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You probably know that Mark Twain lived in Hartford and Redding, but did you know he used to switch trains in South Norwalk? To commemorate the 100th anniversary of his death, the Norwalk Historical Society held a lecture on Sunday about the 19th century author's associations with Norwalk. Twain, whose real name was Samuel Clemens, is best known for writing "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn."
In a lecture and slideshow attended by 40 people, local historian Madeleine Eckert, described occasions when Twain encountered Norwalkers or passed through South Norwalk. For instance early in his career, Twain became an acclaimed travel writer and was hired in 1867 to chronicle the voyage of the ship Quaker City as she sailed to Egypt and the Holy Land. According to a letter found by Eckert, Twain met Norwalkers Frederick Dimon and Edward Keeler Lockwood (a cousin Legrand Lockwood was the owner of the Lockwood Matthews mansion) during this trip. Twain's writings of these travels were compiled in his book, "Innocents Abroad."
Not all of Twain's connections were among Norwalk's wealthy upper crust. Eckert said that when Twain's mansion in Redding was burglarized in 1908, one of the suspects, Charles Hoffman, listed his place of residence as South Norwalk. Twain also had connections with Norwalk artists who lived in Silvermine. Katherine Stewart Lawson designed an award-winning plaster bust of the author. Illustrator Worth Brehm was commissioned to do drawings for new editions of "Tom Sawyer"and "Huck Finn."
"We can understand Norwalk's history much better if we see the connections it had with people in the larger community," said Eckert explaining Twain's significance to Norwalk.
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