When Samuel was 12, his father died of pneumonia, and at 13, Samuel left
school to become a printer's apprentice. After two short years, he
joined his brother Orion's newspaper as a printer and editorial
assistant. It was here that young Samuel found he enjoyed writing.
At 17, he left Hannibal behind for a printer's job in St. Louis. While
in St. Louis, Clemens became a river pilot's apprentice. He became a
licensed river pilot in 1858. Clemens' pseudonym, Mark Twain, comes from
his days as a river pilot. It is a river term which means two fathoms
or 12-feet when the depth of water for a boat is being sounded. "Mark
twain" means that is safe to navigate.
Because the river trade was brought to a stand still by the Civil War in
1861, Clemens began working as a newspaper reporter for several
newspapers all over the United States.
Twain began to gain fame when his story, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of
Calavaras County" appeared in the New York Saturday Press on November
18, 1865. Twain's first book, "The Innocents Abroad," was published in
1869, "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" in 1876, and "The Adventures of
Huckleberry Finn" in 1885. He wrote 28 books and numerous short stories,
letters and sketches.
Mark Twain passed away on April 21, 1910, but has a following still
today. His childhood home is open to the public as a museum in Hannibal,
and Calavaras County in California holds the Calavaras County Fair and
Jumping Frog Jubilee every third weekend in May. Walking tours are given
in New York City of places Twain visited near his birthday every year. Interesting fact------In 1870, Clemens married Olivia
Langdon, and they had four children, one of whom died in infancy and two
who died in their twenties. Their surviving child, Clara, lived to be
88, and had one daughter. Clara's daughter died without having any
children, so there are no direct descendants of Samuel Clemens living.
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