2 extremely rare photos of the Mark Twain Study

 

One of the interesting things about being know as an "Elmira Historian", is that people occasionally give you very, very interesting stuff.

In 1874 Susan Crane built a study on her property for her brother-in-law, Samuel Clemens.  This is the place that the majority of Mark Twain's most famous works were written in.

You can read about Mark Twain's use of the study here.....

In 1952, the study was slowly and carefully moved, by truck, to the Elmira College campus.

These two photos were given to me by my co-worker, Vicki Schamel.  It seems that her father was the one who moved the study to its current position.

It is amazing the details you can find when you search through a blown-up version of images.  (I tried the phone-number - no answer)

This shot shows the primary reason that the study was being moved.  The signs read "Please - Do Not Camp" and "Please - Do Not Picnic".  The study was regularly used for both as it was unguarded and unmonitored in those days.

So, what did I do with the photos once they fell into my possession?  They are currently in the possession on the Chemung County Historical Society.  (I think - and this is why people should WRITE THINGS DOWN)  I may have given them to the Center for Mark Twain Studies......  I can't remember.....