Mark Twain in German-Language Newspapers and Periodicals

Elmira, N.Y. | Woodlawn Cemetery

Clemens and "all members of his immediate family" (Rasmussen et al. 2:945) are buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in Elmira, N.Y.. The cemetery is in use since 1858. A virtual tour of Woodlawn Cemetery with an interactive map of notable burials is available from the Center for Mark Twain Studies.
Jervis Langdon, father of Olivia Langdon Clemens, first purchased a family plot in Woodlawn Cemetery in 1866 (see Jerome and Wisbey 143) and when Olivia and Samuel Clemens' first child, a son named Langdon, died in infancy in 1872, he was buried in the Langdon cemetery plot establishing the place as a shared grave site for the Langdon and Clemens families alike (see Selby 19).
Whereas the inscription on Clemens' own gravestone is quite short, those on the gravestones of his daughters and his wife are longer and include poetic quotes or personal farewells.

"SAMUEL LANGHORNE CLEMENS
MARK TWAIN
NOV. 30, 1835-APR. 21, 1910"

"IN THIS GRAVE
REPOSE THE ASHES OF
OLIVIA LANGDON
THE BELOVED AND LAMENTED WIFE OF
SAMUEL L. CLEMENS
WHO REVERENTLY RAISES THIS STONE
TO HER MEMORY
ELMIRA, NOV. 27, 1845
FLORENCE, ITALY, JUNE 5, 1904
'GOTT SEI DIR GNÄDIG, O MEINE WONNE!'"

"IN MEMORY OF
JEAN LAMPTON CLEMENS
A MOST DEAR DEAR DAUGHTER
HER DESOLATE FATHER
SETS THIS STONE
'AFTER LIFE'S FITFUL FEVER
SHE SLEEPS WELL'
JULY 26, 1880-DEC. 24, 1909"

"OLIVIA SUSAN CLEMENS
MAR. 19, 1872-AUG. 18,1896
'WARM SUMMER SUN
SHINE KINDLY HERE
WARM SOUTHERN WIND
BLOW SOFTLY HERE
GREEN SOD ABOVE
LIE LIGHT; LIE LIGHT
GOOD NIGHT; DEAR HEART,
GOOD NIGHT, GOOD NIGHT'
ROBERT RICHARDSON"

"CLARA CLEMENS
GABRILOWITSCH
SAMSSOUD
JUNE 8, 1874-NOV. 19, 1962
GOOD-BYE DARLING
UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN"

(Jean, Susan, and Clara's inscriptions as quoted in Selby 19)

 

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