{"id":460,"date":"2021-02-16T16:01:42","date_gmt":"2021-02-16T15:01:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.urz.uni-halle.de\/twain\/?page_id=460"},"modified":"2021-04-01T12:29:28","modified_gmt":"2021-04-01T10:29:28","slug":"friedmar-gobel-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.urz.uni-halle.de\/twain\/friedmar-gobel-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Friedmar G\u00f6bel"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

“Mark Twain und das Pensionsamt” | Freie Presse f\u00fcr Texas | 21 July 1885<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Mark Twain und das Pensionsamt. <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Ein f\u00fcr Samuel Clements1<\/a><\/sup> in Elma, N. Y. bestimmter Brief des Pensions-Commiss\u00e4rs, worin jener aufgefordert wird, weitere Beweise jener Pensionsberechtigung beizubringen, da er in seinem Pensionsgesuche blo\u00df allgemein constatirt hatte, da\u00df er an Rheumatismus und kranken Augen und anderen \u00dcbeln2<\/a><\/sup> leide, ist zuf\u00e4llig Herrn Samuel L. Clements3<\/a><\/sup> (Mark Twain) in Elmira, N. Y.4<\/a><\/sup>, eingeh\u00e4ndigt worden. Ebenso hat dieser eine f\u00fcr den Clements in Elma bestimmte Postkarte von Sen. Hawley5<\/a> <\/sup>erhalten, welcher im Glauben, der Elma\u00b4er Clemens habe bereits seine Pension bewilligt erhalten, ihm gratulierte. Mark Twain setzte sich hin und schrieb an den Pensions-Commiss\u00e4r einen Brief, aus dem nachfolgend ein Theil Platz finden m\u00f6ge:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Mark Twain and the pension office. <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A letter from the pension commissioner intended for Samuel Clements in Elma, N. Y., in which he is requested to provide further proof of his eligibility for a pension, since he had only generally stated in his application for a pension that he was suffering from rheumatism and sick eyes and other ailments, has coincidentally been delivered to Mr. Samuel L. Clements (Mark Twain) in Elmira, N. Y.. The latter has also received a postcard destined for Clements in Elma from Sen. Hawley, who, believing the Elma’er Clemens had already been granted his pension, congratulated him. Mark Twain sat down and wrote a letter to the pension commissioner, a part of which may be found below:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\u201eIch habe mich um keine Pension beworben. Ich habe mich oft, ja sehr oft nach einer Pension gesehnt, mich aber doch nicht getraut, Sie um eine solche zu bitten, da der einzige milit\u00e4rische Dienst6<\/a><\/sup>, den ich verrichtet habe, in der conf\u00f6derirten Armee verrichtet wurde. Nun Sie mir selbst eine Pension in Aussicht stellen, bin ich selbstverst\u00e4ndlich sehr ermuthigt. Ich habe zwar selbst keine Krankheit, die mich zu einer Pension berechtigen w\u00fcrde, aber ich k\u00f6nnte einen Substituten stellen, einen Mann, der ein Chaos, ja ein Museum aller verschiedenen Schmerzen, \u00dcbel und Krankheiten ist, einen Mann, der Rheumatismus und Augenschmerzen nach den Tagesm\u00fchen schon als Erholung betrachten w\u00fcrde. Wenn Sie mir die Pension bewilligen, geben Sie es dem Sen. Hawley, – ich meine das Certificat, nicht das Geld. Aus einliegender Postkarte werden Sie ersehen, dass er sich f\u00fcr mich interessirt. Er glaubt allerdings, da\u00df ich die Pension bereits habe, aber ich habe erst den Rheumatismus u. s. w. S. L. Clemens, der Polizei als Mark Twain bekannt.\u201c<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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“DEAR SIR – I have not applied for a pension. I have often wanted a pension \u2013 often, ever so often, I may say; but inasmuch as the only military service I performed during the war was in the Confederate army, I have always felt a delicacy about asking for it. However, since you have suggested the thing yourself, I feel strengthened. I haven\u2019t any very pensionable disease myself, but I can furnish a substitute, a man who is just simply a chaos, a museum of all the different kinds of aches and pains, fractures, dislocations, distempers, distortions, confusions and malformations there are; a man who would regard `rheumatism and sore
eyes\u00b4 as mere recreation and refreshment after the serious occupations of his day. If you grant me the pension, dear sir, please hand it to Gen. Hawley, United States Senator \u2013 I mean hand him the certificate, not the money \u2013 and he will forward it to me. You will observe by his postal card herewith enclosed that he takes a friendly interest in the matter. He thinks I\u2019ve already got a pension, whereas I\u2019ve only got the rheumatism [\u2026]. Very truly yours, S. L. CLEMENS. Known to the police as `Mark Twain.\u00b4”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Da\u00df dieser Brief im Pensionsamt von Hand zu Hand ging und nicht geringe Heiterkeit erregte, l\u00e4\u00dft sich denken.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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That this letter passed from hand to hand in the pension office and caused no small merriment, can be imagined.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Source<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Mark Twain und das Pensionsamt.” Freie Presse f\u00fcr Texas<\/em>  (San Antonio, Tex.), 21 July 1885. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers<\/em>. Lib. of Congress. Web<\/a>.
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Original letter source:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iron County register.<\/em> (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.), 23 July 1885. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers<\/em>. Lib. of Congress. Web<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notes<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1<\/sup> A military retirement application by a man named Samuel Clements from Elma (NY) was denied due to a lack of pensionable medical conditions by commissioner Black. According to this<\/a> article, \u201c[\u2026] Clements\u00b4 claim was being looked after by Senator Hawley [\u2026]\u201d. Before this and without knowing about the denial, United States Senator Hawley posted a letter to Mr. Clements congratulating his successful strive for retirement. Both the postal card by Senator Hawley as well as the response by commissioner Black were accidentally addressed to Samuel L. Clemens in Elmira, known as Mark Twain. Clemens forwarded the letter to Clements, the correct destination, and wrote this personal response to commissioner Black at Washington (Paine 12). || Sources<\/strong>: Paine, Albert Bigelow. Mark Twain \u2013 A Biography \u2013 1886-1900 (Vol. 2, Part 2)<\/em>. Web<\/a>.; Lyon County times. <\/em>(Silver City, Nev.), 01 Aug. 1885.\u00a0Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers<\/em>. Lib. of Congress. Web<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2<\/sup> Well before 1885 Clemens and his wife Olivia had been suffering from intense rheumatism which inflicted his writing arm and hence restricted him in his profession (Camfield et al. 225). In 1878, Clemens wrote a letter<\/a> expressing his pain: \u201cMy sufferings being so great that for months at a time I was unable to stand upon my feet\u201d (Twain, 1978). Coupled with numerous other medical conditions including \u201cvarious respiratory, digestive, and skin disorders\u201d (Camfield et al. 225) these diseases convinced the Clemens family to health stays overseas (Hill 9). || Sources<\/strong>: Camfield, Gregg et al. The Oxford Companion to Mark Twain. <\/em>Oxford UP, 2003 (Internet Archive<\/a>).; Hill, Hamlin. \u201cSamuel Langhorne Clemens.\u201d American Realists and Naturalists<\/em>. Detroit: Gale, 1982 (Web<\/a>).; \u201cSLC to Slote, Woodman and Co., 10 Feb 1878, Hartford, Conn. (UCCL 11147).\u201d In Mark Twain’s Letters, 1876\u201380<\/em>. Edited by Michael B. Frank and Harriet Elinor Smith. Mark Twain Project Online<\/a>. Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press. 2002, 2007. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

