Mark Twain in Elmira, NY: Mark Twain Monument - Elmira College

Mark Twain Monument

Elmira College

Elmira, NY

N 42° 05.875 W 076° 48.842

Short Description: 

A monument honoring author, novelist, and humorist Mark Twain is located on the campus of Elmira College east of Park Place in Elmira, NY.

Long Description:

A 6' high bronze statue of Mark Twain stands with his legs slightly apart on an 6' high four tiered octagonal concrete base. Mark Twain is wearing a three piece suit and a bow-tie. He has his right hand in his right trouser pocket and cradles a book at waist level in his right hand and forearm. The statue was created by Gary Weisman of Roseville, PA and was a gift to the Elmira College by the class of 1934.

The uppermost tier is inscribed on the front face:

MARK TWAIN

Beloved Husband of

Olivia Langdon Clemens

Class of 1864

The lower three tiers have the names of books written by Mark Twain:

Roughing It

Adventures of Tom Sawyer - Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - The Prince and the Pauper

A Tramp Abroad - Life on the Mississippi - A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

The back of the top tier on the base is inscribed:

Gift 

of the Class 

of

1934

Mark Twain was the pen name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens who was born in Florida, MO on November 30, 1835. Early in life his family moved to Hannibal, MO on the Mississippi River. His experiences with the people of the river inspired his most famous characters and novels - Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer.

In 1870, Samuel Clemens married an Elmira resident and Elmira College graduate Olivia Langdon. They lived in Hartford, CT and spent many summers with Olivia's sister, Susan Crane, at her mansion at Quarry Farm in Elmira where he wrote major portions of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876), A Tramp Abroad (1880), The Prince and the Pauper (1881), Life on the Mississippi (1883), Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1889), and several shorter works.