Henry Clemens

The Mississippi riverboat, Pennsylvania, was laying over at St. Louis.

Among the crew were Henry Clemens and his older brother, Sam.

Samuel Clemens, who would one day write his way to fame under the pen name of Mark Twain.

While the steamboat loaded cargo, Sam went ashore to stay overnight at the home of his sister, Pamela.

Yes.

A few weeks later, on June 13th, 60 miles below Memphis, the boilers of the steamboat Pennsylvania exploded.

Among the 160 dead was Henry Clemens.

In a Memphis warehouse, the victims were laid out in a long line of wooden coffins.

We left K., December 20th, arrived at M., December 21st.

i returned to keokuk on my first visit march eighteenth i was taken sick about the last of april and was sick a long time my mother was sent for she came and stayed ten days in june mr clemens bought the ben franklin book and job office of ogden delaplaine we moved to keokuk on the ninth of june eighteen fifty five our little jenny was born september fourteenth eighteen fifty five on the nineteenth of december following we went to board at paz remained there until february second eighteen fifty seven in june of eighteen fifty seven mister clemens sold the printing office to h h belding on the twenty fifth of september eighteen fifty seven we started to tennessee to spend the winter and to see a large amount of mountain land we spent ten days in st louis with mr william a moffett belle stouts went with us we all attended the great fair of the west we spent ten days in adair county kentucky visiting relatives and friends of our parents we then proceeded to tennessee by private conveyance i left tennessee on the twenty fourth of march eighteen fifty eight we went to wayne county ky the present position of a large army i stayed until the twelfth of april and then went to columbia ky there i remained eight days received a letter urging my speedy return to iowa on account of my mother's illness i arrived in keokuk on the twenty seventh of april found my mother better spent one day in st louis on my return mr clemens returned to keokuk on the seventh of july he came by memphis tenn to see and perhaps wait on and relieve his poor and unfortunate brother henry clemens who was second clerk on the steamboat pennsylvania which exploded her boilers on the mississippi river sixty miles below memphis tenn on the thirteenth eighteen fifty eight henry died on the twentieth of june one week from the time he was injured no one of his friends reached him excepting sam clemens his brother who was steersman at that time but from a difficulty which took place between sam c and the other pilot named brown on henry's account sam had left the pen and was to go on her again as soon as they arrived at st louis where brown was to be discharged brown was killed by the explosion We stayed at William Stout's from July 7th until the following July, when we went to housekeeping.

On February 1st, 1860, we moved to town.

In May, Orion concluded to go to Memphis, Missouri, to practice law.

We left K., December 20th, arrived at M., December 21st.

