Mark Twain three of his siblings survived childhood: Orion (1825–1897), Henry (1838–1858), and Pamela (1827–1904). His sister Margaret (1830–1839) died when Twain was three, and his brother Benjamin (1832–1842) died three years later. His brother Pleasant Hannibal (1828) died at three weeks of age. When he was four, Twain's family moved to Hannibal, Missouri, a port town on the Mississippi River that inspired the fictional town of St. Petersburg in "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and the "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn". Slavery was legal in Missouri at the time, and it became a theme in these writings. His father was an attorney
Mark Twain Lake Mark Twain Lake Mark Twain Lake is located in Ralls County, Missouri and Monroe County, Missouri. It was created by the Clarence Cannon Dam (formerly called "Joanna Dam") impounding the Salt River and is located about southwest of Hannibal. The lake was named for Missouri author Mark Twain and part of the area around it is Mark Twain State Park. The village of Florida, birthplace of Mark Twain, is mostly surrounded by the lake. In 1937 the Joanna Dam project was first proposed as an answer to many years of flooding by the Salt River. With support and expertise of