Olivia Susan “Susy” Clemens

Olivia Susan Clemens (called “Susy” by her family) was born in Elmira, New York, on March 19, 1872. She was the second child born to Samuel and Olivia (“Livy”) Langdon Clemens. Her brother, Langdon, who was born a year and a half earlier, was from the beginning a sickly child and died in June of 1872 when he was only 19 months old. Clearly this was a difficult time for her parents, and one of the earliest records we have of her mother Livy’s comments about Susy is that she did not know what she would have done without her daughter, “she is such a comfort to me.” (Gravity, p. 65.) Susy’s sister Clara was born two years later, on June 8, 1874 , also in Elmira at the home of Livy Clemens’s parents, as was her youngest sister Jean, born in 1880. Much of what we know about Susy’s early character we know through her father’s writing in A Family Sketch, written after Susy’s untimely death in 1896 at the age of 24, and in selections in his Autobiography that commented extensively on Susy’s biographical writing about her father that was begun when she was thirteen. Until recently, her father’s perspective was our primary source for understanding who Susy was as a young child. Now however, thanks to the recent publication of Livy Clemens’s selected letters, edited by Barbara Snedecor under the title Gravity, we have more detailed and intimate insights into the life and character of Susy Clemens, as well as her sisters Clara and Jean.

Susy Clemens (1873)
Image Courtesy of the Mark Twain House & Museum

So what was Susy like as a young girl? Briefly said, she was precocious, smart, timid, thoughtful, imaginative, not especially adventurous (compared with Clara), “in all things intense,” (“A Family Sketch” p. 13) emotional, and high strung. Of all the traits that come through in her father’s observations about her as a young child, the strongest sense is of a thoughtful, focused person who was especially close to her mother. In 1883, when Susy was eleven years old, Livy reported in a letter to her husband that she had long conversation with Susy about the relationship between mothers and daughters, specifically in response to Susy’s concerns about a friend and her mother not getting on well together. “And I had been afraid that she might begin to feel that it would be rather interesting not to get on quite well with me. I said ’Susy I hope we shall always agree.’ She said, ‘Mamma we can never disagree we think just alike about things, why Mamma we seem like one person.’ I was happy.” (Gravity, p. 166) In fact, their lives were unusually close, for in addition to all else the responsibility for educating her daughters fell primarily to Livy, especially in the early years.

Education

Susy and in turn Clara were educated almost exclusively at home, not only by Livy Clemens but in turn by several governesses. By her own account, Livy taught Susy reading, writing, geography, arithmetic, “and a little United States history.” (Gravity, p. 156) Remarkably, neither sister was actually taught to read English but instead only German. They then taught themselves to read English. They learned both to read and speak German from a governess named Rosa (Rosina Hay) who is first mentioned in Livy’s letters in June of 1874, when Susy was only 2 years old. She was a major figure in the family story, living and traveling with the family to Europe for 18 months from 1878 to 1879, and serving as governess to Susy and Clara then Jean as late as 1888.

Rosa spoke no English to the girls and was reported as talking German to them “as fast as she can.” “She is very faithful in the matter talks no English to them & Susie is picking up a great deal of German—I shall try next week to get them a teacher….” (Gravity, p. 103). Her father initially attributed a remark to Clara that was subsequently shown to have actually been spoken by six year old Susy. “Susie said to me yesterday that she wished Rosa was made in English….” (Gravity, p. 100.) Once she mastered the art of reading in English, Susy became an avid reader and remained so all her life.

Two other governesses helped educate the Clemens daughters. The primary one was Lilly Gilette Foote, as well as her sister, Harriet Foote, both cousins of their neighbor Harriet Beecher Stowe. At about the age of 16 Susy became ambitious to enroll in Bryn Mawr College, which had one of the most demanding admission requirements of any of the women’s colleges of the day, comparable to those at Harvard. In order to prepare for admission, she had to take exams in six subjects: “arithmetic, algebra, English, physical geography, German grammar and translation and Latin grammar and composition, and Virgil.” Even after passing these exams, in the Fall of the year she had to pass exams in “French grammar and translation and plane geometry.” (Susy and Mark Twain, 277) Clearly Susy was a good student with a wide breadth of knowledge and the ability to apply herself effectively. To assist her in this process, her family stayed home the summer before she entered Bryn Mawr in order to help her focus on her French with a tutor from Smith College. She entered Bryn Mawr in the fall of 1890 at the age of 18.

