TWITCHELL LINE - PAGE 4

Generations 8, 9 & 10


Page 1  -   Page 2  - Page 3


     GERSHOM TWITCHELL was born on 17 Jun 1826 in Belfast, Waldo Co., ME. and d. 8 apr. 1896 in Burnham.  He was the son of JOSIAH TWITCHELL and MARY SIDENSPARKER. Gershom married NANCY S. SPRING , who was was born 23 Apr. 1826 in Maine and d. 26 May 1892 in Burnham. She was the daughter of WILLIAM D. SPRING and SOPHIA BARROWS of Burnham. On the 1850 Census Gershom was living with his parents in the house at "Twitchell Corner" in Burnham with Nancy and their two young sons, William and Oliver. After his father died he inherited the house.

   Gershom was a farmer but also ran a store in Burnham for a time.

     "People used to say, old Gershom couldn't remember which one he wanted, so he'd hollar "Gershom, Eli, Haskell, Frank, Come he'ah I want ya."" This from an interview Kelly Huff of Burnham conducted with a man who knew the Twitchell family in Burnham.

GENERATION EIGHT

CHILDREN:

Sources:

  1. For Gershom Twitchell, his wife Nancy and sons William and Oliver see [U.S. Census 1850, Burnham, Waldo Co., Me, p. 237, household 16-17
  2. For same less son Oliver but including son Haskell Twitchell see [ U.S. Census, 1870, Burnham, Waldo Co., Me. household 81-83].
  3. U.S. Census 1870, Burnham, Waldo Co., Me. household 88-88; Note: Eli, Gershom and E. Frank were not residing with their parents on the 1870 Census but were residing with a family surnamed Jones. A notation was made indicating that they were the children of Gershom (Sr.) and his wife Nancy.
  4. Certified Death Certificate of Eli Alvah Twitchell from Town Clerk, Burnham, Waldo Co., Me., states Eli Alvah Twitchell was son of Gershom Twitchell and Nancy Spring.
  5. U.S. Census, 1840, Waldo County, Burnham, Maine, p. 298 (Family of Josiah Twitchell)
  6. Gravestone Records, Mount Cemetery, Burnham, ME. (Gershom, Nancy, Gershom Jr., Mary his wife, Harold their son, and Haskel)
  7. Pittsfield Advertiser dated Thursday 4/18/1889 Burnham
  8. "Genealogy of the Twitchell Family, Record of the Descendants of  The Puritan Benjamin Twitchell 1632-1927:, Comp. & Ed. by Ralph Emerson Twitchell, N.Y., N.Y., 1929.


     ELI ALVAH TWITCHELL was born on 20 Aug 1852 in Hollowell, Kennebec, ME. He died on 29 Nov 1913 in Burnham, Waldo, ME. He m. DELPHINA (DELLA) REYNOLDS 11 May 1872 Hallowell. Delphina was the daughter of GILMAN H. REYNOLDS and BETSEY E. HUFF of Burnham, Waldo Co., ME. Delphina was born on 1 Sep 1851 in Hollowell, Kennebec, ME., and died in Rumford, Oxford, ME. Delphina's birth is listed in the vital records of Hallowell, Me, V.1 p. 244 as "Reynolds, Della (Delphina) 1 Sep. 1851"; her marriage as, Reynolds "Della, 20, and Eli A. Twitchell, 19, 11 May 1872" (Ibid, V.5, p. 32). Eli is buried at the Reynolds Cemetery in Burnham.

     In 1870 Eli Twitchell appears on the U.S. Census in Burnham, Waldo Co., ME. but not with his parents whose household was enumerated as 81-83. Instead he appears on the in the household of Daniel Jones (88-88) as E. Twitchell age 17, along with his brothers Gurshum (sic) age 15 and E. Frank age 9. Don't know why they were living with the Jones family.

     In 1880 Eli was a wire worker at the Kennebec Wire Mill in Hallowell. His house was in Greenville, Me. near the Farmingdale Line, ("City Directory of Augusta, Hallowell & Gardiner, Me", 1880.

     The 1880 Census of Hallowell, Me. lists Eli Twitchell, age 27, Wire Drawer; his wife Della, age 28, keeping house, and children, Charles A., son, age 6, at school; Arno W., age 2, son; and Elden E., age less than one year, son.

     Later in life Eli and Delphina moved back to Burnham, Me. where he earned his living as a farmer and contractor until his death.

