Some say that "Tom Sawyer" is an autobiographical novel about Sam Clemens' childhood. However, Clemens himself said of the book, "Most of the adventures recorded in this book really occurred; one or two were experiences of my own, the rest those of boys who were schoolmates of mine." Still, the flavor of the character "Tom" seems to be identical to that of the author, "Sam," as a child: humorous, always seeking a way to outmaneuver others, creative in his mischievousness, frequently caught up by his own superstitious beliefs, and often in trouble with his mother.
Sam's birth in the small town of Florida, Missouri, was eclipsed by the appearance that year of Halley's comet. Hundreds of thousands of words later, Sam's fame to surpassed comet's.
Sam's father, John Marshall Clemens, was well educated for the day. Though he had been trained as a lawyer, he'd evidently not been schooled well in business practices. He moved from town to town trying to earn a living. When lawyering failed to supply the necessary funds, he found odd jobs clerking in store, even opening several small general stores of his own.
Somewhere along the line he met and married Jane Lampton within a year. She married him partly to spite a recent boyfriend. Fortunately the marriage went well. The couple settled in Jamestown, Tennessee and had four children.
Because he needed steady work, John finally went to work for his brother-in-law, John Quarles, a farmer and store owner, as a clerk. Because the store was in the minuscule town of Florida, Missouri, the family moved there, too. Here Sam was born He was so sickly that for more than a decade Jane gave him all of the pills and tonics, poultices and bathes that were touted as sure cures for everything.
In the midst of all this doctoring, when Sam was almost five the family moved to Hannibal, Missouri, searching for better opportunities and also wanting to leave the place where Sam's sister had recently died.
Better opportunities did present themselves, especially for Sam. More population meant more fellows Sam's age, and more fellow's Sam's age meant more opportunities for his shenanigans. The surroundings also offered more grist for the mill of his imagination: a cave that offered a maze of crooked passageways, a town drunkard everyone called Injun Joe, a hill topped by a huge boulder, and the Mississippi with its ubiquitous riverboats.