Susy Clemens (c.1885)
Image Courtesy of the Mark Twain House & Museum

Susy’s transition to Bryn Mawr apparently was a difficult one. There are references to her being initially home sick, as well as references to her parents having difficulty adjusting to her being gone from home and dearly missed. One immediate and surprising change was that Susy introduced herself to her fellow classmates not as “Susy” but as “Olivia,” and so she was always called by her college friends. Relatively early on in her time there her classmates learned that she had singing talent and she was chosen to play the lead role of Phyllis in a version of Gilbert and Sullivan’s Iolante put on by the school. Fathers were not allowed to attend the performance, but Livy went to Bryn Mawr and helped Susy and friends produce the play. Unfortunately there are no extant reviews of the performance, but clearly her role helped Susy/Olivia become established at the college with her classmates.

More significant in the long run was the fact that Susy became friends with a highly regarded upper classmate, Louise Brownell. Theirs was a passionate and loving relationship that lasted over the next six years. Louise even invited Susy to room with her at college the following year, but that did not happen. Because the Clemens family was going through a very difficult time financially, her parents made the decision to close down their home in Hartford, Connecticut, and move to Europe for an indefinite time. Although there is no record of Susy herself deciding to step away from Bryn Mawr in April of that first year and follow her parents to Europe, it is not hard to imagine how the whole family would have come to the conclusion that she should not stay behind while her parents and sisters moved for an indefinite period of time to Europe. According to Livy, she withdrew Susy from Bryn Mawr in the spring of 1891. Remarkably, because of Susy’s relationship with Louise Brownell and their subsequent separation from each other, there are many intimate letters written by Susy to Louise between 1891 and 1895, all ultimately kept by Louise over the years and therefore still available to us. Unfortunately, there are no extant letters from Louise to Susy, though clearly theirs was a mutual correspondence. It’s a remarkable story of a loving and passionate relationship, albeit one from afar.

Expressions of Susy’s love for Louise are found throughout the letters, including references to physical intimacy. Such expressions appear especially towards the earliest days of their separation from one another. For example, when Bryn Mawr started up again in the fall of 1891, without Susy, Susy wrote “I think of you these days, the first of college. If I could only look in on you! We would sleep together tonight and I would allow you opportunities for those refreshing little naps you always indulged in when we passed a night together.” (Oct. 2, 1891) A few days later she wrote “my darling I do love you so and I feel so separated from you. If you were here I would kiss you hard on that little place that tastes so good just on the right-hand side of your nose. Good-bye; I give myself to you over & over again to make sure there is no mistake we belong to each other. You are my own dear, dear darling. (Oct. 6 or 7, 1891) (For an exploration of how Susy’s love for Louise might have influenced her father’s later writing, see Linda A. Morris, Gender Play in Mark Twain.)

Health

Susy’s health as a young child was unremarkable given the times, although there were early indications that she was not physically strong. Only later, when she was in her early 20s, did it become clear that she struggled to some extent with health issues. Prior to that the family had discovered that Susy was very nearsighted when she was only 5 years old. Remarkably, there are no extant photos of her wearing glasses, though clearly she depended on them from that time forward. When Susy was 13 (and Clara 11), Livy told her husband in a letter that “it worries me some that their plays are all sedentary now as well as their work. I want them to like some romping games. Susie needs it so much because she is so narrow chested.” (Gravity, p. 183) This particular physical image is one that will reappear as Susy enters her 20s. Her physicians picked up on it, her voice teachers did as well, describing her at times as not being very strong, “not at all well,” and “not sufficiently developed,” (Gravity, 251) Partly in response to concerns about her own physical health and partly in response to concerns about her emotional and mental health, in the final years of her young life Susy took up the practice of Mental Science, or Mind Cure, showing a genuine desire to improve her life circumstances.