     Delphina, or Della as she was known, was a tiny woman. While a young girl she suffered a broken hip when she was thrown from a buggy. For the rest of her life she had to resort to crutches or a cane to get around. Late in her life, after Eli's death, she lived for a while in Rumford with her son Elden's family. After the death of her daughter-in-law, Ada Atkins Twitchell, she went to live with her son Arno and his wife Edna. At the time of her death Delphina Reynolds Twitchell had been in ill health for some time, and was deaf, blind, and a victim of Alzheimers.

GENERATION NINE

Eli and Delphina had the following children:

1. Charles Alvah Twitchell was born 03 May 1873 in Hallowell, ME. (V.R. Hallowell, ME., V.1, p. 296), and d. in 1944 in Pittsfield, Somerset Co., ME.. He m. Linnie M. Willey 29 Sep 1896 in Burnham. She was b. in 1874 and d. in 1933. Charles and Linnie are buried at the Village Cemetery in Pittsfield. They had:

2 Arno William Twitchell, b. 08 Oct 1877 in Hallowell, ME. (V.R. Hallowell, ME., V.1, p. 296) and d. between 1943 and 1946. He m. Edna Whitten. Arno made knives as a hobby. They had:

3. Elden Eli Twitchell

Sources:

  1. Gravestone records, Reynolds Pond Cemetery, Burnham, Waldo Co., ME.
  2. U.S. Census 1870, Burnham, Waldo Co., Me. household 88-88
  3. "1880 City Directory of Augusta, Hallowell & Gardiner, Maine" p. 28, house 278
  4. Certified Abstract of a Certificate of Death for Eli Alvah Twitchell recording death on 29 Nov 1913, Burnham, ME., age 61 years; cause of death "n/a"; Father's name: Gursham (sic) Twitchell; Mother's name: Nancy Spring; Physician attending: C. M. Whitney M.D.; Recording Clerk: Daniel A. Dyer.
  5. Information provided by Raymond Barnes, USN, a descendant of Charles Alvah Twitchell
  6. "Genealogy of the Twitchell Family, Record of the Descendants of  The Puritan Benjamin Twitchell 1632-1927:, Comp. & Ed. by Ralph Emerson Twitchell, N.Y., N.Y., 1929


      ELDEN ELI TWITCHELL was b. 6 Dec 1879 in Hallowell, Kennebec, Co., Me., and d. 01 Jun 1928 in Rumford, Oxford Co., Me.. He m. Ada Floris Atkins 21 Dec 1902 in South Gardiner, Kennebec Co., ME. Ada was b. 15 Jan 1880 in South Gardiner, Me. and d. 17 Jan 1926 in Rumford, Oxford Co., ME., the daughter of EZEKIEL ATKINS and LOIS ANN MOOERS of South Gardiner. Elden and Ada are buried in Mount Hope Cemetery in South Gardiner, ME.

     Elden and Ada resided initially in South Gardiner where Elden was working in a mill. Their first four children were born there. In 1908 they removed to Rumford where Elden went to work in the Oxford Paper Mill as a mechanic. At some time after 1913 Elden's mother Delphina came from Burnham to live with them.

     In the spring of 1925 Their son Alvah graduated from high school and went to work at the Oxford Mill. Late that same year, on December 23rd, Alvah was killed in a crane accident at the mill. Someone called Ada at home and Ada, a short plump woman, ran from the house down the hill to the mill where she collapsed. They took her back to the house and put her in bed but  the shock of Alvah's death, combined with the physical effects of her run broke her health and 25 days later she died.

     Two and a half years after the deaths of his Alvah and Ada, Elden too was killed in an accident at the mill. A Lewiston, Maine newspaper carried this account, forwarded to them from a paper, or stringer in Rumford:

"Rumford, June 1.- Elden E. Twitchell, 47, assistant master mechanic at the Oxford Paper Mill here was killed instantly shortly before 0530 this afternoon, when a "stock-tub" which he was inspecting exploded, hurling him 20 feet away.

The cause of the accident is still being investigated. Death was caused by two fractures of the skull, according to a statement made by Dr. Harold W. Stanwood, medical examiner. The tub was 12 feet in height.

Mr. Twitchell was born at Hallowell but came to Rumford 20 years ago and had worked for the Oxford Paper Co., for that length of time. His son, Alvah, 19, was killed in the same Mill Dec. 23, 1925 by a crane.

