Mark Twain in Buffalo, 1869-1871 Mark Twain only lived in Buffalo for two years, but it was a time of both great success and personal tragedy for Twain. His Innocents Abroad was becoming a bestseller, moving 30,000 copies in only a few months, but personal tragedies would force Twain to leave Buffalo by the Spring of 1871. Buffalo marked a turning point in his life. While here, he realized that he was a writer, not a journalist, and never looked back. The Buffalo Express In early 1869, Twain was engaged to Olivia Langdon, and had decided to purchase a share in a newspaper. After surveying papers in Cleveland and Hartford, he purchased a one-third share of the Buffalo Express, and was able to borrow half of the $25,000 sale price from his future-father-in-law, Jervis Langdon. Twain lived in a boarding house downtown, not far from where the library stands today. In the same house lived Grover Cleveland, who would later be elected Mayor of Buffalo, Governor of New York, and eventually 22nd and 24th President of the United States. Twain was writing regular columns for the Express, ranging from absurdist humor to human rights. Olivia (Livy) Langdon
One such humorous piece was the cover of the Express on September 17, 1870. Twain spent two days carving out a “map” of the fortifications of Paris with a penknife at his desk. He neglected to draw it backwards to be printed properly, so it came out looking as though you’d need a mirror to read it. The geographic integrity of the map itself is just as compromised, as Jersey City can be found just west of the Seine, and the Erie Canal appears to be one of the © 2010 Buffalo and Erie County Public Library.