The Boy From Hannibal

One of the things Sam liked least was going to school. He attended a succession of small, one-room schoolhouses where he and the other students learned the Bible and reading, writing, and arithmetic from their schoolbooks, the McGuffey's Readers. Despite his hatred for his studies, Sam excelled in spelling, where he often won medals at the weekly spelling bees.

But in 1847 Sam's life changed forever. After struggling for so many years to make ends meet, Sam's father at last went bankrupt. He later died from pneumonia. Sam now had to get a job to help his family out financially. Only twelve years old, Sam quit school and went to work for the local newspaper, the Hannibal Journal. He began as a printer's "devil," or apprentice. Sam learned all there was to know about working at a newspaper from setting the type to editing copy to printing the paper. It was the start of a decade-long career for Sam and one that would eventually lead to his writing full time.

At the newspaper, Sam occasionally had the opportunity to write articles. He wrote about a subject he knew and one that interested him: Hannibal and its residents. During the next few years, Sam published some of his stories in the Philadelphia magazines, The Saturday Evening Post and The Courier. Although not paid for his stories, Sam was thrilled to see his name in print. More than that, writing started him thinking again about his earlier dream of leaving Hannibal and seeing the world.

Finally in June 1853, after swearing on his mother's Bible not to drink or gamble at cards, Sam Clemens left Hannibal. He was eighteen years old and ready to try his luck in the world. Kissing his mother goodbye, Sam made his way to the port where he boarded a ship bound for St. Louis. From there, who knew what lay ahead?

Want To Know More? For more information on Mark Twain and his early life visit the excellent site About Mark Twain.

Check Out At Your Library: Jim Hargrove's Mark Twain: The Story of Samuel Clemens (Grade 4+) and Mark Twain by Skip Press (Grade 4+).

Something To Think About: Mark Twain saw a number of things during his childhood that he later used for his stories. Think about keeping a journal filled with some of the things that you have seen and done? What events in

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