3<\/sup> It is difficult to trace back the source of this German translation as many American newspapers (example 1<\/a> and 2<\/a>) also confused \u201cClemens\u201d with \u201cClements\u201d. This<\/a> article, however, did not mistake the two names. || Sources<\/strong>: Lancaster daily intelligencer.<\/em>\u00a0(Lancaster, Pa.), 17 July 1885.\u00a0Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers<\/em>. Lib. of Congress. Web<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

4<\/sup> Clemens happened to make first contact with the town of Elmira in New York through an invitation by the Langdon family after his first meeting with his future wife Olivia Langdon (Wisbey and Jerome 3-4). From his first visit in Elmira in 1868 onwards, Clemens returned almost every summer as the months on the family\u00b4s Quarry Farm would become his \u201cmost pleasant and productive\u201d (Jerome and Wisbey 2) ones. With The Adventures of Tom Sawyer<\/em> (1876), The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn<\/em> (1885) and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur\u00b4s Court<\/em> (1889), Clemens wrote some of his most valued books in the study of the Langdon\u00b4s establishment (Camfield et al. 218). This is why \u201cThe Center for Mark Twain Studies<\/a>\u201d was founded in Elmira, operating out of the “Elmira College<\/a>“. The college was initially supported by the Langdon\u00b4s in order to provide a female education center in 1885 (\u201cThe Elmira Female College\u201d) (Camfield et al. 220). || Sources<\/strong>: Wisbey, Herbert, and Jerome, Robert. Mark Twain in Elmira<\/em>. New York: Cayuga P of Cortland, 2013 (Web<\/a>).; Camfield, Gregg et al. The Oxford Companion to Mark Twain. <\/em>Oxford UP, 2003 (Internet Archive<\/a>). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

