Olivia Langdon Clemens
Birth
Olivia Louise Langdon Clemens, middle child of Jervis and Olivia Lewis Langdon, was born 27 November 1845 in Elmira—a progressive, nineteenth-century city in western New York. Prior to her birth, Olivia’s parents, with their adopted daughter, nine-year-old Susan Dean Langdon, had moved to Elmira, where Olivia’s father would achieve success in the lumber and coal industry. Olivia’s parents first rented a home in Elmira and then purchased the house where Olivia was born. Olivia, called Livy by family and friends, would enjoy her first seven years in that home, until her parents purchased and renovated a much larger house—indicative of her father’s business successes—across the street from Elmira’s Congregational Park Church.
Childhood
Knowledge of Olivia’s early years is limited. Accounts show, however, that her parents were generous and intelligent, invested in developing the good of their community as well as goodness in their three children. In “A Study of the Cranes of Quarry Farm, Their Lives and Their Relationships with Mark Twain,” Gretchen Sharlow included a remembrance written by Olivia’s older sister, Susan, describing “the joy of a small window” in the attic of their home and “the still larger joy […] in the fact that I was allowed to take the baby Livy up to that room. Seat her on a chair on the inside, next to the window, while I sat outside with a chair in front as a horse… To have that dear little girl to myself, near that window was joy enough, making me very rich, she too was happy in the play” (Sharlow, Mark Twain in Elmira, 2nd edition, 306). Four years later, in 1849, the family welcomed another child, Olivia and Susan’s younger brother, Charles Jervis Langdon.
Early Education
As Olivia grew, she and Susan attended Clarissa Thurston’s Elmira Female Seminary, dedicated to teaching young women science and developing their good character. Girls under the age of twelve attended the Preparatory Department. Courses included reading, spelling, penmanship, math, grammar, history, geography, and history of the United States. The three-year program following the preparatory curriculum broadened the course of study to include botany, physiology, astronomy, philosophy, advanced math, theology, and evidence of Christianity. Olivia attended the preparatory programs at age six, ten, and twelve; Susan was awarded a Certificate of Merit in 1853, at age seventeen. Also in 1853, Olivia’s father began his involvement in the planning of Elmira Female College, the first college in the United States to be endorsed by the Board of Regents to grant a degree to women equal to that of men. Olivia’s father was appointed to the College’s Board of Trustees and was one of its financial supporters. Olivia attended the Preparatory Department of the College at age 14 (Sharlow, 308-9). Olivia and her siblings benefitted from their parents’ belief in good education.