Creativity

Susy Clemens in Florence (c.1893)
Image Courtesy of the Mark Twain House & Museum

Susy had a creative side from a relatively early age that manifested itself primarily through her writing. For instance, she assisted Livy in creating a version of her father’s story “The Prince and the Pauper” for the girls and neighbors to perform as a surprise for her father. At about the same time, Susy began (she thought secretly) writing a biography of her father, which was ultimately called “Papa.” Her father incorporated many, many passages from that biography into his Autobiography, commenting freely and proudly on her writing and her celebration of him. He began his comments like this:

When Susy was thirteen, and was a slender little maid with plaited tails of copper tinged brown hair down her back, and was perhaps the busiest bee in the household hive by reason of the manifold studies, health exercises and recreations she has to attend to, she secretly, and of her own motion, and out of love, added another task to her labors—the writing of a biography of me. She did this work in her bedroom at night, and kept her record hidden. After a little, the mother discovered it and filched it, and let me see it; then told Susy what she had done, and how pleased I was, and how proud. I remember that time with a deep pleasure. I had had compliments before, but none that touched me like this; none that could approach it for value in my eyes.
(Autobiography, p. 337)

Susy’s biography of her father was never published in its entirety until 1985, a century after it was written, accompanied “with a forward and copious comments by her father.” (Papa: An Intimate Biography of Mark Twain, p. 8) Only in 2014 was it published just as Susy wrote it, without her father’s commentary, with Susy’s voice dominating the text (“Mark Twain, by Susy Clemens”). Anyone wishing to hear Susy’s unedited voice can now turn to this edition and discover a strong, perceptive voice, at times understandably sounding a bit childish but mostly remarkably mature, an astute observer of her family’s life as it unfolded before her 13 year old eyes.

The Final Years

Once the family closed down their Hartford house and moved to Europe in April of 1891, Susy’s life (along with the whole family’s) changed rather dramatically. For one, they moved around a good bit, and it wasn’t until 1892 that they settled down in Florence where they stayed until 1893. It is during this period that there are a significant number of letters from Susy to Louise Brownell, who was finishing her studies at Bryn Mawr. In these letters we learn more about Susy’s love for Louise, of her father’s frequent absences from the family, of Clara’s move to Berlin for music lessons, and of Susy’s relatively isolated and sometimes apparently boring life: “read, sew, read, sew.” (April 29, 1893) (For an extended examination of this period of Susy’s young adulthood, see Linda Morris, “Susy Clemens, The Final Years.”)

Two important details emerge in her letters to Louise and in her letters to her sister Clara: her sense of how restricting her life was in Florence and how she felt about herself in contrast to her sense of her sister’s much greater degree of enjoyment and engagement. At times, in fact, she seemed genuinely depressed and disappointed in herself. As the family’s financial situation continued to decline, her father began to contemplate an extended speaking tour to Australia, India, and South Africa. To prepare for it, the whole family returned to Elmira, New York. There they made the surprising decision to let Susy and her sister Jean stay behind with Aunt Sue at Quarry Farm. The plan was for them all to reunite a year later in Europe, but that was sadly never to occur. Sam, Livy, and Clara departed for Australia in 1895.

Quarry Farm Parlor (August 15, 1895)
From left to right: Susan Crane, Bim Pond, Susy Clemens, Martha Pond
Courtesy of the Mark Twain Archive, Center for Mark Twain Studies

This turned out to be the final year of Susy’s life, which ended in 1896 when she contracted spinal meningitis, for which there was no cure or effective treatment. Before then, however, Susy made a concerted effort to take more charge of her life through the practice of Mental Science, guided by her former governess, Lilly Foote. As Susy expressed herself in a letter to Clara, “I have become determined to get hold of a philosophy that will if possible straighten me out more, mentally, and physically and make me less of a burden to myself and others….” (Sept. 13, 1895). It appears she had a reasonable degree of success. She traveled occasionally away from Quarry Farm, reunited several times with Louise– in Elmira, in New Jersey and in New York. She then went on to Hartford, accompanied by long-time family friend and assistant Katy Leary, ultimately staying briefly in the family’s beloved Hartford house.

Once she contracted meningitis, its course was fairly predictable—rapid physical and mental deterioration, descending into delirium that expressed itself for Susy in incoherent writing in would-be conversation with a famous singer who had died 60 years earlier. Within days Susy went blind and died only a few days later. Her parents, then in England, learned she was ill but had no idea she was fatally ill. Her mother and sister set sail to join her in Hartford, but she died while they were in passage. Needless to say, the effects of her totally unexpected death were to devastate the whole family for years to come. No words could ultimately express the profound loss of their beloved Susy in their lives. Susy was buried in the Langdon family plot in the Woodlawn Cemetery in Elmira, near her brother Langdon.

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Olivia Susan “Susy” Clemens

Education

Health

Creativity

The Final Years

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