Welcome To Mark Twain Elementary

Serves students in grades Kindergarten through 4th

Established in 1937

Other School Facts:

• Located in Board District 3
• US Congressional District 5
• State Senate District 46
• State House District 89
• County Commissioner District 1
• City County Ward OKC 6

What's In a Name
Writer and humorist, Samuel Langhorne Clemens, was born November 30, 1835 in Florida, Missouri. When he was 5, his family moved to Hannibal, Missouri, the setting for his most famous novels, Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. Hannibal is located on the Mississippi River, and there young Sam began a love affair with the river that was to last a lifetime.

At 18 Clemens began work as a newspaperman, working in Philadelphia, New York and Washington. But his early fascination with the river won out, and he returned to train as a Mississippi river pilot, guiding steamboats through the treacherous currents. It was from this experience that he took his pen name, Mark Twain. (In river boat talk, this meant that the water mark showed two fathoms of depth or safe water.)

During the Civil War Clemens’ brother had a government appointment in Nevada Territory, and he persuaded Sam to come along. Clemens traveled throughout the West, writing for newspapers and magazines and gaining in popularity. As his fame as a writer grew, his humor and wit gained him a reputation as a speaker as well.

In 1870, he married Olivia Langdon. Well-known and well-respected as a writer, he continued to work until his death on April 21, 1910.

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