When he wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn， Mark Twain turned Hannibal， Missouri—which he later described as a “white town bathing in the sunshine of a summers morning”—into an American literary Mecca. No other town in the country has stronger associations with an author， and Twain readily acknowledged its role in his success.

The relationship between Hannibal and Twain began in November 1839， when Twains father， John Clemens， decided to leave the hamlet of Florida， Missouri， and move east about 35 miles （56 km） to the somewhat larger and more prosperous Hannibal， on the banks of the Mississippi River. Twain， then known as Samuel Clemens， marked his fourth birthday about a week after the family settled there. However， he showed little promise of becoming a long-term resident， because his health was so poor that his parents probably feared he would not survive childhood.

During the familys first few years in Hannibal， Twain was too young to understand fully the changes going on around him. About the time the family moved into their new home， Twains health improved dramatically. Instead of having to lead a quiet indoor life， he could roam the streets of Hannibal， climb the surrounding hills， explore the areas caves and splash about in local swimming holes.

Twains carefree days did not last long. His father used their house as collateral for a friends loan， and the creditor took possession when the loan failed. A physician who lived diagonally across the street from the family offered to let them live in his home. The Clemens family moved into that house sometime in late 1846. On March 24， 1847， John Clemens died. His wife， Jane Lampton Clemens， and their oldest son， Orion， managed to regain possession of the little house on Hill Street， and the family moved back into it that summer. These events dampened but did not extinguish Twains cheerful disposition.

Within a year of his fathers death， he quit school and became an apprentice printer， and when his brother Orion bought the Hannibal Journal in 1851， Twain went to work for him as a printer and editorial assistant. The stories he wrote for Orions paper， his first publications， taught him that he much preferred writing to typesetting. Thus， when he decided to leave Hannibal in May 1853， he already had an inkling of his future career.

當(dāng)馬克·吐溫撰寫(xiě)《湯姆·索亞歷險(xiǎn)記》和《哈克貝里·費(fèi)恩歷險(xiǎn)記》時(shí)，他把密蘇里州的漢尼堡變成了美國(guó)文學(xué)的圣地（后來(lái)他描寫(xiě)它如同一座“沐浴在夏日清晨陽(yáng)光下的安寧小鎮(zhèn)”）。在這個(gè)國(guó)家沒(méi)有哪一座城鎮(zhèn)會(huì)比這里與作家的關(guān)系更緊密的了，而且吐溫樂(lè)于承認(rèn)它在他取得成功中的作用。

漢尼堡與吐溫的關(guān)系始于1839年11月，當(dāng)時(shí)吐溫的父親約翰·克萊門(mén)斯，決定離開(kāi)密蘇里州佛羅里達(dá)的小村子，往東遷移35英里（56千米），到位于密西西比河岸的城市漢尼堡，這個(gè)城市更大，也更繁華。當(dāng)一家人在那里定居大約一個(gè)星期后，吐溫（當(dāng)時(shí)叫塞繆爾·克萊門(mén)斯）度過(guò)了他四歲的生日。然而他一點(diǎn)兒也不像要在這里長(zhǎng)住的人，因?yàn)樗纳眢w很差，以致父母擔(dān)心他可能會(huì)夭折。

在全家人住在漢尼堡的頭幾年里，吐溫因?yàn)樘∵€不能完全理解他周?chē)l(fā)生的變化。后來(lái)在全家喬遷新居時(shí)，吐溫的身體戲劇性地好轉(zhuǎn)了。他不再被迫過(guò)著肅靜的室內(nèi)生活，而是可以在漢尼堡的街道上隨處閑逛，攀爬周?chē)男∩?，探尋那里的洞穴以及在?dāng)?shù)氐乃独镦覒颉?/p>

吐溫?zé)o憂無(wú)慮的日子沒(méi)過(guò)多久。父親將他們的房子做了抵押，以便向一個(gè)朋友貸款，而當(dāng)貸款還不上時(shí)，這個(gè)債主占有了抵押物。一位住在他家斜對(duì)面的醫(yī)生主動(dòng)提出讓他們住在他家。在1846年末的一天，克萊門(mén)斯一家搬進(jìn)了那棟房子。1847年3月24日，約翰·克萊門(mén)斯去世。其妻簡(jiǎn)·蘭普頓·克萊門(mén)斯和長(zhǎng)子奧利翁，設(shè)法重新得到了希爾街那棟小屋的產(chǎn)權(quán)，并在那年夏天舉家搬了回去。這些事雖然很令人喪氣，但并沒(méi)有改變吐溫愉悅的個(gè)性。

父親去世后的這一年，吐溫輟了學(xué)并在印刷廠當(dāng)起了學(xué)徒。1851年吐溫的哥哥奧利翁買(mǎi)下《漢尼堡日?qǐng)?bào)》后，吐溫去哥哥那里干活，成為一名印刷工兼編輯助理。他為奧利翁的報(bào)紙寫(xiě)的故事，也是他的處女作，使他明白與排字工作相比自己更喜歡寫(xiě)作。于是，當(dāng)他在1853年5月決定離開(kāi)漢尼堡時(shí)，他對(duì)自己將來(lái)的事業(yè)已有了初步的勾畫(huà)。