The following photos are available for the general public. For most of the photographs, please make sure to include the credit line “Courtesy of the Center for Mark Twain Studies, Elmira College, Elmira, New York” in all publications. If you have any questions, please contact Joseph Lemak at [email protected].
Some photos are from the Archives of the Mark Twain House and Museum in Hartford, Connecticut. Please make sure to include the credit line “Courtesy of The Mark Twain House & Museum, Hartford, Connecticut. Gift of Olivia Loomis Lada-Mocarski,1965”. If you have any questions, please contact Mallory Howard at [email protected].
Some photos are from the Archives of the Chemung County Historical Society in Elmira, New York. Please make sure to include the credit line “Image Courtesy of the Chemung County Historical Society.” If you have any questions, please contact Rachel Dworkin at [email protected].
Mark Twain
Portrait of Mark Twain from the period in which he was courting Olivia Langdon of Elmira.Photo taken in 1871 on a lobbying trip to Washington D.C. On the right is David Gray, editor of the Buffalo Courier. On the left is journalist George Alfred Townsend. Clemens was living and working in Buffalo at the time.Mark Twain at work in his study at Quarry Farm, East Hill, Elmira N.Y.during the period in which he was at work on “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer”.Portrait of Mark Twain c. 1883, taken in New York City.Portrait of Mark Tain taken in the year that his wife Olivia died (1904).Photo taken at Park Church on the occasion of the demonstration of the new organ from the Hope-Jones organ company,April 3, 1907 . In addition to the visiting organists the picture includes Mark Twain, third from the left, Mayor Zebulon Brockway, Reverend Samuel Eastman and Jervis Langdon the second. Between Brockway and Eastman on the second tier is Charles Langdon. Robert Hope-Jones of the Hope-Jones Organ Company is immediately to Langdon’s left.
Mark Twain at Quarry Farm, 1903
Mark Twain seated in a rocking chair on the porch.Mark Twain with John Lewis sitting on the porch. John Lewis, a friend of the Clemens and Crane families, was a pig farmer with land near Quarry Farm, 1903.Mark Twain and John Lewis at Quarry Farm.Mark Twain on the steps leading up to the Study at Quarry Farm.Mark Twain on the steps leading up to the Study.Mark Twain in the Study at Quarry Farm.Mark Twain in the Study at Quarry Farm.Mark Twain in the Study at Quarry Farm.Mark Twain in the Study at Quarry Farm.
Friends, Family, and Servants
Samuel Clemens’ wife and daughters; left to right, Susy, Jean, Olivia and Clara. Photo taken c.1885.Portrait of Langdon Clemens, the only son of Samuel and Olivia Clemens. Langdon was born in 1870 in Buffalo New York and died 19 months later in 1872 in Hartford Connecticut. Death was attributed to diphtheria. Photo taken in 1871.Samuel and Olivia Clemens’ three daughters. Left to right, Clara, Jean and Susy. Photo taken c.1881.Susy Clemens at Quarry Farm, 1895.Clara Clemens, 1895Ossip Gabrilowitsch was the first husband of Mark Twain’s daughter, Clara Clemens. Ossip Gabrilowitsch was born in St. Petersburg, Russia. A musical prodigy, he studied piano in Vienna under Theodor Leschetizky..The wedding of Clara Clemens to Ossip Gabrilowitsch at Stormfield near Redding Connecticut. Left to right, Samuel Clemens in the academic regalia from his honorary degree at Oxford, Jervis Langdon the second, Jean Clemens, Ossip Gabrilowitsch, Clara Clemens and Rev. Joseph Twichell. Photo taken on October 6, 1909.Portrait, profile of Jean Clemens, Samuel and Olivia Clemens youngest daughter.Period photograph of a painted portrait of Jervis Langdon Senior of Elmira New York, father of Olivia Langdon Clemens and father-in-law to Samuel Clemens. Date of original is unknown.Photo of Olivia Lewis Langdon, mother of Olivia Langdon Clemens and mother-in-law of Samuel Clemens. Date of original is unknown.Photo of Susan Langdon Crane, adopted sister of Olivia Langdon Clemens. Quarry Farm in Elmira, New York, where the Clemens family summered, was the home of Susan Crane and her husband Theodore.Photo of Theodore Crane, husband of Susan Langdon Crane, brother-in-law