He is survived by his aged mother, Mrs Della Twitchell; two brothers, Arno of Rumford, and Charles of Burnham; four daughters, Eleanor, Lois, Zelda and Constance; Two sons, Jesse and Keith all of Rumford. He was a member of the Odd Fellows and the Baptist church."

     The family lived in mill housing and following Elden's death the company allowed the children to remain in the house until the following spring when they went to live with with various relatives. Lois and Jessie were aged 25 and 24 and took care of the children along with  other relatives who came to stay with them.

GENERATION TEN

Children of Elden Eli Twitchell and Ada Floris Atkins:

1. Lois Delphina Twitchell, b. 12 Jul 1903 South Gardiner, Kennebec Co., Me. On 04 Jul 1931 in Terrytown, N.Y. she m. Peter Webster Learned III. The son of Peter Webster Learned II of Andover, Me. and Myrtle "Myrtie" Brooks of Grafton, Me. He was b. 26 Jul 1906 in Andover, Me. and d. in 1978 in Laconia, N.H.. Child:

2. Jessie Ezekiel Twitchell, b. 16 Jul 1904 in South Gardiner. Jessie left home the spring after his father died. As related to me by family the story goes that he was helping to put his girlfriend through Secretarial school by using the money that Lois was giving him each month to pay the coal bill. In the spring two things happened; his girlfriend graduated from school and told him that she was going to marry someone else, and the Coal Company sent Lois a bill for the entire winter. Jessie and Lois had a big fight. One morning shortly after that Jessie was gone. He apparently never contacted the family again.

     The story has one last twist. During World War II, A man who had grown up with Jessie was at the piers in New York City preparing to board a troop ship bound for Europe. He swears that he saw Jessie in the crowd of soldiers waiting on the dock to board various ships. He called out "Jessie". Immediately the man turned his head and looked at him, then turned and walked away, vanishing into the crowd of soldiers.

3. Eleanor Ada Twitchell, b. 29 Jul 1905 South Gardiner, Me. and d. in Reno, NV, She m. Rev. Robert Aaron Lundy. Robert had churches in a number of areas in New England then took a church in San Francisco.Children:

4. Alvah Eli Twitchell, b. 06 Aug 1906 South Gardiner, Me. In 1925 Alvah graduated from high school in Rumford and got a job at the Oxford Paper Mill in Rumford. That winter, on the 23rd of December, Alvah was killed when an overhead crane carrying a large roll of paper collapsed while he was underneath. He is buried at Mt. Hope Cem. South Gardiner, Me.

5. Zelda Elizabeth Twitchell, b. 18 Aug 1910 Rumford, Oxford Co., Me. On 24 Dec 1931 in Rumford she married Robert Edmund Allen of Rumford. They had two children:

6. Constance Sarah Twitchell, b. 06 Oct 1921 Rumford, Oxford Co., Me., d. 08 Feb 1991 in Cleveland, Bradley Co., Tn. She married GLEN LANDER 09 May 1942 in Gatineau, Que. , he was the son of WILLIAM AMBROSE LANDER b. Codyville, Me. and DELIA FRANKIE DEARBORN, b. Island Falls, Me. Glen was b. 07 May 1917 in Crystal, Aroostook Co., Me., and d. 28 Feb 1996 in Cleveland, Bradley Co., Tn. They had 4 children:

7. Keith Carlton Twitchell, b. 21 Apr 1923 in Rumford, Oxford Co., Me. He m. Jeanette Bourgault on 01 Jun 1946 in Laconia, H.H., she was b. 30 Jan 1924 Laconia N.H., the dau. of Lorenzo Bourgault b. St Patrick, Que., Canada and Albertine Parent of Laconia, N.H. They had three children:

SOURCES:

  1. Letter from Ethel Twitchell, 28 Mar. 1976
  2. Family Bible of Sarah (Atkins) Annis
  3. Newspaper Clipping from 2 Jun 1928, Lewiston, ME.
  4. "1880 City Directory of Augusta, hallowell & Gardiner, Maine" p. 28, house 278
  5. "Hallowell, Maine: Vital Records to the year 1892", Maine Historical Society, Vol I, p. 244, Vol. V pp. 32-33.
  6. U.S. Census, 1880, Kennebec County, Hollowell, p. 28.
  7. Conversations with various members of the Twitchell and Atkins family over a period of years.
  8. Gravestone Records, Mount Hope Cemetery, South Gardiner, Kennebec Co., ME.


HOME              ROLLCALL

EMAIL ME