Family

Wife and Daughters

Olivia Langdon Clemens
(1845-1904)

Sam Clemens' wife. Olivia Langdon was born in Elmira, New York, the daughter of a very wealthy coal businessman. She was an unhealthy teenager, suffering from tubercluosis of the spine from the age of 14 until about 20. Her poor health followed her throughout her life. Olivia met Sam Clemens in 1867 through his relationship with her brother Charles, who was Sam's fellow passenger on the Quaker City excursion. The couple's first date was to hear a reading by Charles Dickens in New York City.
Sam courted Olivia throughout 1868; he was found her to be a model of refinement and gentility, the opposite of how he saw himself. They became engaged in Novemeber of that year, just two months after she rejected her first offer of marriage. In February 1869, their engagement was announced, and in February 1870, they were married in Elmira. The ceremony was performed by Congregational ministers Joseph Twitchell and Thomas K. Beecher.
Immediately after the wedding, Sam and Olivia move to Buffalo, New York, into a new home purchased for them by Olivia's father, Jervis. After this promising start, however, the first year of their marriage was extremely difficult for the young couple. The first tragedy was the death of Jervis from cancer in August; this was followed by the death of Olivia's friend Emma Nye in the Clemenses home just a month later. Their first child, Langdon Clemens, was born prematurely in November, and lived only for another year and a half. Under the strain of so much misfortune, Olivia contracted typhoid fever, and was hovering herself near death. It was then that Sam packed up his family and moved to Elmira, where Olivia's family could watch over her and Langdon.
Life soon normalized for the Clemenses, however, and they moved to a large house in Hartford, Connecticut, and had three daughters — Susy, Clara, and Jean. With the increasing fame of Mark Twain, the Hartford house became a center for the city's social and literary scene, and attracted constant guests. Besides Clemens' earnings from his books and lectures, Olivia's inheritance enabled the family to lead a lavish lifestyle.
The great expense of their habits and the failure of Sam's publishing company and the Paige compositor caught up with the family by 1891, when the Hartford was closed up and the entire family went to live in Europe for the next four years. In 1896, Olivia and Clara accompanied Sam on his round-the-world lecture tour. Tragedy struck the following year, when eldest daughter Susy died at the age of 23 from spinal meningitis, a devastating blow to the family. From that time until 1902, the Clemenses were living in Switzerland, Austria, and England.
Upon their return to America, the family took up residence in Riverdale, N.Y., and arranged to settle into a house in Tarrytown. At this time, however, Olivia's health began getting progressively worse. She was advised to keep a distance from Sam, and the couple went months without seeing each other during this illness. Finally, by the end of 1903, her doctors advised Livy to take up residence in the warm climate of Italy, prompting the family to move to a villa outside Florence. About six months later, in June 1904, Livy died at the villa. Her body was returned to the U.S., and she was buried in Woodlawn Cemetary in Elmira.

Olivia Susan (Susy) Clemens
(1872-1896)

Eldest daughter Susy Clemens was born in Elmira, N.Y., and lived a short life, dying at the age of 23. In childhood, Susy often had poor health, similar to her mother. At 13, she wrote a biography of her father, which was included as part of Twain's Chapters From My Autobiography.
Susy attended Bryn Mawr college for a year in 1890, but left to accompany her family to Europe. She returned to the U.S. in 1895 with her sister Jean, and stayed with their aunt in Elmira. The following year, Susy became very ill, and was diagnosed with spinal meningitis. Just three days later, she died in the Clemens' Hartford home. Her sister Jean, her aunt, and Joseph Twitchell were in attendance.
Sam was in Guildford, England, at the time, and received the news by telegram. Susy is generally regarded as Sam's favorite child, and her death was a great blow to both her parents. They never returned to the Hartford home. On the one-year anniversary of her death, Mark Twain published a poem in Harper's Magazine.

Clara Langdon Clemens
(1874-1962)

