Clemens Family Papers: Finding Aid mssClemens
Gayle M. Richardson, Kay Peterson, Xiuzhi Zhou, Diann Benti.
The Huntington Library
1998
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Business Number: (626) 405-2191
reference@huntington.org
Note
Finding aid last updated on March 25, 2024 by Mari Khasmanyan.
Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: Clemens family papers
Creator:
Clemens family
Identifier/Call Number: mssClemens
Physical Description:
5 Linear Feet
(139 items in 4 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1872-1908
Abstract: This collection contains papers of the
family of American author Samuel Langhorne Clemens (also known as Mark Twain), including 7
diaries of Jane Clampton Clemens (1880-1909), which detail her struggle with epilepsy, as
well as medical treatments, ca. 1900, and correspondence and records of the family,
including letters from all three Clemens daughters to their parents.
Language of Material: Materials are in
English.
Access
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department.
For more information, contact Reader Services.
Publication Rights
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from
or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The
responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining
necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item]. Clemens family papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino,
California.
Provenance
Purchased from the Phyllis Harrington estate on March 24, 1987 (accession number 1335).
Biographical Note
On February 2, 1870, Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835-1910) married Olivia Langdon
(1845-1904), the daughter of Jervis Langdon, a wealthy coal mine magnate. In the first year
of their marriage, Olivia gave birth to their son, Langdon Clemens. The baby was premature,
and died in 1872. Clemens and Olivia had three more children: Olivia Susan (1872-1896),
Clara (1874-1962), and Jane Lampton (1880-1909). The girls spent most of their childhood
years at the Clemens home in Hartford, Connecticut, although they often traveled to Europe
with their parents. Summers were spent at Quarry Farm, in Elmira, New York, with Olivia
Clemens' sister, Susan Langdon Crane (1836-1924), and her husband Theodore Crane, who
managed the Langdon coal company with Olivia's brother, Charles Jervis Langdon (1849-1916).
The Clemens family also had a close relationship with Olivia's brother, his wife Ida Clark,
and their children Jervis, Julia (1871-1948), and Ida (1881-1964).
As children, the Clemens girls enjoyed music and play-acting, and Clara studied piano and
singing as an adult, and eventually appeared on the legitimate stage. In 1909, Clara married
Russian pianist Ossip Gabrilowitsch (1878-1936) and continued concert work. In 1944, she
married Jacques Samossoud, a Russian friend of Gabrilowitsch. Olivia Susan (Susy) Clemens
attended Bryn Mawr College for several years, but depression and ill-health inhibited her
progress, and she left without receiving a degree. Susy died of spinal meningitis at the age
of twenty-four, much to the dismay of her father, who had considered her the prodigy of the
family. Jane Lampton (Jean) Clemens also died young, at the age of twenty-nine. She was
diagnosed as epileptic in 1896, and traveled with her family to European spas for treatment.
For a number of years she was confined to a sanatorium in Katonah, New York. On Christmas
Eve of 1909, she drowned in the bathtub during an epileptic seizure.
General
Individual call numbers included in the collection: mssHM 53346-53483
Family relationships to Samuel and Olivia Clemens
- Clemens, Clara (second daughter)
- Clemens, Jane (Jean) Lampton (third daughter)
- Clemens, Susy (first daughter)
- Crane, Susan (Langdon) (Samuel's sister-in-law; Olivia's sister)
- Crane, Theodore (Susan Crane's husband; brother-in-law to Samuel and Olivia)
- Langdon, Charles Jervis (Samuel's brother-in-law; Olivia's brother)
- Langdon, Ida Clark (Charles Langdon's wife; sister-in-law to Samuel and Olivia)
- Langdon, Olivia Lewis (Samuel's mother-in-law; Olivia's mother)
- Loomis, Julia Langdon (daughter of Charles and Ida; niece to Samuel and Olivia)
Processing Information
Processed by Gayle M. Richardson and completed July 11, 1997. (The biographical note was
compiled by Kay Peterson, April 1990). Machine-readable finding aid created by Xiuzhi Zhou
in 1998; supplementary encoding and revision by Diann Benti in July 2017. In March 2024,
Mari Khasmanyan transferred materials from an envelope into box 1, folder 1 and updated the
finding aid's linear feet, containers, and note fields.
Scope and Contents
This collection contains papers of the family of American writer Samuel Langhorne Clemens
including 7 diaries of his daughter Jane Clampton Clemens and correspondence and records of
the family, including letters from all three Clemens daughters to their parents. The
following individuals are represented in the collection: Clara Clemens, Jane Lampton Clemens
(1880-1909), Susy Clemens (1872-1896), Mary Mason Fairbanks, Grace Elizabeth King
(1852-1932), and Elizabeth Gillette Warner (1838-1915). Note: the collection does not
contain letters by Samuel Clemens; he is only represented as an addressee.
