Mark Twain was born in Florida, Missouri on November 11, 1835 to John Marshall and Jane Langhorne Clemons. His family included his two brothers, one sister and one family owned slave. His sister Jenny influenced Samuel the most. Very often she would read stories to him. In 1839 his family moved to Hannibal Missouri. After his father died in debt in 1847 Clemons dropped out of school and worked at a printing firm. In 1851 he began assisting his older brother Orion in the production of a newspaper named the "Hannibal Journal". Twain contributes poems, reports, and funny sketches. Like many authors of his day Clemons was not smart. All the knowledge he gained was from the offices that he worked in.
             In 1853 Clemons left Hannibal and he stayed shortly in many large cities. He stayed in St. Louis, New York City, Philadelphia, and Cincinnati. In 1857 Clemons had planned a trip to South America and in April of that year Clemons was walking up the Mississippi River when he bumped into Horace Bixby. Instead of traveling to South America he would stay and take lessons from Horace to become a steamboat pilot. By April 1859 Samuel Clemons was a licensed riverboat pilot.
             The profession of riverboat piloting paid well and brought much attention to Clemons. He loved his job. His piloting experiences also allowed him to observe the many kinds of people that traveled onboard the riverboat. And it also got him his pen name Mark Twain. Mark Twain is the measurement between the bottom the steamboat and the riverbed. Although it was a great job it came to an end. When the Civil War started it abruptly closed the commercial traffic on the Mississippi River. After two weeks of serving in the confederate army volunteer station he decided it was not for him and he chose to leave.
             He later traveled to Carson City, Nevada in 1861 with his brother Orion. Twain first began using his name on February 3, 1863 while he was workin
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