Charles L. Webster
"Publisher of Grant's Memoirs"
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| Charles L. Webster |
As Clemens, better known by his pen name Mark Twain, began to gain notoriety and success as an author, he was having issues with an inept publishing company. Twain decided in 1884 to establish his own publishing firm and named his niece's husband, Charles L. Webster, as director. Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was the firms first success but a larger opportunity arose in the form of The Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant. This was a coveted prize in the publishing industry due to Grant's celebrity status. The firm never sustained the early success and Webster was let go in 1888 and the firm eventually went into bankruptcy by 1894.
Charles L. Webster was born in Charlotte, a small village on Lake Ontario near Rochester, NY in 1851. Websters parents were from Connecticut and moved to New York shortly after their marriage in 1848. His father Luther had been a farmer. After Charles was born the family soon moved and he was raised in Fredonia, NY.
After graduating the Fredonia Normal School (Coincidentally this same school produced well known publisher James H. McGraw of McGraw & Hill) Webster became a civil engineer and surveyor working on railroads in the west. In the midst of his work he became acquainted with U.S. Grant. Webster is also said to have traveled to India with U.S. Grant's son Fred to secure a railroad charter, a trip which he is said to have been "knighted" with the title Pius by Pope Leo. A few years later Charles Webster and Co. would end up publishing the Pope's memoirs.
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| Fredonia Normal School 1860's. |
When some of Twain's family moved to Fredonia from St. Louis, MO in the 1870's, Webster became acquainted with Twain's niece Annie Moffett. Charles and Annie married in 1875.
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| The Clemens family ladies: Sam's mother, Jane Lampton Clemens (seated on the left); his sister, Pamela Clemens Moffett, (seated right); his niece, Annie Moffett Webster, standing; and Annie's daughter, Alice Webster |
Twain began a working relationship with his new nephew whom he always referred to as "Charley". In 1881 Webster induced his uncle to invest in the Independent Watch Co. of Fredonia. This turned out to be a bad investment but Webster was able to recover the family funds gaining the trust of Twain. Twain commebded Webster writing: "You did miraculously well with the Watch-thieves. It was an ugly job well carried through."
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| The Mark Twain watch from the Independent Watch Co. of Fredonia. (Dave Thomson Collection) |
In 1884 Twain became aware that his friend General Grant was writing for Century magazine. He saw the early opportunity for his firm and wrote Webster: "We want the Century's warbook-keep on the best of terms with those folks." The race was on and Webster set up a meeting. Twain visited the Grant home in New York City that November to try to convince the General to publish through him. Twain offered generous terms that surpassed anything Century was willing to offer, still Twain waited for Grant to make a final decision with trepidation. Twain wrote Webster "It would be a grand thing if we could get the General's book on those terms." Webster replied confidently: "Dear Uncle Sam, I have been working like a beaver and I have at last got that Grant matter in first rate train...There's big money for both of us in that book and on the terms indicated in my note to the General we can make it pay big...and that seems a certainty now."
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| Mark Twain meets with General Grant in New York City about the Memoirs. |
Webster described his work on securing and publishing Grant's Memoirs during an 1887 interview...
"It is not generally known that General Grant began work on his memoirs principally at the solicitation of Mr. Webster. At the request of THE STAR representative the publisher told the
story. 'About the time of the Grant & Ward failure,' said he, 'I went to the General and represented that it would be advantageous for him to write a history of his career. He replied that John Russell Young
and Adam Badeau had both written him up, and that he did not think, in justice to those gentlemen, he should take up the pen in his own behalf. I continued my solicitations, and the Century company also strove to induce him to write his life. I finally succeeded, and the first volume of the memoirs was given to the public. Then came a hitch. The general
did not feel equal to the task of completing the work. 'I'm afraid we will have to give it up, Webster,' he said to me one day. You know I am naturally lazy, and I feel like chopping each sentence in two. No, I
don't think I can do it.' You may believe this did not please me. I cudgelled my brain and finally hit upon a plan which eventually proved successful. I recommended that he dictate to one of my stenographers an account
of the surrender of Lee at Appomattox. He demurred at first, saying that he never had dictated a letter in his life. This I subsequently found to be a fact. I met this objection as well as I could, when he brought up the subject
of the reporters, saying that if he began dictating they would get hold of the matter and publish it. I finally agreed to go to his house each day with a stenographer [probably Fred J. Hall], remain while the general dictated for about two hours,
go home with the stenographer and remain with him until he had delivered to me not only his notes but the complete text of the general's remarks. By following this plan General Grant was sure he could frustrate the reporters,
and we did, but it was a sore trial for me. We continued this work until a very short time before the general died, when the second volume was completed. In all my experience I never heard a man dictate so well and clearly
as General Grant. The book required no cutting down to speak of when he had completed his work.'"
Webster worked frantically at the enormous process of securing all the necessary components: paper, printers etc. to produce the volumes. He re-invested large sums of money from sales of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in the new venture. Although staring down deadlines and the General's failing health Webster worked to ensure the manuscript was the unadulterated words of the General himself and that the contract was adhered to tightly. The first setback occurred when Webster contracted with J.J. Little & Co. to print the volumes only to switch to another printer due to delays. This resulted in a suit which Webster ultimately lost in 1888.
The memoirs were sold by subscription only and Webster worked tirelessly to thwart the efforts of those trying to steal the manuscript or sell it in stores.Webster traveled and corresponded throughout the United States and Europe to hire agents. Many of thousands who turned out as agents to sell the General's work were Civil War veterans. Many of the veterans even donned their uniforms to sell the volumes door-to-door encouraged by Twain who believed it “would be harder for prospects to turn away, given the subject matter of the book..." The veterans saw the task as a service to their old commander. They were also given a sales "script" entitled How to Introduce the Memoirs of U.S. Grant.