The collection includes 7 diaries of Jane Lampton Clemens, spanning the years 1900-1907.
HM 53346 also contains 12 photographs that were inserted in the diary's opening for 1900,
Nov. 11-12. The photos are not annotated in any way but several appear to have been taken in
Europe, possibly Italy. The diaries, for the most part, cover the last years of her life,
while she lived in Dublin, New Hampshire and a sanitarium in Katonah, New York. The diaries
detail Jean Clemens struggle with epilepsy, as well as the medical treatments for the
disease, circa the turn of the century.
There are also letters and records including letters from all three Clemens daughters to
their father, Samuel Langhorne Clemens, and to their mother, Olivia Langdon Clemens. There
are letters from various extended family members and friends to Olivia Langdon Clemens, as
well as, financial records from various companies.
Arrangement
Arranged in the following manner:
- Diaries of Jane Lampton Clemens (Box 1). The diaries are filed chronologically.
- Correspondence and financial records (Box 1, 2-4). Filed alphabetically by author or
company.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Epilepsy.
Mental illness -- Treatment -- United States.
Sanatoriums -- United States.
Diaries -- United States.
Financial Records -- United States.
Letters (correspondence) -- United States.
Photographs -- United States.
Clemens, Clara.
Clemens, Jane Lampton, 1880-1909.
Clemens, Olivia Langdon, 1845-1904.
Clemens, Susy, 1872-1896.
Fairbanks, Mary Mason.
King, Grace Elizabeth, 1851 or 1852-1932.
Twain, Mark, 1835-1910 -- Family --
Archives.
Warner, Elisabeth Gillette, 1838-1915.
Clemens, Clara.
Clemens, Jane Lampton, 1880-1909.
Clemens, Olivia Langdon, 1845-1904.
Clemens, Susy, 1872-1896.
Fairbanks, Mary Mason.
King, Grace Elizabeth, 1851 or 1852-1932.
Warner, Elisabeth Gillette, 1838-1915.
Diaries of Jane Lampton Clemens
Box 1, Volume 1
Clemens, Jane Lampton. Diary, New York HM 53346
1900, Oct. 22-Nov. 30
Scope and Contents
Also: 12 snapshots, formerly inserted in the volume's opening for Nov. 11-12.
Box 1, Volume 2
Clemens, Jane Lampton. Diary, Dublin, New Hampshire HM 53347
1905 May 7 -June 9
Box 1, Volume 3
Clemens, Jane Lampton. Diary, Dublin, New Hampshire HM 53348
1906 April 30-July 21
Box 1, Volume 4
Clemens, Jane Lampton. Diary, Dublin, New Hampshire HM 53349
1906, July 22-Sep. 11
Box 1, Volume 5
Clemens, Jane Lampton. Diary, Dublin, New Hampshire HM 53350
1906, Sep. 12 -Nov. 30
Box 1, Volume 6
Clemens, Jane Lampton. Diary, Katonah, New York HM 53351
1906-1907, Dec. 1-Feb. 28
Box 1, Volume 7
Clemens, Jane Lampton. Diary, Katonah, New York HM 53352
1907
Correspondence and Financial Records
Box 2
Allen-Clemens (HM 53353-53355, 53437-53466, 53356-53372)
Allen, Helen Schuyler. 1 calling card to Samuel Langhorne Clemens,
1835-1910, A.N.S. on calling card
HM 53353
approximately 1908-1909
Altman, B & Company. 1 letter to F.G. Whitmore, L. (typewritten: 1 p.);
New York
HM 53354
1891 May 22
Arnold, Constable and Company. 1 receipt to Olivia Langdon Clemens,
1845-1904, D. (1 p.); New York
HM 53355
1872 April 5
Scope and Contents
Printed form filled in.
Clemens, Clara. 6 letters to Olivia Langdon Clemens, 1845-1904, Berlin,
Hartford, Conn.
HM 53437-43442
1892-pre-1905
Clemens, Clara. 2 letters to Susy Clemens, 1872-1896, Elmira, N.Y.,
Berlin
HM 53443-53444
1888-1893
Clemens, Clara. 21 letters to Samuel Langhorne Clemens, 1835-1910,
Hartford, Conn., Elmira, N.Y., Paris
HM 53445-53465
1884-1907
Clemens, Clara. Bank Draft Pass Book D. (13 p.); 12 mo.,
Frankfurt
HM 53466
1893 Feb. 8 -July 1
Clemens, Jane Lampton, 1880-1909. 11 letters to Samuel Langhorne Clemens,
1835-1910, Katonah, New York
HM 53356-53366
1893-1908
Clemens, Susy, 1872-1896. 2 letters to Olivia Langdon Clemens, 1845-1904,
Interlaken, Switzerland and Rhone Glacier, Switzerland
HM 53367-53368
approximately 1891-1892
Clemens, Susy, 1872-1896. 3 letters to Samuel Langhorne Clemens, 1835-1910,
Hartford, Conn., Cote Ellerslie, Florence, Italy
HM 53369-53371
1884 -c.1893
Clemens, Susy, 1872-1896, and Clara Clemens. 1 letter to Susan Langdon
Crane, L. (1 p.)