5<\/sup> <\/sup><\/sub>Joseph Roswell Hawley (1826-1905) was a congressman and senator (Cohn 67). Clemens and Hawley first got to know each other around 1869 in Hartford where they became friends, neighbors, and political allies (Cohn 71-72). They spent a lot of time together and exchanged letters<\/a> when Clemens stayed in Elmira. || Sources<\/strong>: Cohn, Henry S. \u201cMark Twain and Joseph Roswell Hawley.\u201d Mark Twain Journal <\/em>53.2 (2015): 67-84. Web<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

6<\/sup> In 1961, Missouri was largely controlled by confederate militias. When the civil war broke out and the \u201cnew Governor Claiborne Fox Jackson called for militia volunteers early in 1861\u201d (Kent 84), Clemens joined the \u201cHannibal Home Guard\u201d (Griffin and Smith 798). This state unit had bonds to the confederate army and partially sympathized with their ideals (Hill 3). The voluntary militia was merely unorganized and \u201cdisbanded without seeing any real military action\u201d (Kent 84). In hindsight, Clemens remembered being hunted \u201clike a rat the whole time\u201d (Hill 3) as the unit was facing impending attacks by Union soldiers (Kent 84). || Sources<\/strong>: Griffin, Benjamin and Harriet E. Smith. Autobiography of Mark Twain (Vol. 2)<\/em>. U of California P, 2013 (Ebook Central<\/a>).; Hill, Hamlin. \u201cSamuel Langhorne Clemens.\u201d American Realists and Naturalists<\/em>. Detroit: Gale, 1982 (Web<\/a>).; Kent, R. Rasmussen. Critical Companion to Mark Twain: a Literary Reference to His Life and Work. <\/em>Fact On File, 2007 (Internet Archive<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Screenshot<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Comment \/ Analysis \/ Reflection<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dismantling \u201cMark Twain und das Pensionsamt\u201d on a second reading provides the reader with crucial information on Clemens\u00b4 private life, with his past and contemporary struggles as well as his humorous personality as a whole. It displays further evidence as to how important Elmira (NY) was for Clemens, judging by the fact that his address was listed in the post office – even though he did not officially live in Elmira in 1885.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As secondary research has unveiled, not many details are well-known about Clemens\u00b4 involvement in the militia that sympathized with confederate ideals in 1861. This article thus marking a possible starting point for in-depth research into further primary material on Clemens\u00b4 perceptions having been part of the troop and how it shaped his later work (The Adventures of Tom Sawyer<\/em> (1876) in particular (Hill 3)). As the article is largely concerned with Clemens\u00b4 jocular call for retirement, this first-hand resource underlines his humorous nature even under formal circumstances. This was also regognized by American newspapers during that time as this title<\/a> suggests (“A Humorous Reply From Mark Twain”). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scharnhorst has pointed out that Clemens \u201c[\u2026] would only admit to serving in a Confederate militia [\u2026] if `he made it funny\u00b4\u201d (Scharnhorst 479) tackling his personal notion about having been associated with the Confederate militia. Clemens\u00b4 involvement in the Missouri State Guard remains a controversial topic among scholars<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, it hints at Clemens\u00b4 and Senator Hawley\u00b4s strong friendship whom he jokingly refers to in his response to commissioner Black. Despite this writing being a humorous letter by Clemens, it opens a new perspective into his personal health. Clemens turned 50 the year the article was published and, according to retirement research<\/a>, most Americans over the age of 65 were still working at that time (Munnell 1). The question arises as to how serious Clemens\u00b4 state of health was and how this affected his profession as he was truthfully indicating his suffering from rheumatism in his writing arm (Paine 225). The article thus continues to pave the road for further research into multiple facets of Clemens\u00b4 personal life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

|| Sources<\/strong>: Hill, Hamlin. \u201cSamuel Langhorne Clemens.\u201d American Realists and Naturalists<\/em>. Detroit: Gale, 1982 (Web<\/a>).; Munnell, H. Alicia. \u201cWhat is the average retirement age?\u201d Center for Retirement Research at Boston College<\/em> 11.11 (2011): 1-7. Web<\/a>.; Paine, Albert Bigelow. Mark Twain: A Biography (Vol. 3)<\/em>. Harper and Brothers, 1912 (Internet Archive<\/a>).; Scharnhorst, Gary. The Life of Mark Twain: The Middle Years, 1871-1891.<\/em> Columbia: U of Missouri P, 2019. Web<\/a>.; Lyon County times. <\/em>(Silver City, Nev.), 01 Aug. 1885.\u00a0Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers<\/em>. Lib. of Congress. Web<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Description of the research process:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The search for an adequate German newspaper article that would meet the inclusion criteria (a sufficient amount of opportunities for annotations and simultaneously giving insights into a thought-provoking text) was conducted via the \u201cadvanced search\u201d of the Chronicling America<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The following parameters were applied to the interface of the \u201cadvanced search\u201d:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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