Mark Twain Biography

Mark Twain, the renowned American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer, was originally known as Samuel Langhorne Clemens. He spent his formative years in the quaint town of Hannibal, Missouri, alongside his sister and two brothers. Among his notable literary works are “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” (1876) and its follow-up, “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” (1884), the latter of which is often hailed as the “Great American Novel.” Samuel Langhorne Clemens came into this world on November 30, 1835, in Florida, Missouri.

Mark Twain’s Biography Age, Career, Famous Books, Education, and More

John Marshall, originally trained as a country lawyer, found himself ill-suited for farming. Despite a notably litigious society, establishing a law practice that could sustain a family would require time and a more densely populated area. Tragedy struck when Twain’s father passed away when he was just twelve years old. Over the next decade, twain embarked on a journey as an apprentice printer and later as a printer in both Hannibal and New York City. In 1823, Twain’s parents, hoping for a prosperous future, married. His father harbored an ambitious plan to amass wealth in South America. Twain’s heritage traced back to Cornish, English, and Scots-Irish roots. Twain’s life took a pivotal turn during a riverboat journey to New Orleans. It was there that he crossed paths with a renowned riverboat pilot who offered to impart the trade to him for a fee of five hundred dollars. Twain’s early years saw his family relocating to Hannibal, Missouri, a bustling port town along the Mississippi River.

Family

Twain’s father, John Marshall Clemens, practiced law as his profession but achieved only modest success in his legal career. In a pivotal move, he had relocated the family from Tennessee to Missouri earlier in the same year. Twain’s mother, in her younger years, epitomized the charm of a southern belle. She possessed a natural knack for humor, wore her emotions on her sleeve, and held a deep affection for both animals and those less fortunate in life.

Mark Twain Father Pic

Mark Twain Mother Pic

Mark Twain Daughter Pic

Mark Twain Family Pic

Mark Twain’s Childhood Pic

Early Career

This picturesque locale would later serve as the inspiration for the fictional town of St. Petersburg in his timeless works, “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” and “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. “Upon completing his training, twain assumed the role of a riverboat pilot along the Mississippi, a tenure that spanned four years. During this period, he gained intimate familiarity with the towns lining the mighty river and developed a keen understanding of the colorful characters that would later populate many of his novels, particularly the unforgettable Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. In his early piloting days, Clemens found himself aboard the steamer A. B. Chambers, alongside Grant Marsh, who would later gain renown as a celebrated steamboat captain on the Missouri River. When the Civil War began, Twain’s allegiance tended to be Southern due to his Southern heritage, and he briefly served in the Confederate militia. Twain’s brother Orion convinced him to go west on an expedition, a trip which became the subject matter of a later work, Roughing It.

Writing Career

Although some of Twain’s letters and travel accounts had seen publication, his true initiation into the world of literature came with the short story “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,” which made its debut in 1865. Twain acknowledged that it was Fitch who had provided him with his “first truly profitable lesson” in the art of writing. This particular story catapulted him into the national limelight, prompting Twain to devote a significant portion of his subsequent life to literary pursuits. Reflecting on his early career, Twain remarked, “When I first started lecturing and in my initial writings, my primary aim was to extract humor from everything I observed and encountered.”

Famous Books

In addition to “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,” Twain’s literary repertoire boasts several other immensely popular and widely read works. These include novels such as “The Prince and the Pauper” (1881), “Life on the Mississippi” (1883), “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court” (1889), and “Pudd’nhead Wilson” (1894). Twain’s literary prowess extended to collections of short stories and essays, such as “The 1,000,000 Bank-Note and Other Stories” (1893), “The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg and Other Essays” (1900), and “What Is Man?” (1906). Mark Twain, a trailblazer in American realism and humanism, came into this world in 1835 during the appearance of Haley’s Comet. Remarkably, he departed this world during the next sighting of Haley’s Comet, exactly 75 years later. Twain’s subsequent work delved into his experiences along the Mississippi River, and “Old Times on the Mississippi” emerged as a series of sketches first published in the Atlantic Monthly in 1875. These sketches revealed his growing disillusionment with the prevailing Romanticism of his time.

Later Life

Twain’s penchant for adventure and risk-taking eventually led him into financial dire straits during the later years of his life. During this challenging period, he penned “The Private History of a Campaign That Failed” for The Century Magazine. His earnings from such endeavors, however, were invested in a series of unsuccessful business ventures and inventions. This particular piece delved into his brief two-week stint in a Confederate militia during the Civil War. Faced with mounting bills and financial obligations, Twain embarked on a globe-trotting journey, delivering lectures and speeches as a means to make ends meet.

Death

Mark Twain passed away due to a heart attack on April 21, 1910.

Quotes

• “It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.”
• “The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up.”
• “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.”
• “Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please.”
• “Kindness is the language the deaf can hear and the blind can see.”
• “If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.”

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