Mark Twain, originally born Samuel Langhorne Clemens, was the sixth child in a family of eight. Born to John and Jane Clemens on November 30, 1835, Twain was born in the small town of Florida, Missouri. At the age of four, Mark Twain and his family moved to Hannibal in hopes of drastically improving their living conditions. He then died of heart disease in Redding, Connecticut, on April 21, 1910. By lineage, Twain was of Southern descent, as both of his parents' birthplaces were that of Virginia. Slaveholding in Hannibal's small community, with a population of only 2,000 at the time, provided a variety of a rugged lifestyle mixed with Southern tradition. With a previously mentioned lifestyle, these were a major influence in his major writings, including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. During his youth, Twain was a very troubled boy; Growing up in poor health early in his life, Twain had led a gang of young pranksters, learned to smoke, and was very anti-school. His formal education was then interrupted at the age of 12 when his father died...