Author and speaker Mark Twain's wife, Olivia Landon, was not his first love, but the daughter of a capitalist 10 years younger than him whom he chased with 184 love letters.
In 1867, 32-year-old Mark Twain was already famous because of his frequent publications. It was in this year that he fell in love at first sight with 22-year-old Olivia Langdon and immediately had a strong desire to marry her.
However, Olivia mercilessly rejected his marriage proposal. However, Mark Twain did not back down this time, but spent nearly two years to write 184 love letters to Olivia and win his love with Olivia. They married three years later and stayed together for 34 years.
Before meeting Olivia, Mark Twain had a beautiful relationship, but the duration of this relationship was too short, as short as three days, but this relationship made Mark Twain remember for a lifetime. However, what is even more surprising is that Mark Twain's first love, after 26 years of disappearance, renewed his old relationship 26 years ago with a $1,000 check.
Mark Twain, whose original name was Samuel Ranhen Clemen, came from a very poor background, and although his father was a village lawyer, his income was meagre, and the family's life was very poor. When Mark Twain was 11 years old, his father died of lung disease. Forced by life, he had to drop out of school to become an apprentice. He then worked as a typesetter in a printing house, and at the age of 16 he tried to write for Hannibal Magazine, which his brother founded.
In 1858, at the age of 23, Mark Twain became a sailor on the steamboat Pennsylvania on the Mississippi River, working as a navigator every day.
It was a calm evening, and the steamboat "Pennsylvania" slowly sailed into the dock, and before the ship could stop, the young Mark Twain had already loaded the goods with the workers and prepared to deliver them to the dock.
In the spare time of work, Mark Twain, as usual, casually looked up at the familiar "John J. Roy" docked next to him. Because he had worked on the John J. Roy for a while before coming to the Pennsylvania, perhaps out of courtesy or nostalgia for the past, Mark Twain walked onto the deck of the John J. Roy after unloading and politely shook hands and smiled with the workers he had worked with.
At this moment, a young and beautiful girl appeared. Mark Twain was already moved by the first time he saw her. So, he made an excuse to go up and talk to her, and learned that the girl's name was "Laura White".
What Mark Twain didn't expect was that just a polite conversation won the heart of Laura, who was only 14 years old. What Mark Twain did not expect was that in the short three days of getting along, Laura White appeared in his dreams every time since then, accompanied by his writing life.
Laura White, who was only 14 years old at the time, lived in a small town called Warsaw near St. Louis, Suzhou. She appeared on the John J. Roy because she made a short trip with her uncle, who was the helmsman on the ship.
Laura White felt a very good feeling during her three days with Mark Twain, and her heart was to continue dating Mark Twain, who was experienced, humorous, and very literate.
Three days later, Mark Twain was about to leave with the "Pennsylvania" that continued to go up the river, and Laura White, who was in love with him, did not hesitate to give Mark Twain a gold ring as a keepsake. Later, as an important souvenir, Mark Twain carried it on Mark Twain before entrusting it to his secretary Isabella Leon many years later.
Things should have gone in the good direction you wanted, but a tragedy 3 weeks after breaking up with Laura White interrupted Mark Twain's warmth for Laura White and the idea of continuing contact with Sula White.
On the morning of June 13, 1858, the Pennsylvania exploded, causing serious damage to the hull and heavy casualties. Although Mark Twain was not on board, the death of his brother Henry plunged him into deep self-blame.
On this day, Mark Twain was supposed to go to work, but he asked his brother to replace his class and go ashore himself. As a result, Henry suffered serious burns and died after a week of treatment at Memphis Hospital.
Henry's death made Mark Twain so much remorseful that he wrote to his home:
"Before the letter arrives, the man has gone first. My poor Henry walked through his life, he was my pride, my glory, my dear, my everything, my beacon out of darkness. God, how can I bear all this! ”
At this time, Mark Twain's mood fell to the freezing point, but Sula White did not know this, she was still thinking about Mark Twain warmly. Mark Twain wrote to Laura White and visited her for the first time in 1860.
The arrival of 25-year-old sailor Mark Twain made Sula White's mother suspicious and wary. Her daughter is only 16 years old, how can her mother have a crush on Mark Twain, who is already 24 years old and is still just a sailor. Therefore, the mother did not give Mark Twain a good face, and even had obvious hostility.
