Mark Twain

1835-1910
Biography

One of the greatest American

writers: humorist, essayist,
novelist and adventurer
Hello…my name is
Samuel L. Clemens.
A.K.A. Mark Twain!
 Halley’s Comet
-Mark Twain, a
Biography
In 1910,
Halley’s Comet
Redding, Connecticut reached
Born: Died: perihelion on
11/30/1835 04/21/1910 April 20th and
Mark Twain
died on the
Florida, Missouri 21st.

• “I came in with Halley’s Comet in 1835. It is coming again

next year (1910), and I expect to go out with it. It will be
the greatest disappointment of my life if I don’t go out
with Halley’s Comet.”
 Sure…
You could call me
“Rags to Riches”
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, was born in this
cabin in the small frontier settlement of
Florida, Missouri.
• He was born two months premature, on
November 30th 1835.

• The sixth child of

John and Jane Clemens.

• Premature babies at that time period did

not usually survive. The frontier was a
harsh environment and children routinely
died from diseases such as measles,
smallpox, scarlet fever and malaria.
 Birth Place
• Samuel Langhorne Clemens born in Florida, Missouri
• (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910),better known
by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American
author and humorist.
• He is most noted for his novel The Adventures of Tom
Sawyer (1876) and its sequel, Adventures of
Huckleberry Finn (1885), the latter often called "the
Great American Novel."
 Connection to Slavery
• His uncle and father both owned slaves
from whom he would listen to stories and
songs. This is where he learned to love
story telling.
 Education
• Went to
school up
to the 5th
grade
• Left school
at age 11
when his
father died
in 1847
 Professional Career
• 1847 First job was as a printers apprentice in
Missouri for the Hannibal Courier.
• 1850 worked for his older brother Orion as a
reporter and a printer at the Hannibal Journal.
• He ran the paper if his brother was away.
• 1851 “A Gallant Fireman” Sam’s short humorous
account of a grocery fire is published.
• In 1857 he came back to Missouri and worked as a
riverboat captain.
• Brother Henry died in riverboat accident
Professional Career
In 1857 a river boat
captain’s salary was
250.00$ per month,
which is equivalent
to a 155,000$ per
year salary in the
present day.
 Professional Career

• In 1861 Mark Twain became a silver miner in

Nevada; he was unsuccessful.
• In Nevada he began to write for the Territorial
Enterprise newspaper; this is when he started going
by the name of Mark Twain.
 Professional Career
• In 1865 Twain published his first short story,
“Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog” a
retelling of a tall tale he picked up from the
miners.
•.
 “Mark Twain”

• In 1863, Sam adopted his pen name “Mark Twain”

• An important part of being a riverboat pilot is
knowing the waters -- depths, snags, mud, reefs. To
“mark twain” is to sound the depths and deem them
safe to passage.
• Means two fathoms, or twelve feet -- safe water for
the steamship.
 Marriage
• On one of his trips to Europe
and the Holy Land, Sam met
Charles Langdon
• Charles showed him a
picture of his sister.
• Sam and Olivia’s first date
was to a reading by Charles
Dickens in New York.
• Sam married Olivia (Livy)
Langdon in 1870. They Olivia
settled in Buffalo, NY where
he worked as a partner and
Langdon
writer for the Buffalo Clemens
Express.
Mark Twain’s Family

Clara
Susy
Jean
 Professional Career
• During 1874-1891 years, Sam
completed some of his most
famous works:
• The Adventures of Tom
Sawyer, 1876
• The Prince and the Pauper,
1881
• Life on the Mississippi, 1883
• The Adventures of
Huckleberry Finn, 1884
• A Connecticut Yankee in King
Arthur’s Court, 1889