A Visit To The Mark Twain House
On Friday, March 21st, my family and I went to the Mark Twain House in Hartford. This historical site now consists of the visitors center which holds a theater for a short film on Mark Twain’s life, and an exhibit dedicated to his servants. This site also, includes his house and his carriage house, where most of his servants lived. This site is right next to the Harriet Beecher Stowe House. The house itself was beautiful. It was a three-story home, and the first floor was complete with a living room, a dining room, a library and an indoor garden, and also a foyer for visitors once they enter the house. Every room was beautifully furnished, and the library had a very short bookcase, but it ran around most of the room. There was one more room next to the library but it was closed for remodeling. On the second floor, there was mostly bedrooms, and the children’s school room. The third floor was his billiard room, consisting of his writing desk and a pool table. His butler’s bedroom was located on the third floor as well. After that, we went down to the kitchen, which was the last room in the house. In the kitchen, their was a small window that looked into a dinette, so the chef could talk to the people he was cooking for.
I learned a few new things about Mark Twain besides just going to see his house. His original name was Samuel Clemens as most people know. However, most people don’t know how he got the name of Mark Twain; most people think he made it up for a pen name. However, he got this name when he was a river boat captain. The ships would have to measure the depth of the water; if it was at least 12 feet deep, the sailors would yell up to the captain “Mark Twain”, which meant Mark 12 feet. He liked this name so much he kept it for his pen name. As for his family, Twain had three daughters, and he also had a son, but who died at an early age, due to diphtheria. Twain blamed himself, because on a cold winter day, he and his 19 month old son took a carriage ride. He was so busy talking to the driver, that his son became uncovered, which he felt led to him catching a cold.
I had a lot of fun learning about Mark Twain, and had fun going to see his house. He was an interesting man who accomplished a lot in life, in literature, produced many famous quotes, and had a very serious sense of humor. His humor and wittiness can be seen in his quotes. I will leave you with two of my favorites: “When angry, count to four; when very angry, swear”; “Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society”.
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“When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.” Mark Twain