Jean Clemens
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Jane Lampton "Jean" Clemens (July 26, 1880 – December 24, 1909) was the daughter of Samuel Langhorne Clemens (better known by his pen name
Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Fau ...
) and Olivia Langdon Clemens. She founded or worked with a number of societies for the protection of animals.


Character and early life

Jean Clemens was born in
Elmira, New York Elmira () is a Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in and the county seat of Chemung County, New York, United States. It is the principal city of the Elmira, New York, metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses Chemung County. ...
, the youngest of four children born to author and humorist
Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Fau ...
and Olivia Langdon Clemens. Twain wrote from Elmira to his friend,
William Dean Howells William Dean Howells ( ; March 1, 1837 – May 11, 1920) was an American Realism (arts), realist novelist, literary critic, playwright, and diplomat, nicknamed "The Dean of American Letters". He was particularly known for his tenure as editor of ...
, reporting she "arrived perfectly sound but with no more baggage than I had when I was on the river," referring to his '' Life On The Mississippi.'' According to '' Mark Twain's Autobiography'', Jean was kind-hearted and particularly fond of animals, like Olivia. She founded or worked with a number of societies for the protection of animals in the various locations where she lived.


Epilepsy

Jean had
epilepsy Epilepsy is a group of Non-communicable disease, non-communicable Neurological disorder, neurological disorders characterized by a tendency for recurrent, unprovoked Seizure, seizures. A seizure is a sudden burst of abnormal electrical activit ...
from age 15 which Twain attributed to a head injury from when she was age 8 or 9. The family spent years seeking cures in the United States and Europe. Twain also attributed her mood swings and sometimes erratic behavior to her uncontrolled epilepsy. Jean's mother tried to include her in family life despite her illness, but Olivia died in 1904 and it was left to Twain and Jean's older sister, Clara, to help Jean to manage the difficulties which her illness caused. Twain's secretary Isabel Lyon claimed that Jean physically attacked family maid Katy Leary on two occasions in 1906, saying that she wanted to kill her. In her 2004 biography ''Dangerous Intimacy: The Untold Story of Mark Twain's Final Years'', historian Karen Lystra questions the accuracy of Lyon's account of Jean's violent behavior and suggests that Lyon manipulated a separation between father and daughter because Lyon hoped to marry Twain. Jean was sent to an epilepsy colony in Katonah, New York in the fall of 1906 and despite requesting to return home, Twain refused as he doubted his ability to care for her. Twain fired Lyon and her new husband in 1909, stating that they were guilty of embezzlement, and Jean was able to return home in April 1909. Jean and her father got along well, though she found him stubborn and temperamental.


Death

Jean was staying at her father's home Stormfield in
Redding, Connecticut Redding is a New England town, town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 8,765 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The town is part of the Western Connecticut Planning Regi ...
in December 1909, and she had decorated the home for the upcoming Christmas holiday. When she had not come down for breakfast a maid found her dead in the bathtub on the morning of December 24, 1909. While it was initially reported she had drowned during a seizure, an investigation showed she had not died directly from drowning but more probably from possibly strangulation due to epilepsy or from heart failure; the body was found in the bathtub only partly submerged and the lungs contained very little water. She was carried to Woodlawn Cemetery in Elmira. Her father did not travel with the casket, unable to bring himself to return to the place where he had already buried two children and his wife. He commemorated her death by having his authorized biographer play her favorite piece of music, Impromptu No. 2 in A-flat major by
Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; ; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a List of compositions ...
. That night he wrote the final entry in his ''Autobiography,'' titling it "The Death of Jean." Twain died four months later on April 21, 1910.


Notes


References

*Lystra, Karen (2004). ''Dangerous Intimacy: The Untold Story of Mark Twain's Final Years''. University of California Press Ltd. . *Ward, Geoffrey C., Duncan, Dayton, Burns, Ken (2001). ''Mark Twain: An Illustrated Biography''. Alfred A. Knopf. {{DEFAULTSORT:Clemens, Jean 1880 births 1909 deaths American animal welfare workers
Jean Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * J ...
Deaths by drowning in Connecticut People from Hartford, Connecticut People with epilepsy People from Katonah, New York Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Elmira, New York)