Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known by his primary pen name Mark Twain, is arguably the most famous American author of all time. Samuel L. Clemens was born November 30, 1835, in Florida, Missouri. He was the sixth of seven children of Jane Lampton Clemens and John Marshall Clemens. When Samuel was four years old, in 1839, he and his family moved 35 miles east to the growing port city of Hannibal, Missouri. Sam's father was a judge who built a two-story house in Hannibal in 1844 (official site of Mark Twain biography,1). As a boy, Samuel was confined to this house most of the time due to poor health. Thankfully, however; by the age of nine Sam was free of his ailments and could attend private school, swim, fish and play with other children. The boys often played outside along the Mississippi River where they pretended to be pirates for fun, which is reflected in Clemens' writings (Official Mark Twain Biography Site, 1). The Clemens family never had much money and usually struggled financially. When John Clemens, Samuel's father, died of pneumonia in 1847, the family's situation worsened even further (University of Missouri, 2). After completing the fifth grade, Samuel left school to work as a printer's apprentice for a local newspaper. Sam worked as a printer for his older brother, Orion, who owned a newspaper company in Hannibal (The West, 1). At 18, Samuel headed east, where he worked on several different newspapers and found some success as a writer. While in St. Louis, Clemens found work as an apprentice riverboat pilot. By 1858, Samuel was a licensed riverboat pilot. It was while working on the river that Sam found his new and more famous name. In the river shipping industry, the term "Mark Twain" means two... halves of paper... where he lived until he moved to Redding, Connecticut in 1908. By 1909, Samuel's middle daughter was married. Later that same year, her youngest daughter died of an epileptic seizure. Four months later, on April 21, 1910, Samuel Langhorne Clemens died at the age of 74. The night he died, Samuel fulfilled his prophecy of dying on a night when Halley's Comet was visible, as it was the night he was born (The West, 2).Works Cited"A Life Lived in a Rapidly Changing World change: Samuel L. Clemens‚ 1835-1910."Welcome to the Mark Twain Home and Museum. May 6, 2014. “Mark Twain Biography Official Site.” May 5, 2014. Shmoop editorial team. "Mark Twain's Chronology of Important Dates." May 6, 2014"The West." New Perspectives on the West, Samuel Clemens. PBS. May 6, 2014.University of Missouri "Samuel L. Clemens (1835 - 1910)." Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Mark Twain). May 6th 2014.