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Mark
Twain
(Samuel Langhorne Clemens) authored both
essays and novels throughout his life.
His most famous works, Huckleberry Finn,
Tom Sawyer, and A Connecticut Yankee in
King Arthur's Court, are still considered
classics and reflections of American history.
Mark
Twain was born as Samuel Langhorne Clemens
on November 30, 1835 in Florida, Missouri.
Although he was the sixth of seven children,
he was only one of four to survive childhood.
When Twain's father died in 1847, Twain
went to work as a printer's apprentice
and learned how to be a typesetter. Twain
became further involved with the Hannibal
Journal, a local paper, and began contributing
both articles and sketches to the content.
Having learned the printing trade, Twain
decided to try his luck in larger cities
and left Missouri for New York and Philadelphia.
Twain
worked as a typesetter in a number of
cities, all the while educating himself
in local libraries to expand his knowledge.
It wasn't until he returned to Missouri
that Twain got his first taste of steamboats.
While traveling down to New Orleans, Twain
befriended the steamboat pilot who talked
him into pursuing a career in piloting
the boats.
It
took Mark Twain two years to study the
intricacies of the Mississippi River,
a requirement for steamboat pilots at
that time since night navigation was difficult.
Twain worked as a successful steamboat
pilot for two years before the American
Civil War broke out in 1861 and all traffic
between the Union and the Confederates
ceased.
Twain
temporarily joined a militia for two weeks
before deciding to follow his older brother,
Orion, out to the Nevada territories.
It took them two weeks to reach Virginia
City, Nevada, a journey Twain would later
use as his inspiration for his novel Roughing
It. After a short and unsuccessful try
at mining, Twain started writing articles
for the local paper. It was in one of
these articles that he first signed his
name as "Mark Twain".
After
his work at the Territorial Enterprise
in Virginia City, Mark Twain traveled
to San Francisco, California and continued
working as a journalist. His writings
and lectures took him to Hawaii, Europe,
and the Middle East, trips and travels
he eventually used for his book The Innocents
Abroad in 1869 This was the same year
he became engaged to his future wife,
Olivia. They married in Elmira, New York
in 1870.
Three
years later, Twain and his wife moved
to Hartford, Connecticut where Twain built
his family a large house. Olivia eventually
gave birth to three daughters while living
at their home. It was in Hartford that
Twain sat down and wrote his most famous
works: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
and Tom Sawyer. He also wrote The Prince
and the Pauper during that same time,
a classic story that has been retold thousands
of time in literature and film.
Twain
made historical contributions to the literary
world by chronicling a specific culture
and time in American history. His portrayal
of boyish pride and slavery has been studied
by scholars in both grade schools and
Universities.
Mark
Twain continued to write and travel throughout
the remainder of his life. His wife, Olivia
died in 1904 and Twain passed away from
a heart attack on April 21, 1910. By the
time of his death, Twain was already renowned
as a great American author.
This Mark Twain biography may not
be reproduced online.
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