AtoZ Challenge: C-Samuel Clemens

SAMUEL CLEMENS: 

William Faulkner referred to Samuel Clemens as "The Father of American  Literature." Sam's pen name "Mark Twain" was derived from his love for the Big River and his dream of becoming a steamship captain. Mark Twain literally means "two-fathoms" deep or twelve feet deep or "two marks." 

Sam's dad Judge John Clemens had a law office a few blocks from their home on Hill Street. It has since been moved to sit across the street from his boyhood home. His father bailed young Sam out on many occasions. I have boys. I can relate.

My favorite boyhood story happened to Sam when he was probably around ten or eleven. He stayed out past curfew, sneaked into his dad's office and spent the night. With the hopes of slipping back into his house undetected, he woke up early and woke up face to face with a dead man in his dad's office. He shot out of the opened window and swore to never break curfew again.

Tragedy struck the family when his dad came down with pneumonia in 1847 and died when Sam was only eleven years old.  

At the age of eighteen, Sam's dream came true. He became an apprentice to steamship Captain Horace E. Bixby. For the next two years of his life, he navigated the waters between St. Louis and New Orleans.

Sam's boyhood home and the infamous white-washed fence still stand as they did more than a century ago. Our town has enough festivals and parades to fill an entire calendar year, including a 4th of July celebration, which hosts a white-washing fence contest.

Sam's boyhood home. Notice the white picket fence. It does exist!

Have you fulfilled your childhood dream? Did you ever con anyone in to helping you do chores? My dream job was a toss up between an archaeologist, a detective or a writer.