The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1911-10-24
Interesting Memory Sketch Of the
Life OF Samuel Clemens While
Citizen of This
City.
TRAGEDY OF FISH WIFE
Came Back Home During World Lee
ture Tour and Filled Opera House
on Snowy
Night.
TBy William q. Broadfield. !

TBy William E. Broadfield.]
Samuel Clemens mark Twain) was
an Iowa printers helper before the
civil war. He worked for his elder
brother, Orion Clemens, who in the
Sos operated job printing Office in
KeokulS. Orion had the contract to
print the city directory and Sam was
one of the compositors When he
came to his own name in the directory,
instead of allowing it to go through
as Clemens, Samuel, printer" the
budding humorist changed it to Glen
ems, Samuel, antiquarian" You can
see this copy of the Keokuk city direc-
tory in the Keokuk public library to-
day. Jokes were Sans delight, and
usually they were of harmless sort.
was reporting an old soldiers re-
uion at Keokuk one fall when Orion
was the center of attraction among a
group Of the old soldier boys.
But Sam did a mean trick once
said Orion. who was relating some of
his then-famous brothers boyhood
days. 1--WE were then living at Hanni-
bal, No. Sam took young girl to a
party. Stickers and cookie burrs were
ripe, and what did the young scamp
do but lead her through the worst of
the stickers purposely to witness the
decorations. Her dress was fright
The story of Tom Sawyer was largely
an autobiography of Sans early days,
and the young girl that he speaks of
in the story as Toms girl friend was
the young lady he led through the
stickers''
Orion was somewhat older than Sam
and in middle life he gave up the
printing business to study law. But
he did not practice much. He finally
drifted into writing and became an
author of no mean ability himself, ac-
cording to local reputation, He wrote
stories by the yard, and as never
saw his name in print he evidently
used a nom de plume At any rate
some OF the newspaper boys fixed it
up In their own minds that Orion
wrote many of his brother Marks"
best work. This was pure fabrica-
ton, however. His contributions were
10 story papers of the cheaper grade,
which in the 10 and SOS fiourished so
vigorously. Nevertheless the printers
OF keokuk of that time were proud of
the fact that Mark Twain once "stuck
type there. His stay at the printing
business in Iowa was not of long du.
ration. He had learned his trade on
the old Hannibal Courier and then
worked for his brother Orion who first
opened up his job office at Hannibal.
Twain n recounting this experience
not long before his death said that
Orion was bent on running the sbop
FOR the benefit of his customers en-
tirely and not himself as he took the
work at ruinously low prices. It was
IN the days before cost findings as
used in the modern printing office en-
tered into the proprietor's thought.
All he wanted then was the work
and the elder Clemens got it. Mark
complained that pay days We're few
and far between. Orion then moved
TO Muscatine, Ia, where he was mar.
RED. He took his bride to Keokuk
and there they resided the balance of
his life. Mrs Clemens. mother of Or.
ion and the famous humorist. Joined
them, and for years her strong face
ana white hair was one Of the familiar
sights on the streets of the Gate CITY
Of Iowa, as it was called in the early
days, when river traffic ruled over
commerce
John Fry, brother of Smith FRY a
long time Washington CORRESPONDENT
LOT western papers was circulation
manager for The Gate City in the sos
and used to stuff we printer bows full +
of warns of the early days.
However, in one OF his earnest mo.
ments he remarked that Mark TWAIN
was real funny man even when a I
Young printer One year the printers
were celebrating Franklin's birthday <
sam Clemens was one of the speakers
and made an address that brought
down the house and that was long
remembered.
About that time Sam Clemens be-.
came pilot on a Mississippi river
steamboat, 1t was one of the best
paying jobs of the time and as Glenn
ems had never a lSnack of making mon
ey, it gave him a start in the direction
he was aiming. 1t was then that he
picked up the pen name of "Marl,
Twain" 1t was part Of the trade of the
riyerman to mark twain" or measure
the depth of the river, and as Glenn
ems heard the men on deck calling 1t
OFF it became fixed in his memory.
But he tells that someone else beat
him to the name. An old river re.
porter at st. Louis used the nom de