to Olivia Langdon and Samuel Clemens. Quarry Farm in Elmira, New York where the Clemens family summered, was the home of Theodore and his wife Susan.Charles Jervis Langdon was the son of Jervis Langdon (1808-1870) and brother-in-law of Samuel Clemens at Quarry Farm, 1895.Ida Clark Langdon, wife of Charles J. Langdon. In a letter Samuel Clemens wrote to William Dean Howells, Clemens referred to Ida as “Ida the young and comely.” The couple had three children: Jervis, Julia, and Ida. Jervis Langdon was the son of Charles and Ida Langdon He was particularly kind and helpful to his uncle Mark Twain when Twain was old, ill and cast down by the death of his daughter Jean at Stormfield. In 1924, his aunt, Susan Crane, died and left him Quarry Farm. He was responsible for expanding Quarry Farm with the addition of the Library room. Eleanor Sayles Langdon, wife of the second Jervis Langdon. They were married in 1902. She was an artist chiefly interested in sculpture. Photo of Ithe lesser”), daughter of Charles and Ida Clark Langdon, niece of Olivia LangdProfessor Ida Langdon taught English at Elmira College, Elmira New York from 1920 to 1942.John Lewis seated on his wagon near Quarry Farm, East Hill, Elmira, New York, 1903.Photo of Thomas K. Beecher, pastor of Park Church in Elmira, New York.Photo of Darius Ford, Professor of Physical Science at Elmira College from 1862 to 1905. Ford tutored Olivia Langdon in 1867 and attempted a collaboration with Samuel Clemens in a series of travel writing for the Buffalo Express during Clemens’ time there in 1869-70. Photo taken c.1889.Photo of Katy Leary in her Elmira, New York apartment. Katy, a native of Elmira, was the Clemens family servant from 1880 until 1910.
Quarry Farm
Photograph of Quarry Farm, side view from Crane Road. c.1880Photo of the front parlor at Quarry Farm, c.1890.Photograph of Quarry Farm, side view from Crane Road, c.1900.Photo of group on the porch at Quarry Farm, Elmira, New York. Left to right: Susan Crane, Mrs. James B. Pond, Bim Pond, Susy Clemens. Dog at left: Bruce. Dog in center: Osmon. 1895.Front left to right: unidentified individual (probably Ida Clark Langdon), Bim Pond, Susy Clemens, Mrs. James B. Pond. Back row left to right: Susan Crane, Major James B. Pond, Charles Langdon. 1895.Photo of group in the parlor at Quarry Farm, Elmira, New York. Left to right: Mrs. James B. Pond, Charles Langdon, unidentified woman, Susan Crane, unidentified woman. Charles Langdon is reading a note telling them of Samuel and Olivia Clemens and their daughter Clara’s safe arrival in Australia. 1895. Susy Clemens, servant, Susan Crane, Bim Pond, and Mrs. Pond seated at dining room table at Quarry Farm, 1895Bim standing by Susan Crane as she prepares to throw ball for dogs, Osmon and Bruce, Quarry Farm, 1895. Photo of group at the tent. Quarry Farm, Elmira, New York. Left to right: Bim Pond; Susy Clemens; Osmon; Susan Crane; Mrs. James B. Pond, 1895.Quarry Farm, Library c.1930Quarry Farm, Library, c.1940-1950Quarry Farm, Library 1968Quarry Farm TodayQuarry Farm TodayView from the Quarry Farm TodayQuarry Farm Library TodayQuarry Farm Parlor TodayQuarry Farm Parlor TodayQuarry Farm TodayQuarry Farm Dining Room Today
The Study
1903, Mark Twain Twain in study windowPhoto of Mark Twain’s study in its original location at Quarry Farm, Elmira, New York. Date of original is unknown.The Study at Quarry Farm. May 1922, Ida langdon and Georgianna PalmerPhoto of Mark Twain’s Study being moved from Quarry Farm, Elmira, New York. The study was given to Elmira College by the Langdon family and moved to the Elmira College Campus. Photo was taken in 1952.Photo of Mark Twain’s Study newly placed on the campus at Elmira College, Elmira, New York. Photo was taken in 1952.Photo of the dedication of Mark Twain’s Study on the Campus of Elmira College, Elmira, New York. Left to right: Dr. Lewis Eldred, President of Elmira College; unknown individual; Dr. Ida Langdon; unidentified worker; Charles W. Perry, President of the Elmira College Board of Trustees. Photo was taken in 1952.The Mark Twain Study and Cowles Hall on the Elmira College Campus. Photo was taken in 2016.Students visiting the Mark Twain Study. Photo was taken in 2016.