How could Mark Twain, who had suffered a lot since he was a child and was very self-reliant, stand the cold eyes of a strange woman, and he even suspected that before he came to see Laura White, her mother had read his letter to Laura White, and Mark Twain blamed all this on Laura White, and said goodbye to Laura White with resentment.
After leaving the town of Warsaw, Mark Twain, who was extremely emotional and tempered, was convinced of the witch's fortune-telling results, so he decisively broke off the idea of continuing his relationship with Laura White. Since then, they have broken contact and never seen each other again.
After that, Laura White will still appear in Mark Twain's dreams. He has never forgotten Laura White, but he never took the initiative to contact, and he also suppressed Laura White's thoughts as much as possible. Although he told his brother that he missed Laura White and that he "missed Laura" whenever he went to bed at night, he also wrote to his mother and asked himself, "What will the girl who belongs to me be like when she gets married?" He was referring to Laura. Mark Twain also wrote in his diary about his dream of Laura White and shaking her hand. However, I don't know if it was shyness or some concerns, he did not write Sula White's name in his diary, but replaced it with the letter "L".
In 1867, 32-year-old Mark Twain met Olivia Langdon on the recommendation of a friend. He fell in love with Olivia at first sight, and it didn't take long for him to propose to her. But Olivia ruthlessly rejected him because Mark Twain came from a humble background and had many bad habits that she could not accept.
However, this time Mark Twain did not flinch, he begged to maintain correspondence with Olivia, and wrote her 184 love letters in 2 years, asking her to monitor her to change her bad habits and try to increase her popularity. In the end, Mark Twain won Olivia's heart with his fame and position, and they married in 1870 and embarked on a 34-year journey of gentle companionship.
Mark Twain found Olivia Langdon, who had been with her all her life, while White Laura had been pursuing her ideals and making self-sacrifice for them.
When Mark Twain's hired boat exploded and Laura White's boat crashed into the water, the brave and caring Sula White refused to evacuate with other passengers. After being rescued, Laura White worked as a spy for the Confederate Army during the Civil War and married a sailor named Charles Darko.
Later, Laura White and her husband co-opened a girls' school in San Francisco. He soon moved to Dallas and became a public school teacher. Mark Twain gave a lecture at the Maguire Conservatory of Music in San Francisco in the fall of 1866.
In 1880, 45-year-old Mark Twain received a letter from a 12-year-old Dallas teenager who asked for a writing question in class and said, "Oh! I almost forgot you, our principal met you when she was a little girl! You may have forgotten! The teenager told Mark Twain in the letter that his principal's name was Laura White.
After reading the teenager's letter, Mark Twain immediately wrote back to him: "I haven't forgotten her, she is a little girl, a little girl with a difference." ”
However, Mark Twain did not get in touch with Laura White, Laura White did not contact him, and they did not meet. Although they know some of their own circumstances, and Laura White has always appeared in Mark Twain's dreams, they still live on their own tracks, until an incident 26 years later made them have some intersection.
Twenty-six years later, 62-year-old Laura White is still a teacher on a meager salary, but she wants to help one of her students get to medical school. With no money, Laura White turned to a philanthropist. When Mark Twain learned about this from the philanthropist, he immediately sent Laura White a check for $1,000. It was Mark Twain's act of kindness that caused Laura White to write a letter of thanks to him, and the two old people who had a three-day relationship have maintained correspondence ever since.
At this time, Matu Twain was already a 71-year-old old man, and Laura White was already 62 years old.
However, despite maintaining correspondence, Mark Twain and Laura White did not meet. Until April 21, 1910, Mark Twain died of stenocardia, and Sula White did not appear.
In 1924, on Laura White's 80th birthday, a scholar who knew her well learned more about Mark Twain from Laura White. Laura White also showed him stacks of letters that Mark Twain had written to her, and she took some time to read them to him.
In 1932, Laura White died at the age of 87. To death, she did not reveal to anyone the details of her romance with Mark Twain and the contents of those letters.
The short three-day love affair with Laura White made Mark Twain remember for a lifetime.
Did Mark Twain express anything to Laura White, explain anything?
And the misunderstood Laura White has explained or done anything about Mark Twain's misunderstanding and resentment back then?
These have always been unknowns. Laura White knew about Mark Twain's success, but she never told him about her situation or asked for his help, but did her best, silently doing what she wanted to do.
Is such a Laura White really worth remembering Mark Twain for a lifetime?
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