LONGMEADOW – In the latter half of the 19th century, Samuel Clemens, better known by his pen name, Mark Twain, traveled the country and the world lecturing for thousands of listeners. On Jan. 15, 110 years after the famed author’s death, about a hundred people at the Longmeadow Adult Center were treated to a more intimate appearance by Sam and his beloved wife, Livy Clemens.

“A visit with Mark Twain & Livy Clemens” was co-presented by the Storrs Library and the Longmeadow Adult Center and sponsored by the Friends of the Storrs Library. Historical actors Kit Webb and Beth Avery, of the Mark Twain House & Museum in Hartford, CT., spent an hour portraying Sam and Livy, respectively. The two read letters written to each throughout their marriage and to others about their life and love.

The event was the first time that the actors, in character and in costume, performed the letter-reading show. The letters that were read painted a picture of the relationship between the couple and their daily life. Most of the letters were written while Sam was away on lecture tours.

The first letter read was from Sam to his sister, in which he described his love for Livy and how he was reforming himself to be worthy of marrying her.

One letter, written in the year 1870, shortly before their marriage, was a response from Sam to Livy’s request that he smoke less, as the author famously enjoyed about 30 cigars each day. Sam eloquently, yet firmly refused. The letter was followed by another, written the next morning, in which Sam apologized in case his first letter had upset Livy.

Another letter offered insight into Sam’s relationship with his oldest daughter Susy.

“If you have a very fine sunset, throw a blanket over it and keep it ‘til I come,” Sam wrote to her while he was away on a speaking tour.

In a letter written later in their lives, Livy cautioned Sam not to be so harsh in his opinion of others and asks him “does it help the world to always rail at it?”

Webb and Avery answered questions out of character after reading the letters and told stories about the Clemenses and the 17 years they lived in Hartford, which Webb said were the happiest of Sam’s life and “the longest he ever stayed put.”

Webb said Sam was a brilliant writer but terrible with money. The actors told the stories about Sam’s “amazing life” and how it became sad toward the end, after the death of his wife and three of his four children.

Both performers work at the Mark Twain House & Museum and perform living historical tours. Webb even grew his mustache, he said, so he could “be their Sam.”

Lindsay Gill, program coordinator for the Longmeadow Council on Aging said they brought the actors to the Longmeadow Adult Center, 231 Maple Rd., because they had had success with historical events in the past. The center is organizing a trip to the Mark Twain House & Museum in February.

There are also plans to present more historical performers, such as Sheryl Faye, who will be at the center in March as a yet-to--be-determined character. She will also appear at the Storrs Library, 693 Longmeadow St., in September as Susan B. Anthony. Similarly, historical actress Anne Barrett will be coming to the library in March.

“These historical programs are really popular, so we try to have a couple each year,” said Rebecca Vitkauskas, programming and collection development librarian at the Storrs Library.