HM 53372
c. 1880
Scope and Contents
Written in an unidentified hand.
Box 3
Crane-King (HM 53373-53407, 53409-53410)
Crane, Susan Langdon. 20 letters to Olivia Langdon Clemens, 1845-1904, New
York, N.Y., Elmira, N.Y., Geneva, Switzerland
HM 53373-53392
1881 -pre-1904
Crane, Susan Langdon. 7 letters to Samuel Langhorne Clemens, 1835-1910,
Buffalo, N.Y., Elmira, N.Y., New York, N.Y.
HM 53393-53399
1871-1902
Crane, Susan Langdon. 1 letter to Clara Clemens, A.L.S. (12 p.); Quarry
Farm, Elmira, N.Y.
HM 53400
1898 Dec. 15
Crane, Theodore. 3 letters to Olivia Langdon Clemens, 1845-1904, Elmira,
New York
HM 53401-53403
1882-pre-1905
Scope and Contents
HM 53401 has a note in pencil written in an unidentified hand.
del Sabbione, Contessa Provana. 1 calling card to Jane Lampton Clemens,
1880-1909, A.N. on a calling card with envelope, Florence, Italy
HM 53404
1904, approximately June
Dunham, Mary. 1 letter to Olivia Langdon Clemens, 1845-1904, A.L.S. (8 p.);
Hartford, Conn.
HM 53405
1874 Feb. 9
Fairbanks, Mary Mason. 1 letter to Olivia Langdon Clemens, 1845-1904,
A.L.S. (4 p.); Cleveland, Ohio
HM 53406
1872, Apr. 1
First National Bank of Hartford. 1 letter to Olivia Langdon Clemens,
1845-1904, A.L.S. (1 p.); Hartford, Conn.
HM 53407
1872, Aug. 28
Scope and Contents
With signature of C.S. Gillette.
Huse, Fanny C. 1 letter to Olivia Langdon Clemens, 1845-1904, A.L.S. (3
p.); Mass.
HM 53409
1885 Feb. 5
Scope and Contents
With note on envelope.
King, Grace Elizabeth, 1852-1932. 1 letter to Olivia Langdon Clemens,
1845-1904, A.L.S. (8 p.); Oct. 13, New Orleans
HM 53410
1893 Oct. 13
Box 4
Langdon-Wulkow and unidentified (HM 53411-53430, 53432-53443,
53435-53483)
Langdon, Charles Jervis. 3 letters to Olivia Langdon Clemens, 1845-1904,
Elmira, N.Y.
HM 53411-53413
1883-1887
Scope and Contents
Also: account of "Notes given to Mrs. S.L. Clemens [Olivia Langdon Clemens], also
includes: note in pencil on verso of a J. Langdon & Co. office form (HM
53413).
Langdon, Charles Jervis. 5 letters to Olivia Langdon Clemens, 1845-1904,
Elmira, N.Y.
HM 53414-53418
1888
Scope and Contents
Also: Financial accounting for Olivia Langdon Clemens from March 1, 1888 to May 1,
1888. (1 p., typewritten), (HM53415).
Langdon, Charles Jervis. 2 letters to Olivia Langdon Clemens, 1845-1904,
Elmira, N.Y.
HM 53419-53420
1890
Scope and Contents
Also: Financial account for Olivia Langdon Clemens, Apr. 2, 1890, written in a
different hand (HM 53419). Also: Financial Accounting for Olivia Langdon Clemens,
for the period from 1888, Oct. 1 to 1890, Apr. 2 HM 53420).
Langdon, Charles Jervis. 2 letters to Olivia Langdon Clemens, 1845-1904,
Elmira, N.Y.
HM 53422-53423
1893-1894
Langdon, Charles Jervis. 1 letter to Samuel Langhorne Clemens, 1835-1910,
and Olivia Langdon Clemens, 1845-1904, A.L.S. (7 p.); Elmira, N.Y.
HM 53424
1887 Dec. 29
Langdon, Charles Jervis. 2 letters to Susan Langdon Crane, Elmira,
N.Y.
HM 53425-53426
1882
Langdon, Charles Jervis. 1 letter to Theodore Crane, contem. copy (2 p.);
(incomplete), Elmira, N.Y.
HM 53427
1882, Apr. 29
Scope and Contents
Written in an unknown hand.
