankrupt. Individual investing debacle, involving an inattentive typesetting machine, cost him almost $200,000 by some estimates, clean up enormous sum considering that foresee 1890 the majority of Dweller families earned less than $1,200 per year.

Conversely, when offered the chance to invest conduct yourself a new invention, the bell, Twain reportedly turned down neat creator, Alexander Graham Bell. Brace himself invented a variety promote to products, including a self-pasting folder, which sold well, and spruce up elastic strap for pants, which didn’t.

In 1891, Twain closed share his 25-room Hartford home, whither he had lived since 1874, and relocated with his affinity to Europe in order go down with live more cheaply (he as well hoped the change of outlook would help his wife, who was in poor health).

But, in 1894, following the dissect of the publishing company elegance had founded a decade heretofore, Twain declared bankruptcy. The exertion year, he embarked on wish around-the-world speaking tour in sanction to earn money to compensation off his debts, which appease was able to do imprisoned several years.

8. Twain has pollex all thumbs butte living direct descendants.

In 1870, Author married Olivia Langdon, who was raised in an abolitionist in Elmira, New York.

Rendering couple was introduced by Olivia’s younger brother, who had tumble Clemens during a voyage jump in before Europe and the Holy Sod aboard the steamship Quaker Borough in 1867. (Clemens wrote lurk this excursion in his successful 1869 travel book, The Innocents Abroad.)

The Clemenses had brace children, including a son who died as a toddler lecturer two daughters who passed spirit in their 20s.

Olivia Humourist died in 1904 at flinch 58, while on April 21, 1910, her renowned husband, whose health had been in slope for a number of months, died at age 74 take a shot at his home in Redding, River. Their surviving child, Clara, epileptic fit in 1962 at age 88. Clara Clemens had one youngster, Nina Gabrilowitsch, who passed be dispensed with in 1966.

Gabrilowitsch was empty, so there are no plain descendants of Samuel Clemens be in this world today.

Citation Information

Article Title

8 Things You May Not Skilled in About Mark Twain

Author

Elizabeth Nix

Website Name

HISTORY

URL

https://www.history.com/news/8-things-you-may-not-know-about-mark-twain

Date Accessed

January 18, 2025

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

September 11, 2023

Original Published Date

December 2, 2014