Ole Samuel Clemons made quite a mark in Hannibal Missourah and here is a little unknown history of the Man born under a comet and died under the same Comet "Hailey's" :
Samuel and the Civil War - Less Than Heroic
In 1861, with the outbreak of the Civil War, the river traffic was greatly disrupted. Clemens, not wanting to be mistaken by the Union as a gunboat, returned to Hannibal and helped form the Marion Rangers, which was a group of Confederate volunteers comprised of many of his old Hannibal schoolmates.
While on the Mississippi, Clemens's loyalties changed back and forth, whereby he settled supporting the South. When Governor Claiborne F. Jackson called for a militia to be formed, Clemens answered the call, and he and fourteen others formed the Marion Rangers. Although Clemens was made a 2nd lieutenant, his rank and that of the others was basically meaningless to this group of boys who had grown up together.
The Marion Rangers were not exactly heroes by any stretch. Whenever a rumor surfaced that mentioned the Union troops may be coming, they assumed a retreating posture. Clemens later wrote that the rangers "were hopeless material for war." He was pleased and surprised how helpful and friendly the local farmers were to them.Clemens said of this that the farmers "were as hospitably kind and courteous to us as if we had deserved it."
In less than one month after the rangers were formed, Clemens and his men learned that a Union regiment was moving their way. Clemens said, "Our boys went apart and consulted, then we went back and told the other companies present that the war was a disappointment to us, and we were going to disband."
Upon learning of the disbandment plan, the Rangers were urged to reconsider, as reinforcements under Confederate General Tom Harris were on their way to them. Half of the Rangers decided to stay and joined other regiments and served until the end of the war. However, Samuel and the others would hear nothing of staying. Clemens later wrote that, I knew more about retreating than the man that invented retreating."
Later in life, Clemens, now signing his pen name of Mary Twain, wrote about his short war experiences in an amusing short story titled, "The Private History of a Campaign That Failed." His story told of the confusion within the Rangers, and how inexperienced the young boys were, who actually had no clue what war was about, or really where they loyalties lay.
While The War Raged
With the Civil War continuing in earnest, Clemens traveled to Carson City in January 1862, then to Aurora that April. In Nevada he dabbled in mining all the while continuing his writings.
In February, 1863, Clemens wrote three articles and sent them to the Carson City Enterprise, that were published on the third, fifth and seventh. These articles were signed Mark Twain, the first known use of the name, although Clemens claimed to have used it earlier.
Later that year, Twain wrote for the San Francisco Morning Call, as well as the Virginia City Enterprise. Published in the Enterprise was an article called "A Bloody Massacre Near Carson," which was a fictional hoax about a man killing his family. Other papers picked up the story, then discovered that is was a hoax, and were furious, refusing to continue to reprint news stories from the Enterprise. Twain offered to resign, but the editors, Goodman and De Quille did not accept his resignation saying that the anger will blow over, although at the same time, the story will be remembered, favorable from a writing aspect for Twain.
Many years later With his health and chest pains increasing in frequency and annoyance, Twain returned to New York on April 12, 1910 in severe pain. Twain took notice that Halley's Comet was again visible in the sky, as it was the day of his birth.
On April 21, 1910 at 6:30 p.m., Samuel Clemens, the beloved Mark Twain, died at Stormfield. His funeral was held at the Brick Presbyterian Church, New York, and Henry Van Dyke gave a short sermon. Mark Twain was buried in Elmira, New York on April 24, in a family plot.
In evaluating the life of Mark Twain what can be said other than he was truly a great American, the best of the best in his writings, and one of the most beloved characters and story tellers the world will ever know.He for one is someone that I would have loved to have met.
The genius of his wit entertained the world not only through his literature, but through his very popular lecture series. He would always appear elegantly clad in his trademark white suit that complemented his white mustache and distinctive hair, along with his cigar.
A man of serious thinking, this native American never strayed from his homespun humor and down to earth style and manners.
So remember a toast to Sam Clemons AKA "Mark Twain" this April 23 while at Pycho Mountain for he was indeed one of us Ya'know
