Born Olivia Louise Langdon on Nov. 27, 1845,
in Elmira, N.Y.
Daughter of Jervis and Olivia Langdon.
Younger brother Charles and older adoptive
sister Susan.
Married Mark twain on Feb. 2, 1870
(Floyd.)
Livy went to Miss Clarissa Thurston’s Female
Seminary. Thurston’s school specialized in
“scientific education” and helped in the
“formation of character.”
12-year-old Olivia went to Elmira Female
College to study Latin, arithmetic, English,
grammar, U.S. History, music, and philosophy.
(Floyd.)
At 14 her health became descended
to a point that she had to leave
school.
During the treatment she wanted to
keep learning even though she could
not attend school.
(Floyd.)
She had many tutors; she put together study
groups, and a professor from a local college
came for her lessons.
Alice Hooker of Hartford (a good friend),
wrote “Livy is so much more thoughtful,
original, deep, than most girls and so is
constantly making me go to the foundation
of things.”
(Floyd.)
1862-64 Livy went to treatment centers and
sanitariums in Elmira, Washington D.C. and
New York.
Livy was suffering from Pott’s disease:
Tuberculosis of the spine.
Which could have been caused by a fall on
the ice.
(Floyd.)
Grew up in Elmira
Elmira’s is located near the intersection of
the Chemung and Erie canals
Later it became a major railroad stop for
industry and culture.
Because of thriving town Jervis Langdon was
very successful.
He worked in timber and coal and the
Langdon’s were pioneering families of the
community.
(Floyd.)
Olivia’s parents worked as equals when most
women were seen intellectually inferior.
Olivia’s mother was also very active outside of the
home (charities, women’s social organizations and
support of abolition and temperance).
Olivia’s aunt was a revolutionary itinerant teacher.
At the time women were just getting degrees
equal to men
Both of Olivia’s parents were abolitionist.
(Floyd.)
Mark Twain meets Charles Langdon on a
cruise to the Holy Land.
After the cruise Charles invites Twain to come
have dinner with his family one night
Twain ends up taking a liking to the Langdon's
and the even go to a dickens performance
together.
(Illinois Historical Digitization Projects)
Mark Twain goes out west for about a year and
when he comes back within a few days he and
Olivia are engaged.
At first the Langdons do not want Olivia to
marry him but Charles backs him and he is
very hard to resist
(Illinois Historical Digitization Projects)
Olivia’s intellectual upbringing and forward
thinking would influence Mark Twain’s views.
Mark Twain wrote “I take much pride in her
brains as I do in her beauty, and as much
pride in her happy and equable disposition as
I do in her brains.”
She was his editor for many of his books.
(Floyd.)
When Twain marries into the Langdon family
he becomes rich.
His wedding gift from his father-in-law is a
fully furnished house with a coachman who’s
uniform cost more then anything Twain
owned.
The house was in buffalo New York but Twain
wanted to live in the suburbs
(Illinois Historical Digitization Projects)
In the first half of there marriage there house
became an infirmary because many people in
the family got sick and died in there.
They wanted a fresh start so they moved to
Nook farm
(Illinois Historical Digitization Projects)
Nook Farm was a very cozy community where
you could go in and out of your neighbors
house with having to ask.
It was a very big literary community with
many famous authors living there.
They moved out of Nook farm in 1896 because
there daughter died in the house and they
could no longer stand to live there.
(Illinois Historical Digitization Projects)
Hirst, Bob, Shelly Fisher Fishkin, and Gregg Camfield.
"Mark Twain's Mississippi: Video." Illinois Historical
Digitization Projects: Northern Illinois University Libraries.
Northern Illinois University Libraries, 2005. Web. 04
Apr. 2011. http://dig.lib.niu.edu/twain/video.html
Floyd, Rebecca. "Olivia "Livy" Langdon
Clemens." Welcome to the Mark Twain House & Museum -
Home. Web. 04 Apr. 2011.
.
All images: www.google.com/images