The Langdon Mansion (courtesy of the Mark Twain House & Museum, Hartford, CT.)
Interior of the Langdon Mansion, c.1890 (Courtesy of The Mark Twain House & Museum, Hartford, Connecticut. Gift of Olivia Loomis Lada-Mocarski,1965)Interior of the Langdon Mansion, c.1890 (Courtesy of The Mark Twain House & Museum, Hartford, Connecticut. Gift of Olivia Loomis Lada-Mocarski,1965)Interior of the Langdon Mansion, c.1890 (Courtesy of The Mark Twain House & Museum, Hartford, Connecticut. Gift of Olivia Loomis Lada-Mocarski,1965)Interior of the Langdon Mansion, c.1890 (Courtesy of The Mark Twain House & Museum, Hartford, Connecticut. Gift of Olivia Loomis Lada-Mocarski,1965)Interior of the Langdon Mansion, c.1890 (Courtesy of The Mark Twain House & Museum, Hartford, Connecticut. Gift of Olivia Loomis Lada-Mocarski,1965)Interior of the Langdon Mansion, c.1890 (Courtesy of The Mark Twain House & Museum, Hartford, Connecticut. Gift of Olivia Loomis Lada-Mocarski,1965)Interior of the Langdon Mansion, c.1890 (Courtesy of The Mark Twain House & Museum, Hartford, Connecticut. Gift of Olivia Loomis Lada-Mocarski,1965)Interior of the Langdon Mansion, c.1890 (Courtesy of The Mark Twain House & Museum, Hartford, Connecticut. Gift of Olivia Loomis Lada-Mocarski,1965)Interior of the Langdon Mansion, c.1890 (Courtesy of The Mark Twain House & Museum, Hartford, Connecticut. Gift of Olivia Loomis Lada-Mocarski,1965)Interior of the Langdon Mansion, c.1890 (Courtesy of The Mark Twain House & Museum, Hartford, Connecticut. Gift of Olivia Loomis Lada-Mocarski,1965)Interior of the Langdon Mansion, c.1890 (Courtesy of The Mark Twain House & Museum, Hartford, Connecticut. Gift of Olivia Loomis Lada-Mocarski,1965)Interior of the Langdon Mansion, c.1890 (Courtesy of The Mark Twain House & Museum, Hartford, Connecticut. Gift of Olivia Loomis Lada-Mocarski,1965)
Mark Twain’s Elmira (courtesy of the Chemung County Historical Society, Elmira, NY)
Julia Beecher, wife of Thomas K. BeecherThe Beecher Cottage, located right down the road from Quarry FarmSimeon Benjamin was one of the wealthiest men in Elmira. He provided financial assistance to the anti-slavery movement and was also the principal sponsor of Elmira Female College (now known as Elmira College). He died September 1, 1868Dr. Silas O. Gleason & Dr. Rachel Brooks Gleason. Silas graduated from medical school in 1844, while his wife earned her medical degree in 1851. They bought land on East Hill and opened a health resort there in 1852. Their most frequently used technique was the mineral bath. The Gleasons continued to operate their “Water Cure Gleason Health Resort” until their retirement in 1898. Their neighbors, the Cranes, the Beecher, and the Clemens, were among their closest friends.Born on a slave plantation in Virginia, John W. Jones fled from slavery on the Underground Railroad in 1844. Jones arrived in Elmira, a major stop of the Underground Railroad a month later. Jones decided to take up residence in Elmira and eventually becoming an active Underground Railroad agent. During the Civil War, Jones buried the dead from the Elmira Civil War Prison Camp. Jones received a fixed fee for each soldier he buried. This money made him one of the richest African-Americans in the area, allowing him to buy land and build a house on Davis Street. Currently, the John W. Jones Museum stands on the original siteCharles K. Klapproth (standing) was the proprietor of Klapproth’s Tavern. Klapproth’s tavern was a gentleman’s haven and both Mark Twain and Thomas K. Beecher were known to frequent there. Much of Klapproth’s tavern remains intact, including the ceiling woodwork, the main fireplace, and a cast iron mural, now located in the Mark Twain Archive on the Elmira College campus.
