7 October 1875 • Hartford, Conn. (MS: CU-MARK, UCCL 01269)
editorial department. established 1764.
the courant.
hawley, goodrich & co., publishers.
The person I have called Prof. A. B., in the enclosed article,2explanatory note is a Mr. George Vaughan. He sends me a certified copy of the following endorsement:—dated Sep. 10, 1873.
“The bearer, Mr. Geo. Vaughan has been an earnest & devoted friend of freedom in this s State, & thoroughly interested in the cause of the education & elevation of our lately emancipated fellow citizens. He has determined to raise funds, if possible, to establish a Normal school in Virginia for this purpose, & to go among the foriendsⒶemendation of the colored people for aid. I cheerfully recommend him to the public & to the abolitionists & philanthropists of my acquaintance to give him their influence & support.”
“John C. Underwood.”
If I have wronged this stranger, I wish to right him. Therefore will you kindly tell me whether you wrote that endorsement or not?—& if you did, do has nothing sinceⒶemendation occurred to change your opinion of Mr. Vaughan?
With many apologies for troubling you, I am
Dr Sir
P. O. Address, Hartford, Conn
John Curtiss Underwood (b. 1809) was a district court judge and an advocate for the rights of African-Americans in Virginia. In 1866 he presided over the grand jury that indicted Jefferson Davis for treason. He also was president of the state constitutional convention of 1867–68, which drew up a constitution in conformity with the Reconstruction acts of March 1867. Underwood was dead (since December 1873), as Clemens soon realized (11 Oct 75 to Blaineclick to open link; 22? Oct 75 to the editor of the Hartford Courant click to open link).
Clemens’s letter of 27? Sept 75 to the editor of the Hartford Courant click to open link.
References
- University of California, Mark Twain Papers, The Bancroft Library, Berkeley
- 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 6: 1874–1875. Edited by Michael B. Frank and Harriet Elinor Smith. The Mark Twain Papers. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Also online at MTPO[bib32371]. 2002
MS, Mark Twain Papers, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley (CU-MARK).
L6 , 550–551.
see Tufts Collection in Description of Provenance.
More information on provenance may be found in Description of Provenanceclick to open link.