Mark Twain and the Stormfield Home Video

"It is the most out of the world and peaceful and tranquil and in every way satisfactory home I have had experience of in my life."

Mark Twain spent the last 23 months of his life in Redding, Connecticut, in this massive estate he called Stormfield. Amateur Historian Brent M. Colley has done a fine job documenting some of the significant (and sad) events of Twain's final years. Of particular interest is the burglary of the estate, documented at Colley's site and also in the New York Times' archives. And, since we've paid previous notice to other 'notices' in this blog, the following was supposedly tacked to Stormfield's front door sometime after the event:

NOTICE !

To the Next Burglar
There is only plated ware in this house now and henceforth.
You will find it in that brass thing in the dining room over in the corner by the basket of kittens. If you want the basket, put the kittens in the brass thing.
Do not make a noise - it disturbs the family.
You will find rubbers in the front hall by that thing which has the umbrellas in it, - chiffonier, I think they call it, or pergola, or something like that. Please close the door when you go away !

VERY TRULY YOURS,
S. L. CLEMENS

Albert Bigelow Paine's widely read, three volume biography dedicates numerous chapters to the Clemens' family life in Redding (an e-version of the Paine texts can be found here). Of most interest regarding Twain and the Stormfield estate, however, might be the following footage - filmed a mere year before his death - by none other than Thomas Edison:

As one could well imagine, this is the only footage of Mark Twain on film. Better versions can be found in the multimedia section at Hannibal.net.