Perhaps it was a sign of the infant’s rise to literary fame. As Halley’s comet reached its perihelion — its closest point to the sun — Samuel Langhorne Clemens was born in the sleepy, little town of Florida, Missouri, on November 30, 1835. No one realized, of course, that the fifth child of John and Jane Clemens would eventually become more famous than the celebrated comet and recognized as one of the most original and important authors in American and world literature. His legacy extends to that of America’s greatest humorist, and his abundance of works reflects his early years along the country’s great river.
Sam’s father, John Marshall Clemens, a highly intelligent man, was a mildly successful lawyer, a justice of the peace, and a stern disciplinarian of his children. Sam’s mother, Jane, a Southern belle in her youth, had a natural sense of humor and was greatly affectionate, especially to animals and people down on their luck. The combination of parental personalities would later be found in several of Mark Twain’s characters, and Huckleberry Finn’s concern for the less fortunate is reminiscent of Jane Clemen’s kindness and compassion.
