Mark Twain's grave vandalized

Elmira City Police and the administrator of Woodlawn Cemetery are searching for the person who removed the bronze likeness of Mark Twain from his gravesite in the Elmira cemetery.

Cemetery Superintendent Bryce Cuyle said someone who was visiting Twain's gravesite over the holiday weekend left a voicemail on the cemetery office's telephone saying the plaque was missing from the 12-foot high granite monument that commemorates both Twain and his son-in-law Ossip Gabrilowitsch.

Gabrilowitsch was the conductor of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and husband of Twain's daughter, Clara. His likeness is also attached to the monument stone, but only Twain's profile was taken.

"I don't believe it was taken for its scrap value because it's a specialty item that will be recognized around here," said Cuyle. "I think it was taken because of who it was."

Cuyle suspects the thief simply pried the plaque from the monument sometime over the past few days. He is also hopeful it will be returned to the cemetery.

"Someone will start chirping about this on social media," Cuyle said.

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The monument was commissioned by Twain's daughter as a memorial to her husband and father. It was designed by Elmira artist Ernfred Anderson, who also supervised its construction.

The granite was obtained from a Rhode Island quarry and cut and shaped in Massachusetts. About half way up the 12-foot-tall — or mark twain — stone were bas-relief profile portraits of Twain and Gabrilowitsch.

Twain died April 21, 1910, in Redding, Conn. He is buried in Elmira in the family plot of his wife, Olivia Langdon.

He once said "I came in with Halley's Comet in 1835. It is coming again next year (1910), and I expect to go out with it. It will be the greatest disappointment of my life if I don't go out with Halley's Comet. The Almighty has said, no doubt: 'Now here are these two unaccountable freaks; they came in together, they must go out together.'"

In May 2014, John Addiego, of Big Flats, restored the Langdon family plot for his Eagle Scout badge.

Addiego worked with the management at Woodlawn Cemetery and a group of volunteers to replace curbs, reset walkways and monument stones, and clean surrounding headstones.

All of the work was done with the blessing of Irene Langdon, one of the remaining family members.

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Twain was a frequent visitor to Elmira, spending summers at Quarry Farm, the home of his sister-in-law, Susan Langdon Crane. He wrote parts or all of seven books at the farm, his summer residence, including "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" and "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer."

The octagonal-shaped study where he worked is now on the Elmira College campus and is open to visitors seasonally. The Mark Twain Exhibit at the college is open year-round. Call the Center for Mark Twain Studies for an appointment at (607) 735-1941.

Follow G. Jeffrey Aaron on Twitter @JeffreyAaron4.