On a recent visit to Grant's Boyhood Home in Georgetown, OH I was approached by members of the Grant Homestead Association to look at a prized artifact from the collection. Nancy and Stan Purdy who also run the Bailey House Bed & Breakfast (The perfect place to stay when visiting the "Land of Grant") showed me a rare salesman's copy of the Personal Memoirs of US Grant. This version included samples of the different bindings available, excerpts from the volumes as well as notes directly to the salesman.
I shared with them a recently acquired letter signed by Charles Webster from June 16, 1885 (coincidentally the date US Grant arrived at Grant Cottage on Mt. McGregor). The letter dealt with a prospective salesmen of the Memoirs in Minnesota (Possibly a Civil War veteran, research is ongoing). The envelope carries the stamp of "Charles L. Webster & Co. Publishers of Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant."
Webster later commented on the success of the memoirs and the aftermath...
"The success of the Grant memoirs has been phenomenal...Over 600,000 volumes have been issued and Mrs. Grant has received over $395,000 in cash...The volumes range in price from $3.50 to $12.50, and she received 70 per cent of the profits. Mrs. Grant is still living at No. 3 East Sixty-sixth street, New York, where the general was first stricken with the disease which caused his death. She was devoted to him, and his loss nearly drove her frantic, but she is a woman of great strength of character, and weathered the storm. I dined with her a few days ago, and she seemed quite cheerful. Her son, Col. Fred. Grant is now living with her."
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| One of the large payout checks to Julia Grant from sales of the Memoirs. |
With the success of the first two books, Twain and Websters relationship seemed to be at it's best point. Soon after however it began to decline rapidly along with the publishing firm. There is controversy surrounding the circumstances of their falling out, but it seems clear that Twain saw Webster as incompetent to run the firm and a cause for much of his subsequent financial trouble. There is speculation that Webster's chronic ill health during this time, no doubt exacerbated by the stress of working for Twain, affected his faculties as well. Twain relieved Webster in 1888, ostensibly due to ill health, and he returned to Fredonia.
Webster put his money into remodeling a nice home for his family called "Interstrassen" which included a modern roof, observatory, a graded lawn and stone pathways.
The Grant family remained in contact with the Webster family as evidenced in the following mourning envelope addressed from Grant's wife Julia Dent Grant to Mrs. Charles Webster in 1890. They shared reminiscences of the old days in St. Louis where they were from and swapped fashion information.
Twain and Webster were never on speaking terms again and Twain continued to harbor private resentment towards him. On April 28, 1891 Webster died in Fredonia before his 40th birthday from chronic ill health complicated by the flu. One of his prized possessions until his death was the original manuscripts of the Memoirs.
One of Webster's three children Samuel Charles, published the book Mark Twain, Business Man in 1946 to help to clear his father's reputation. In the book he defended his father stating: “Mark Twain attributes the failure of his publishing house, one of the foremost in America, Charles L. Webster and Company, entirely to my father, Charles Webster – who had retired six years before the failure occurred”
Of the Webster's other two children, William became a renowned painter and Alice Jane an author. His wife Annie would outlive him by almost 60 years, passing away in 1950 at 97 years of age.
Webster put his money into remodeling a nice home for his family called "Interstrassen" which included a modern roof, observatory, a graded lawn and stone pathways.
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| The Webster Residence known as "Interstrassen" in Fredonia, NY. |
The Grant family remained in contact with the Webster family as evidenced in the following mourning envelope addressed from Grant's wife Julia Dent Grant to Mrs. Charles Webster in 1890. They shared reminiscences of the old days in St. Louis where they were from and swapped fashion information.
Twain and Webster were never on speaking terms again and Twain continued to harbor private resentment towards him. On April 28, 1891 Webster died in Fredonia before his 40th birthday from chronic ill health complicated by the flu. One of his prized possessions until his death was the original manuscripts of the Memoirs.
One of Webster's three children Samuel Charles, published the book Mark Twain, Business Man in 1946 to help to clear his father's reputation. In the book he defended his father stating: “Mark Twain attributes the failure of his publishing house, one of the foremost in America, Charles L. Webster and Company, entirely to my father, Charles Webster – who had retired six years before the failure occurred”
Of the Webster's other two children, William became a renowned painter and Alice Jane an author. His wife Annie would outlive him by almost 60 years, passing away in 1950 at 97 years of age.
Regardless of other factors and his untimely demise it remains clear that Charles Webster played a pivotal role, perhaps more than anyone else, in the successful publication and sales of Grant's Memoirs. With the book still in print after 136 years that is a legacy unto itself that is worthy of being remembered.
Sources:
Who Killed Charlie Webster? by Kevin Mac Donnell
The Mark Twain Project: Charles L. Webster
A Rare Interview with Charles Webster: Twainquotes.com
Bicentennial Biographies: Charles Webster: McClurg Museum
Mark Twain and His Family in Fredonia by Douglas H. Shepherd
Late 19th Century Bookmaking by Kathleen M. Walker
Mark Twain and the Fredonia Watch Co. by Barbara Schmidt and Dave Thomson
The House at 20 Central Avenue in Fredonia by Douglas Shepherd
The Captain Departs by Thomas M. Pitkin
Ignorance, Confidence and Filthy Rich Friends by Peter Krass
The General's Wife by Ishbel Ross
Mark Twain's Letters to His Publishers 1867-1894
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