Second daughter. Born in Elmira, N.Y., Clara Clemens had a varied education while growing up, including home schooling; a year at a public high school in Hartford, Connecticut; and a tenure at a boarding school in Berlin. At the age of 21, Clara was the only Clemens daughter to accompany Sam on his around-the-world lecture tour in 1895/96. The following year, the Clemens family went to live in Vienna in order for Clara to study piano under the renowned teacher T. Leschetizky. Although she would eventually give up piano for singing, she did meet her future husband, Ossip Gabrilowitsch, a Russian, in Vienna.
Clara and her family returned to New York by 1900, where she continued studying singing and maintaining a long-distance relationship with Ossip over the next several years. She also assumed the responsibility of caring for her ill mother during her final years and running the Clemens household. In 1904, following her mother's death, a 31-year-old Clara had a nervous breakdown, and spent a year in a sanatorium. Upon her release at the end of 1905, she reassumed the role of overseeing the Clemens household, and moved in with Sam at his New York City home.
In 1909, Clara and Ossip resumed their relationship, which had broken off in 1904, when Clara invited him to the Clemens home in Redding, Connecticut, to recuperate from an operation he had in New York. By October of that year the couple was married. Just several months after leaving for Europe to settle down, Clara and Ossip returned to Redding to Sam Clemens' bedside just four days before his death. Clara became the sole heir to the Clemens estate, as both her sisters had already passed away.
Clara and Ossip had Sam Clemens' only grandchild, Nina Gabrilowitsch, in 1910. The family would eventually move to Detroit, Michigan, where Ossip became the director of the Detroit's Symphony Orchestra, a position he held for the remainder of his life. Clara, meanwhile, would occasionally sing and act in local theater groups.
Ossip died in 1936 from stomach cancer, at the age of 58, and Clara moved to Los Angeles. She remarried eight years later to another Russian musician, and they moved to San Diego. In 1962, at the age of 88, Clara died in San Diego.
Clara was determined during her lifetime to perserve her father's image as a lovable, innocent humorist. She had numerous disagreements with Bernard DeVoto, who became Twain's literary executor after A.B. Paine died, about the release of unpublished writings which may show her father in a less-than-complementary light. She didn't allow his compilation Letters From The Earth to be published due to the questionable religious views expressed therein, and the release date was secured only after her death.
Sam's granddaugher, Nina, lived most of her life on a trust fund set up by her mother, and supported by the royalties from Twain's writings. Her attempts to establish herself as a photographer failed, and she fell victim to alcoholism and drug abuse. She overdosed on barbituates in 1966 in Los Angeles. She was Sam Clemens' last direct descendant.

Jane (Jean) Lampton Clemens
(1880-1909)

Youngest daughter. Born in Elmira, N.Y., Jean Clemens was frail and unhealth as a child, as was her mother and sisters. She suffered from epilepsy, and had her first seizures at the age of 10. Jean was in constant need of medical attention throughout her life, and Sam was very protective of her. She never picked up a vocation or had a serious involvement with a man. Jean was involved with animal rights issues and various hobbies.
Following her mother's death in 1904, Jean's epilepsy took a turn for the worse. She attempted to kill the family housekeeper twice, in 1905 and 1906. Over the next five years, she spent most of the time in sanitoriums. In 1909, she became the private secretary to her father, and moved into Stormfield, his house in Redding, Connecticut. On Dec. 24, 1909, Jean died of a heart attack induced by a seizure in the bathtub at Stormfield. She was 29 years old.

Olivia Langdon Clemens (1845-1904) Sam Clemens' wife.	Olivia Langdon was born in Elmira, New York, the daughter of a very wealthy coal businessman. She was an unhealthy teenager, suffering from tubercluosis of the spine from the age of 14 until about 20. Her poor health followed her throughout her life. Olivia met Sam Clemens in 1867 through his relationship with her brother Charles, who was Sam's fellow passenger on the Quaker City excursion. The couple's first date was to hear a reading by Charles Dickens in New York City. Sam courted Olivia throughout 1868; he was found her to be a model of refinement and gentility, the opposite of how he saw himself. They became engaged in Novemeber of that year, just two months after she rejected her first offer of marriage. In February 1869, their engagement was announced, and in February 1870, they were married in Elmira. The ceremony was performed by Congregational ministers Joseph Twitchell and Thomas K. Beecher. Immediately after the wedding, Sam and Olivia move to Buffalo, New York, into a new home purchased for them by Olivia's father, Jervis. After this promising start, however, the first year of their marriage was extremely difficult for the young couple. The first tragedy was the death of Jervis from cancer in August; this was followed by the death of Olivia's friend Emma Nye in the Clemenses home just a month later. Their first child, Langdon Clemens, was born prematurely in November, and lived only for another year and a half. Under the strain of so much misfortune, Olivia contracted typhoid fever, and was hovering herself near death. It was then that Sam packed up his family and moved to Elmira, where Olivia's family could watch over her and Langdon. Life soon normalized for the Clemenses, however, and they moved to a large house in Hartford, Connecticut, and had three daughters — Susy, Clara, and Jean. With the increasing fame of Mark Twain, the Hartford house became a center for the city's social and literary scene, and attracted constant guests. Besides Clemens' earnings from his books and lectures, Olivia's inheritance enabled the family to lead a lavish lifestyle. The great expense of their habits and the failure of Sam's publishing company and the Paige compositor caught up with the family by 1891, when the Hartford was closed up and the entire family went to live in Europe for the next four years. In 1896, Olivia and Clara accompanied Sam on his round-the-world lecture tour. Tragedy struck the following year, when eldest daughter Susy died at the age of 23 from spinal meningitis, a devastating blow to the family. From that time until 1902, the Clemenses were living in Switzerland, Austria, and England. Upon their return to America, the family took up residence in Riverdale, N.Y., and arranged to settle into a house in Tarrytown. At this time, however, Olivia's health began getting progressively worse. She was advised to keep a distance from Sam, and the couple went months without seeing each other during this illness. Finally, by the end of 1903, her doctors advised Livy to take up residence in the warm climate of Italy, prompting the family to move to a villa outside Florence. About six months later, in June 1904, Livy died at the villa. Her body was returned to the U.S., and she was buried in Woodlawn Cemetary in Elmira.


