Jane Lampton Clemens (1880-1909)
The youngest child of Samuel and Olivia, Jane Lampton Clemens, was born July 26, 1880, and named after her paternal grandmother She was always called “Jean” by her family and friends. Later in 1880, Samuel wrote to his sister: “Jean is as fat as a watermelon, & just as sweet, & good, & often just as wet.” Jean loved wildlife and being outdoors. As a teenager and young adult she was what today would be called an animal rights activist. She joined the Humane Society and made donations to similar organizations during the family’s many travels. She loved horseback riding, and as an adult longed for a vocation and source of income of her own to make her more independent. In 1891, when the family packed up for Europe, Clara and Susy were practically adults‚ with careers in mind. At that point Jean was only 11, and still had much of her childhood left.
Most Mark Twain scholars mark Susy’s death in August 1896 as the point at which the lives of the families changed, but Jean was diagnosed with epilepsy five months before Susy’s death, and in the years before her diagnosis displayed behavior in the household that was somewhat disruptive. Jean’s diagnosis was a huge blow. Jean, at age15, was not able to experience the idyllic teenage years her sisters had enjoyed. While in Europe the family sought out doctors to treat her in England, Sweden, Germany‚ and Switzerland, but constant travel also took its toll.
Jean’s illness had periods of remission and periods when she would have frequent grand mal seizures. She was supposed to be kept calm; the conventional medical wisdom of the day dictated that excitement and worry made the seizures more frequent. She was kept under constant supervision by her parents; Olivia stayed with Jean night and day when she was having her “spells.”
Few scholars mention the effect this constant stress in caring for Jean put on her mother’s own declining health. There was also social stigma surrounding epilepsy, and sufferers were often ostracized. It was Olivia who insisted that Jean be included in as many family and social activities as her health would allow. Her mother and father both thought that by being vigilant they could hold off the seizures.
Jean was prescribed fresh air and exercise, such as horseback riding, which she loved. She carved elegant glove boxes and chests after studying the craft as part of her treatment, and always hoped that if she could get healthy enough she could make a modest income from her art.
She was kept on a sedative and a strict diet that limited meat and sweets. When her mother died and Clara suffered her own emotional breakdown, Jean’s care was left to her father and his staff. He was unable to maintain the level of care she had received from her mother, and Jean spent most of her last years separated from her father, living in sanitariums and treatment centers believed to be the best choice for her health.
In 1906, Jean was admitted to a new sanitarium, the Hillbourne Club in Katonah, New York. She stayed in one of the several bungalows under the care and supervision of doctors. Here, her diet became stricter and her activities more regulated. Jean wrote in her diary on Saturday, November 3,1906: This week [Dr. Hunt] has given me three pretty strict commands; 1- not to eat salt! And I have always been in the habit of putting iron everybit of food I taste that wasn’t actually sweet or liquid; 2 - not write many letters, as a rule nor more than one daily; 3 - stay out of doors four or five hours a day. And also said he would like me to carve two hours. How I am to get it all in remains to be seen. Jean made friends during her time at the Hillbourne Club. Residents enjoyed dancing, skiing, skating, bowling, and playing squash and other games like chess, poker, and Up Jenkins.
In the fall of 1909 Clemens realized he and Clara needed to take full responsibility for Jean’s care, and she returned to live with her father on his property in Redding, Connecticut. In the last few months of her life Jean reconciled with her father and worked as his personal secretary. She died of an apparent heart attack, the result of a seizure, on Christmas Eve, 1909. She was 29.