Woodlawn Cemetery
From Mark Twain in the German Language Press
< Elmira
Clemens and “all members of his immediate family” (Rasmussen et al. 2:945) are buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in Elmira, N.Y.. The cemetery has been 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)