Unit 10 At the shop
Mark Twain Biography
Mark Twain is one of America's truly
unique and defining personalities. His
ability to tap into American culture and
humor gave him an invaluable insight in
his writings and speeches. Known for his
realism, memorable characters, bluntness
and hatred of hypocrisy and oppression,
Twain is definitely one of the most recognizable
figures in American history.
Mark Twain was born Samuel Langhorn
Clemens on Nov. 30, 1835, in Florida,
Mo. His parents John Marshall Clemens
and Jane Lampton's families were originally
from Virginia, and the couple had made
four moves westward prior to Sam's birth.
Sam was the couples' sixth child and in
1839, the family moved to nearby Hannibal,
Mo. It was in this small river town that
Clemens would spend his boyhood years.
During this crucial time in his life,
Clemens developed a strong tie to the
Mississippi River, along which Hannibal
is located. Steamboats landed at the town
three times a day, and these river chariots
captured Clemens' imagination as he dreamed
of one day becoming a steamboat captain.
Despite Clemens' love for the river,
his first job was not on the mighty Mississippi,
but as a printer's apprentice to Joseph
Ament, who published the Missouri Courier.
Clemens would take the job in 1848, a
year after his fathers death. In 1851,
he began setting type for and contributing
sketches to his brother Orion's Hannibal
Journal. During the next two years, he
continued at the Journal and would take
over as editor in Orion's absence. Clemens
even got a few of his sketches published
in the Philadelphia Saturday Evening Post
in 1852.
Clemens left Hannibal in 1853, but would
not completely cut his ties with his hometown.
While working as a printer in New York
City and Philadelphia, he had travel letters
published in the Hannibal Journal. He
would return to the Midwest in 1854, at
age 19, and spent the next four years
living in several cities in the area.