20 December 1872 • Hartford, Conn. (MS: NPV, UCCL 00847)
P. S. I put in the clothes to fill up thinking you might use them for Sammy.
A Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year to you all—We send you our Christmas box of remembrance—I hope that Sammy’s Engine will reach Fredonia {by} Christmas so that he can add that to his other things—The slippers are for him from Aunt Mollie she worked them—
Annie the little Ermine tippet your Uncle Sam bought in England, also the little silver flower for the hair— We did so want to get you an muff to go with the tippet, but we could hardly afford it this year, however we shall remember that you need one—
The gold chain as you will see by the mark on the box was purchased in England—
Sammy’s chain will serve as a guard for his watch but it is not intrinsically valuable being only a composition— Ma the laces are for you as you will know, and Pamela the spoons for you— The handkerchiefs for Annie—
We took dinner last night with Orion and Mollie and had an exceedingly pleasant time, they are very cozily situated— Yesterday was the Aniversary of their wedding—1explanatory note
We are so Ⓐemendationglad the that ⒶemendationMa and Annie are coming, we want the other two, after their visit is made—2explanatory note I must leave a little room for Mr Clemens
Your eldest son & daughter are exceedingly cosily situated, & o Orion is as happy as a martyr when the fire won’t burn.
Wish you all a merry Christmas & many happy returns. I have been aggravating the baby by showing her another baby in a hand-glass Ⓐemendation whom she can’t find behind it. Goodbye. Am justing Ⓐemendation off to the station after Sue.3explanatory note
Orion and Mollie Clemens had been married for eighteen years.
This visit was delayed until late January (see 22 Jan 73 to PAMclick to open link). Twenty-year-old Annie Moffett spent the holiday in Quincy, Illinois, at the home of her aunt and uncle, Sally and Erasmus M. Moffett (Annie Moffett to PAM, 25 Dec 72, CU-MARK; MTBus , 19, 26). The “other two” were Pamela and Samuel Moffett.
Susan Crane.
References
- Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
- Machlis, Paul, ed. Union Catalog of Clemens Letters. Edited by Paul Machlis. Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press. [In some cases, UCCL catalog numbers cited in this volume supersede those assigned in 1986 and reflect corrections or additions to the catalog since publication. An updated version of the catalog can be consulted via the Letters Search page at MTPO.] 1986
- SLC (Samuel Langhorne Clemens). Mark Twain’s Letters, Volume 5: 1872–1873. Edited by Lin Salamo and Harriet Elinor Smith. The Mark Twain Papers. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Also online at MTPO[bib32371]. 1997
- Webster, Samuel Charles. Mark Twain, Business Man. Edited by Samuel Charles Webster. Boston: Little, Brown and Co. 1946
- University of California, Mark Twain Papers, The Bancroft Library, Berkeley
MS, Jean Webster McKinney Family Papers, Vassar College Library (NPV).
L5 , 254–255; MTBus , 122–23.
see McKinney Family Papers in Description of Provenance.
More information on provenance may be found in Description of Provenanceclick to open link.