Mark Twain 1835-1910 Biography

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Mark Twain1835-1910 Biography
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Birth Place

• Born in Florida, Missouri
• Birthday November 30, 1835
• Parents John and Jane Clemens
• Raised in Hannibal, Missouri

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Connection to Slavery

• His uncle and father both owned slaves
• from whom he would listen to stories and songs.
  This is where he learned to love story telling.

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Education

• Went to school up to the 5th grade
• Left school at age 11 when his father died in 1847

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Professional Career

• First job was as a printers apprentice in
  Missouri.
• From Missouri he went to New York and
  Philadelphia and worked for several newspapers
• In 1857 he came back to Missouri and worked as a
  riverboat captain.

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Professional Career

• In 1857 a river boat captains salary was 250.00
  per month, which is equivalent to a 155,000 per
  year salary in the present day.

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Professional Career

• In 1861 Mark Twain became a silver miner in
  Nevada he was unsuccessful.
• In Nevada he began to write for the Territorial
  Enterprise newspaper this is when he started
  going by the name of Mark Twain.

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Professional Career

• In 1865 Twain published his first short story,
  Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog.

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Marriage

• In 1870, Mark Twain married Olivia Langhorn.

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Professional Career

• In 1876 Tom Sawyer was published and in 1884 The
  Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was published,
  both of which are his most popular works.