Langdon, Charles Jervis. Financial Accounting for Olivia Langdon Clemens,
1845-1904, D.S. (1 p.)
HM 53428
1887 June 6
Langdon, Charles Jervis. Financial Accounting for Olivia Langdon Clemens,
1845-1904, D.S. (1 p.); Elmira, N.Y.
HM 53429
1887 July 11
Langdon, Charles Jervis. Financial Accounting for Olivia Langdon Clemens,
1845-1904, D. (1 p.)
HM 53430
1887 Sept. 5
Langdon, Charles Jervis. Financial Accounting for Olivia Langdon Clemens,
1845-1904, A.D.S. (1 p.); Elmira, N.Y.
HM 53432
1888 Sept. 14
Langdon, Ida Clark. 1 letter to Olivia Langdon Clemens, 1845-1904, A.L.S.
(3 p.); Elmira, N.Y.
HM 53433
1888 Dec. 27
Langdon, Olivia Lewis, 1810-1890. 1 letter to Olivia Langdon Clemens,
1845-1904, A.L.S. (3 p.); Elmira, N.Y.
HM 53435
1888 Apr. 21
Loomis, Julia Langdon. 1 letter to Samuel Langhorne Clemens, 1835-1910,
A.L.S. (4 p.); New York, N.Y.
HM 53436
1902 Nov. 4
Smith, Cornelia Ward. 1 letter to Olivia Langdon Clemens, 1845-1904, A.L.S.
(6 p.); Heidelburg
HM 53467
1880 Nov. 2
Starr, M. Allen. 4 letters to Susan Langdon Crane, New York HM 53468-53471
1896
Twichell, Julia Harmony Cushman. 1 letter to Olivia Langdon Clemens,
1845-1904, A.L.S. (4 p.)
HM 53472
1885 July 23
Wark, Charles [?]. 1 letter to Samuel Langhorne Clemens, 1835-1910, A.L.S.
(3 p.); Boston, Mass.
HM 53473
1907 Aug. 13
Warner, Elizabeth Gillette, 1838-1915. 3 letters to Olivia Langdon Clemens,
1845-1910, Hartford, Conn.
HM 53474-53476
1873-1888
Scope and Contents
Also: a note on the envelope in an unidentified hand (HM 53474).
Warner, Elizabeth Gillette, 1838-1915. 1 letter to Susy Clemens, 1872-1896,
A.L.S. (3 p.); Hartford, Conn.
HM 53477
1888 June 24
Willard, Mary B. 1 letter to Samuel Langhorne Clemens, 1835-1910, A.L.S. (3
p.); Berlin
HM 53478
1893 Jan. 23
Women's Aid Society. 1 postcard to Olivia Langdon Clemens, 1845-1904, N. on
a postcard, Hartford, Conn.
HM 53479
1887 July 18
Scope and Contents
This is a receipt for payment of annual subscription to the Women's Aid Society.
Printed form filled in.
Wulkow & Cornelsen. 1 letter to Olivia Langdon Clemens, 1845-1904,
A.L.S. (1 p.); Hamburg
HM 53480
1893 Sept. 4
Scope and Contents
The letter is written in German and appears to concern the delivery of tooth powder
ordered by Olivia Langdon Clemens.
-----, Edwin. 1 letter to Olivia Langdon Clemens, 1845-1904, A.L.S. (2 p.);
Chicago, Ill.
HM 53481
1885 May 15
-----. 1 letter to Mable, L. (2 p.) HM 53482
between 1872 and 1909
-----. 1 letter to Ivan Alexaevitch, A.L.S. (2 p.); Paris HM 53483
1905 Feb.
Scope and Contents
The letter is written in Russian and appears to be a letter of introduction and
recommendation for Ossip Gabrilowitsch as a pianist. The envelope is written in
French and appears to be written in a different hand.
Box 1, Folder 1
Langdon, Jervis and Company. Financial Accounting for Olivia Langdon Clemens,
1845-1904, D. (2 p.)
HM 53434
1883 May 1
Box 1, Folder 1
Langdon, Charles Jervis. Financial Accounting for Olivia Langdon Clemens,
1845-1904, D. (typewritten: 1 p.); Elmira, N.Y.
HM 53431
1888 Mar. 8
Box 1, Folder 1
Langdon, Charles Jervis. 1 letter to Olivia Langdon Clemens, 1854-1904,
A.L.S. (2 p.); Elmira, N.Y.
HM 53421
1890 June 5
Scope and Contents
Also: Financial accounting for Olivia Langdon Clemens covering March 19 - April 31,
1890, (1 p.).
Box 1, Folder 1
Harrod's Stores Limited. 1 invoice to Olivia Langdon Clemens, 1854-1904, D.
(2 p.); London, England. Receipt stamp affixed to verso
HM 53408
1900 Oct. 1