i returned to keokuk on my first visit march eighteenth i was taken sick about the last of april and was sick a long time my mother was sent for she came and stayed ten days in june mr clemens bought the ben franklin book and job office of ogden delaplaine we moved to keokuk on the ninth of june eighteen fifty five our little jenny was born september fourteenth eighteen fifty five on the nineteenth of december following we went to board at paz remained there until february second eighteen fifty seven in june of eighteen fifty seven mister clemens sold the printing office to h h belding on the twenty fifth of september eighteen fifty seven we started to tennessee to spend the winter and to see a large amount of mountain land we spent ten days in st louis with mr william a moffett belle stouts went with us we all attended the great fair of the west we spent ten days in adair county kentucky visiting relatives and friends of our parents we then proceeded to tennessee by private conveyance i left tennessee on the twenty fourth of march eighteen fifty eight we went to wayne county kentucky the present position of a large army i stayed until the twelfth of april then went to columbia kentucky there i remained eight days received a letter urging my speedy return to iowa on account of my mother's illness i arrived in keokuk on the twenty seventh of april found my mother better spent one day in st louis on my return mr clemens returned to keokuk on the seventh of july he came by memphis tenn to see and perhaps wait on and relieve his poor and unfortunate brother henry clemens who was second clerk on the steamboat pennsylvania which exploded her boilers on the mississippi river sixty miles below memphis tenn on the thirteenth eighteen fifty eight henry died on the twentieth of june one week from the time he was injured no one of his friends reached him excepting sam clemens his brother who was steersman at that time but from a difficulty which took place between sam c and the other pilot named brown on henry's account sam had left the pen and was to go on her again as soon as they arrived at st louis where brown was to be discharged brown was killed by the explosion we stayed at william stout's from july seventh until the following july when we went to housekeeping on february first eighteen sixty we moved to town in may orion concluded to go to memphis missouri to practice law i will say he was admitted to the bar in jamestown tenn examined by judge he moved his family over in august eighteen sixty in january eighteen sixty one he went to st louis to see judge edward bates who had accepted an appointment in abraham lincoln's cabinet as attorney-general mr clemens was successful he received the appointment of secretary of nevada territory a new territory organized in the session of eighteen sixty and sixty one mr clemens received a notice of his appointment on the twenty seventh of march received his papers on the twentieth of april we then left memphis on the twenty sixth reached keokuk again on the twenty seventh mister c started to st louis that night he left keokuk on the fourth of july to visit his sister p a moffett in st louis there he met and prevailed on his brother sam to go to his new home with him they left st louis on the eighteenth of july on the sioux city for st jo there they took passage in the overland coach a mail conveyance which began to run daily between st jo and sacramento california they left st joe on the twenty sixth of july arrived in carson city nevada territory on the fourteenth of august seventeen hundred miles from st joe and five hundred and eighty miles west of great salt lake city m e clemens it is unfortunate that the notebook consists so largely of mere chronology of orion's experiences in muscatine there is practically no mention nor of the reason for the removal to keokuk the reader may surmise that molly's long illness in the spring of eighteen fifty five made her anxious to be near her parents again and so when a business opportunity in the form of a printing-shop appeared in keokuk orion at once accepted but there was probably another reason why clemens was glad to move to keokuk that very summer the gate city saw the beginning of the biggest boom in its history property suddenly rose to fabulous prices and the town went wild in an orgy of buying and selling lots within a year the population almost doubled strangers from abroad came in hordes speculators in real estate crowded the hotels and street corners so permanent did the era of prosperity seem to be that by the summer of eighteen fifty six the newspapers of keokuk were extending condolences to the neighboring towns for their sad lack of progress even st louis stood in danger of an eclipse something of the exultation and vast pride in the city's growth is shown in the item that announced orion clemens's purchase of the printing office we are informed that messrs ogden and delaplaine have sold out their job office to mr o clemens of muscatine mr clemens is not blind to the advantages and prospects of keokuk wonder if there ain't a number of such persons of that place and also at burlington who would come here if they could one-horse towns won't win in this age of railroads and steam men who would thrive must be in a thriving place mark twain who worked with orion at the ben franklin print shop during these boom years reports that orion did not thrive however on account of his lack of business sense which resulted in the failure that overtook him in eighteen fifty seven molly merely records the event it would be unfair to accept twain's indictment at face value however for his own lamentable lack of business acumen is a matter of common knowledge and he fails to add the significant fact that orion's failure came during the great slump of eighteen fifty seven when the boom utterly collapsed and left keokuk gasping at the suddenness and extent of the catastrophe the note-book item of the birth of jennie will remind old friends of the clemens family in keokuk of the mute pathos of an empty little rocking-chair jennie died in nevada territory on february first eighteen sixty four at the time of her death she was only eight years of age for forty years afterward up to the time of mollie's death the little girl's chair was kept in the living-room of the clemens home THOSE FAMILIAR WITH MARK TWAIN'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY WILL HAVE NO DIFFICULTY IN IDENTIFYING THE LARGE AMOUNT OF MOUNTAIN LAND WHICH ORION AND MOLLY WENT TO SEE IN THE FALL OF 1857.

THIS ENORMOUS TRACT OF LAND, COMPRISING 75,000 ACRES, HAD BEEN PURCHASED BY ORION'S FATHER IN THE HOPE THAT SOME DAY IT WOULD BRING FABULOUS WEALTH TO HIS CHILDREN.

IT ACTUALLY BECAME, INSTEAD, THE WORRY OF THREE GENERATIONS.

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once in the early days when orion was territorial secretary a development scheme that promised large returns was about to be consummated it involved the importation of wine growers and wine makers from europe and settling them on the land all that was needed was orion's signature but orion opposed to the liquor interests refused to become a party to the scheme and so the project was abandoned many years later mark twain speaking of the land said that it had been created under a misapprehension that his father had loaded himself up with it under a misapprehension and that he had unloaded it upon his children under a misapprehension and that he himself should be glad to be rid of the accumulated misapprehensions as soon as possible of the death of henry clemens molly's account agrees in detail with that given by sam he was three years younger than sam and a favorite with all the members of the clemens family in eighteen fifty three he had gone up to muscatine with orion and while there had worked as a clerk in burnett's book store later he had followed orion to keokuk and had become a printer's apprentice in his shop after orion's failure in eighteen fifty seven henry had gone on the river with sam he was a clean good-looking boy and so generally beloved that sam was often jealous of him though he too loved him deeply as his wildly pathetic letter to molly shows written when henry was dying orion's appointment as secretary of nevada territory was a political plum a doubtful boon when first presented but a position which might have proved exceedingly desirable had orion played his cards right he had received the post for his energetic support of lincoln's first candidacy in a stumping tour of northern missouri judge edward bates of st louis who secured him the appointment was an old friend for five years orion prospered then the territory became a state at the first election he announced his candidacy for the office of secretary of state but at the last moment according to mark twain when there was no doubt of his nomination he suddenly took it into his head not to go near the convention because his presence there might be an unfair and improper influence This, together with the fact that he just as suddenly changed to an unfriendly attitude toward whiskey, in a country where whiskey was popular, was enough to eliminate him.

Having lost his political job, he was forced to turn to law for a livelihood.