Olivia Susan (Susy) Clemens (1872-1896) Eldest daughter	Susy Clemens was born in Elmira, N.Y., and lived a short life, dying at the age of 23. In childhood, Susy often had poor health, similar to her mother. At 13, she wrote a biography of her father, which was included as part of Twain's Chapters From My Autobiography. Susy attended Bryn Mawr college for a year in 1890, but left to accompany her family to Europe. She returned to the U.S. in 1895 with her sister Jean, and stayed with their aunt in Elmira. The following year, Susy became very ill, and was diagnosed with spinal meningitis. Just three days later, she died in the Clemens' Hartford home. Her sister Jean, her aunt, and Joseph Twitchell were in attendance. Sam was in Guildford, England, at the time, and received the news by telegram. Susy is generally regarded as Sam's favorite child, and her death was a great blow to both her parents. They never returned to the Hartford home. On the one-year anniversary of her death, Mark Twain published a poem in Harper's Magazine.


Clara Langdon Clemens (1874-1962) Second daughter.	Born in Elmira, N.Y., Clara Clemens had a varied education while growing up, including home schooling; a year at a public high school in Hartford, Connecticut; and a tenure at a boarding school in Berlin. At the age of 21, Clara was the only Clemens daughter to accompany Sam on his around-the-world lecture tour in 1895/96. The following year, the Clemens family went to live in Vienna in order for Clara to study piano under the renowned teacher T. Leschetizky. Although she would eventually give up piano for singing, she did meet her future husband, Ossip Gabrilowitsch, a Russian, in Vienna. Clara and her family returned to New York by 1900, where she continued studying singing and maintaining a long-distance relationship with Ossip over the next several years. She also assumed the responsibility of caring for her ill mother during her final years and running the Clemens household. In 1904, following her mother's death, a 31-year-old Clara had a nervous breakdown, and spent a year in a sanatorium. Upon her release at the end of 1905, she reassumed the role of overseeing the Clemens household, and moved in with Sam at his New York City home. In 1909, Clara and Ossip resumed their relationship, which had broken off in 1904, when Clara invited him to the Clemens home in Redding, Connecticut, to recuperate from an operation he had in New York. By October of that year the couple was married. Just several months after leaving for Europe to settle down, Clara and Ossip returned to Redding to Sam Clemens' bedside just four days before his death. Clara became the sole heir to the Clemens estate, as both her sisters had already passed away. Clara and Ossip had Sam Clemens' only grandchild, Nina Gabrilowitsch, in 1910. The family would eventually move to Detroit, Michigan, where Ossip became the director of the Detroit's Symphony Orchestra, a position he held for the remainder of his life. Clara, meanwhile, would occasionally sing and act in local theater groups. Ossip died in 1936 from stomach cancer, at the age of 58, and Clara moved to Los Angeles. She remarried eight years later to another Russian musician, and they moved to San Diego. In 1962, at the age of 88, Clara died in San Diego. Clara was determined during her lifetime to perserve her father's image as a lovable, innocent humorist. She had numerous disagreements with Bernard DeVoto, who became Twain's literary executor after A.B. Paine died, about the release of unpublished writings which may show her father in a less-than-complementary light. She didn't allow his compilation Letters From The Earth to be published due to the questionable religious views expressed therein, and the release date was secured only after her death. Sam's granddaugher, Nina, lived most of her life on a trust fund set up by her mother, and supported by the royalties from Twain's writings. Her attempts to establish herself as a photographer failed, and she fell victim to alcoholism and drug abuse. She overdosed on barbituates in 1966 in Los Angeles. She was Sam Clemens' last direct descendant.


Jane (Jean) Lampton Clemens (1880-1909) Youngest daughter.	Born in Elmira, N.Y., Jean Clemens was frail and unhealth as a child, as was her mother and sisters. She suffered from epilepsy, and had her first seizures at the age of 10. Jean was in constant need of medical attention throughout her life, and Sam was very protective of her. She never picked up a vocation or had a serious involvement with a man. Jean was involved with animal rights issues and various hobbies. Following her mother's death in 1904, Jean's epilepsy took a turn for the worse. She attempted to kill the family housekeeper twice, in 1905 and 1906. Over the next five years, she spent most of the time in sanitoriums. In 1909, she became the private secretary to her father, and moved into Stormfield, his house in Redding, Connecticut. On Dec. 24, 1909, Jean died of a heart attack induced by a seizure in the bathtub at Stormfield. She was 29 years old.