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 （56km） 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.

當马克·吐温撰写《汤姆·索亚历险记》和《哈克贝里·费恩历险记》时，他把密苏里州的汉尼堡变成了美国文学的圣地（后来他描写它如同一座“沐浴在夏日清晨阳光下的安宁小镇”）。在这个国家没有哪一座城镇会比这里与作家的关系更紧密的了，而且吐温乐于承认它在他取得成功中的作用。

汉尼堡与吐温的关系始于1839年11月，当时吐温的父亲约翰·克莱门斯，决定离开密苏里州佛罗里达的小村子，往东迁移35英里（56千米），来到位于密西西比河岸城市汉尼堡，这个城市更大，也更繁华。当一家人在那里定居大约一个星期后，吐温（当时叫塞缪尔·克莱门斯）度过了他四岁的生日。然而他一点儿也不像要在这里长住的人，因为他的身体很差，以致父母担心他可能会夭折。

在全家人住在汉尼堡的头几年里，吐温因为太小还不能完全理解他周围发生的变化。后来在全家乔迁新居时，吐温的身体戏剧性地好转了。他不再被迫过着肃静的室内生活，而可以在汉尼堡的街道上随处闲逛，攀爬周围的小山，探寻那里的洞穴以及在当地的水潭里嬉戏。

吐温无忧无虑的日子没过多久。父亲将他们的房子做了抵押，以便向一个朋友贷款，而当贷款还不上时，这个债主占了抵押物。一位住在他家斜对面的医生主动提出让他们住在他家。在1846年末的一个时候克莱门斯一家搬进了那栋房子。1847年3月24日，约翰·克莱门斯去世。其妻简·兰普顿·克莱门斯和长子奥利翁，设法重新得到了希尔街那栋小屋的产权，并在那年夏天举家搬了回去。这些事虽然很令人丧气，但并没有改变吐温愉悦的个性。

父亲去世后的这一年，他辍了学并在印刷厂当起了学徒。1851年吐温的哥哥奥利翁买下《汉尼堡日报》后，吐温又去那里为哥哥干活，成为一名印刷工兼编辑助理。他为奥利翁的报纸写的故事，也是他的处女作，使他明白与排字工作相比自己更喜欢写作。于是，当他在1853年5月决定离开汉尼堡时，他对自己将来的事业已有了初步的勾画。