Jane Lampton (Jean) Clemens

Samuel Clemens and [Olivia Langdon Clemens]’ third and youngest daughter was born on 26 July 1880 on [Quarry Farm] in Elmira, N.Y., and named Jane Lampton Clemens (after her paternal grandmother) but she was usually called Jean. Throughout her life, Jean Clemens’ health was a matter of concern for the whole family. Seizures, which started at some point between ages ten and sixteen and might have been caused by a childhood infection with scarlet fever, led to her parent’s decades long “search for medical relief” (Rasmussen et al. 2:638) for their daughter. Eventually, Jean Clemens was diagnosed with epilepsy and subsequently spent a lot of time in treatment facilities and sanatoriums in the US and Europe (see MTE 153). In 1899, the whole family travelled to Sweden, so she could be treated by Jonas Kellgren at his osteopathy institute Sanna, resulting in a marked improvement in her health (see Rasmussen et al. 2:753).

Jean Clemens in profile. Cropped image from original print Source: “Portrait, profile of Jean Clemens, Samuel and Olivia Clemens youngest daughter,” https://marktwainstudies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/jeanclemens.jpg, courtesy of the Center for Mark Twain Studies, Elmira College, Elmira, New York.

Being the focus of so much attention, especially from her father and increasingly after the death of her older sister [Susy], was a huge source of stress for the young woman who had little opportunity to find personal fulfilment or engage in activities away from her family (see Rasmussen et al. 2:638). For a time, she was very involved in animal welfare activism (see Rasmussen et al. 2:638) and supported different groups with this aim.

Her epilepsy worsened in 1904 - after the death of her mother and a riding accident which left her seriously injured - and she was again forced to spend a lot of time on managing her health. Starting in autumn 1906, she entered various sanatorium and, in 1908, travelled to Germany for treatment. During this time, Jean Clemens felt increasingly estranged from and neglected by both her father and her sister Clara (see Skandera-Trombley 179-180). She did not return to live with her father until April 1909 (see Skandera-Trombley 16), when she moved in at [Stormfield] in Redding, Ct., mostly to do secretarial work.

Stormfield was the place were, on 24 December 1909 (only a few month after she had moved in), Jean Clemens died - presumably from a heart attack during a seizure. Her father, distraught by this latest family tragedy, did not attend her funeral. He wrote “The Death of Jean” as a tribute to her. Like her brother Langdon, sister Susy, and her mother before her, Jean Clemens was buried in the family plot at [Woodlawn Cemetery] in Elmira, N.Y..

Article Pages

linked to Jane Lampton Clemens (13)

• IA-034 • Der trauernde Humorist • 11 Jan 1910
• MD-097 • [W. W. Phelps in Dresden] • 21 Dec 1891
• MD-217 • Aus Europa zurückgekehrt • 17 Oct 1900
• MD-233 • Unser Humorist • 1 Dec 1901
• MD-234 • Unser Humorist • 2 Dec 1901
• MD-337 • Todt in Badewanne • 25 Dec 1909
• MD-339 • Mark Twain todt • 22 Apr 1910
• MD-347 • Mark Twain's Testament • 5 May 1910
• ND-002 • [Death of Jean Clemens] • 6 Jan 1910
• OH-045 • Der trauernde Humorist • 27 Jan 1910
• TX-034 • Mark Twains Rückreise nach der Heimath • 12 Jun 1899
• TX-068 • [Death of Jean Clemens] • 27 Dec 1909
• WI-031 • †Mark Twain.† • 1 May 1910