TIL Mark Twain outlived his wife and all but one of his four children

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Twain

93 points · 4 comments · view on lemmy.world

4 Comments

Veddit@lemmy.world · 32 pts · 1y (1 reply)

Outlived, or sadly experienced the loss of his wife and 3 out of 4 children?

originalucifer@moist.catsweat.com · 32 pts · 1y

Pity is for the living, envy is for the dead. - samuel clemens

jordanlund@lemmy.world · 28 pts · 1y (1 reply)

Says less about him and more about his family, he was only 75 when he died.

sp6@lemmy.world · 32 pts · 1y

For the lazy, three of his kids died before 30:

  • Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known as Mark Twain: died at 75y/o (heart attack)
  • Wife Olivia Langdon Clemens: died at 58y/o (heart failure)
  • Son Langdon Clemens: died at 19 months (diptheria)
  • Daughter Suzy Clemens: died at 24y/o (spinal meningitis)
  • Daughter Clara Clemens: died at 88y/o (likely overdose)
  • Daughter Jean Clemens: died at 29y/o (drowned in bathtub after epileptic seizure)

Worth noting the life expectancy when Mark Twain was born was about 60-65, so he did outlive the average by 10-15 years. But this is still more due to his children having tragic deaths rather than his longevity.