A pilgrimage to Hannibal, Missouri

I'm going to post an essay about Mark Twain in a few days, so I thought I'd first give give you a tour of his early life. These photos are from two visits I made in the early 1990s, which is why the images aren't digital and crisp. Click the links for more information about each site.

This first photo is of the Mark Twain Birthplace State Historic Park, located on the shore of Mark Twain Lake The cabin in which he was born was actually located a few miles away, in Florida, Missouri. It was later moved to this location and housed in this "shrine."

Twain was born as Samuel Langhorne Clemens on November 30, 1835, in this cabin in the new village of Florida. Within five years, however, when it became clear that Florida was never going to thrive, Twain's father moved the family to Hannibal, approximately 40 miles away on the Mississippi River.

The marker above stands on the actual location of where the birth cabin used to stand.

If you persist, you can find the old Florida cemetery nearby. The above stone marks the grave of John Quarles, the uncle of young Sam Clemens. Sam spent many summer days on his uncle's farm, listening to the slaves tell their stories and sing their songs. One particular slave, "Uncle Daniel," may have served as a model for the character of Jim in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

The marker above, also in the Florida cemetery, is for Dr. Chowning, who delivered Sam Clemens into this world.

The Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum, located at 120 N. Main Street, Hannibal, is a wonderful monument to the man and his legacy. It houses many rare artifacts, including the typewriter that Twain used and the robes he wore when he received his honorary doctorate from Oxford University.

Across the street from the Boyhood Home is the Becky Thatcher Bookstore, which was actually the home of Laura Hawkins, an early girlfriend of Sam's and the inspiration for the character of Becky Thatcher in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Copies of my two books about Twain are in its permanent library.

The grave of Joe Douglass, the inspiration for "Injun Joe" in Tom Sawyer, is in the Hannibal cemetery. His friends always insisted that his portrayal as a drunken, violent man was a libel.

No trip to Hannibal is complete until you've taken a trip aboard the Mark Twain. If you're daring, you might sneak into the wheelhouse. My friend and fellow Twain scholar, Rick Hill, and I posed on the stern. Rick later lamented the sad passing of Injun Joe.

A last look at Hannibal, from the bluffs known as Lovers' Leap just outside of town.