Artemus Ward was Abraham Lincoln's favorite author, and he is said to have inspired Mark Twain, who saw him perform in Virginia City, Nevada. As a traveling lecturer, Ward was almost as popular as Twain.
Ward said:
"I have already given two cousins to the (Civil) war, and I stand ready to sacrifice my wife's brother."
He died of tuberculosis at the age of 33.
To read about another American humorist, born on this day, Click here.
A big day for famous deaths: Davy Crockett (1836), Louisa May Alcott (1888), Oliver Wendell Holmes (1935), Pearl S. Buck (1973).
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