Why Mark Twain's Home Is Said To Be Haunted

Mark Twain settled in Hartford, Connecticut in part to take advantage of the area's wealthy literary society, as well as for its outstanding natural beauty. Here, Twain and Olivia Langdon Clemens would raise their three daughters: Olivia Susan Clemens, known affectionately as "Susy," who was born in 1872; Clara Langdon Clemens, born in 1874; and Jean Lampton, born in 1880. A son, Langdon Clemens, was born in 1870, but died of diphtheria at the age of 19 months.

Susy was especially doted upon after the tragic death of Langdon. Despite their loss, the Clemens family reportedly lived contentedly in Connecticut, where Twain wrote some of his best-loved work, including "Huckleberry Finn" and "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court." However, illness among the Clemens children eventually took the shine off the family home, with Jean becoming diagnosed with epilepsy in 1896, preventing her from enjoying the nature and wildlife of Hartford that she so loved. Five months later, tragedy stuck again, with Susy, age just 24, dying from spinal meningitis at the Clemens' Hartford house. Heartbroken, the family left Connecticut soon after.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7qL7Up56eZpOkunB9km1tbmplZMSpxYymmKujXanEorXNZp%2BopZVitrR5x5qsp6yVmXw%3D