Changes

{{Infobox person

{{Infobox person

| name=Willis Day "W. D." Twichell​<br>

| name=Willis Day "W. D." Twichell​<br>

(Civil engineer who surveyed 165 of Texas' 254 counties)​

(Civil engineer who surveyed 165 of Texas' 254 counties)​

​| religion=[[Methodist]]​}}​

​| religion=[[Methodist]]​}}​

​

​

'''Willis Day Twichell''' (March 24, 1864 &ndash; September 23, 1959) was a  [[civil engineer]], based primarily in [[Amarillo]] and later [[Austin]]s|Austin]], [[Texas]], who surveyed 165 of the state's 254 counties.​

'''Willis Day Twichell''' (March 24, 1864 &ndash; September 23, 1959) was a  [[civil engineer]], based primarily in [[Amarillo]] and later [[Austin]], [Texas]], who surveyed 165 of the state's 254 counties.​

​

​

Twichell was born in Hastings, a city in Dakota and Washington counties in southeastern [[Minnesota]], to Daniel Wilson Twichell and the former Sarah Catharine Coons. After the death of his mother, which occurred when he was four years of age, Willis lived on farms owned by uncles. His father remarried and moved to Madison County in west central [[Ohio]]. Willis attended public schools in Minnesota and then Ohio.  In 1883, he graduated from the since defunct National Normal University, a teaching institution in Lebanon in southwestern Ohio. With his civil engineering degree, he established a surveying practice in Springfield in western Ohio.<ref name=handbook>{{cite web|url=http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/ftw02|title=Twichell, Willis Day|publisher=''The Handbook of Texas''|author=Alice Duggan Gracy|accessdate=October 13, 2019}}</ref>​

Twichell was born in Hastings, a city in Dakota and Washington counties in southeastern [[Minnesota]], to Daniel Wilson Twichell and the former Sarah Catharine Coons. After the death of his mother, which occurred when he was four years of age, Willis lived on farms owned by uncles. His father remarried and moved to Madison County in west central [[Ohio]]. Willis attended public schools in Minnesota and then Ohio.  In 1883, he graduated from the since defunct National Normal University, a teaching institution in Lebanon in southwestern Ohio. With his civil engineering degree, he established a surveying practice in Springfield in western Ohio.<ref name=handbook>{{cite web|url=http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/ftw02|title=Twichell, Willis Day|publisher=''The Handbook of Texas''|author=Alice Duggan Gracy|accessdate=October 13, 2019}}</ref>​

​

​

In November 1885, Twichell migrated to West Texas. The next year he met William S. Mabry (1851-1941), a surveyor originally from Selma [[Alabama]], then with the Capitol Syndicate, which owned the huge XIT Ranch, which was then constructing the Texas State Capitol in Austin.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fma03|title=Mabry, William S.|author=H. Allen Anderson|publisher=''The Handbook of Texas'' on-line|accessdate=October 14, 2019}}</ref>Mabry also had built the former T&P Hotel in Big Spring.<ref name=handbook/> Twichell surveyed the Yellow Houses Division of the XIT, which the syndicate had established on lands that it procured in exchange for the building of the state capitol. After finishing this work, Twichell surveyed the Spring Lake Division of the XIT. He also surveyed Littlefield in Lamb County, named for the cattleman George Washington Littlefield (1842-1920), a [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] officer and a large donor to the [[University of Texas]].<ref name=ttu>{{cite web|url=http://swco.ttu.edu/abstracts/2614.htm|title=Oral History Collection|publisher=swco.ttu.edu|accessdate=May 3, 2011}}</ref>​

In November 1885, Twichell migrated to West Texas. The next year he met William S. Mabry (1851-1941), a surveyor originally from Selma [[Alabama]], then with the Capitol Syndicate, which owned the huge XIT Ranch, which was then constructing the Texas State Capitol in Austin.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fma03|title=Mabry, William S.|author=H. Allen Anderson|publisher=''The Handbook of Texas'' on-line|accessdate=October 14, 2019}}</ref>Mabry also had built the former T&P Hotel in Big Spring.<ref name=handbook/> Twichell surveyed the Yellow Houses Division of the XIT, which the syndicate had established on lands that it procured in exchange for the building of the state capitol. After finishing this work, Twichell surveyed the Spring Lake Division of the XIT. He also surveyed Littlefield in Lamb County, named for the cattleman George Washington Littlefield (1842-1920), a [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] officer and a large donor to the [[University of Texas]].<ref name=ttu>{{cite web|url=http://swco.ttu.edu/abstracts/2614.htm|title=Oral History Collection|publisher=swco.ttu.edu|accessdate=May 3, 2011}}</ref>​

  ​

  ​

From 1900 to 1916, Twichell was the Texas state surveyor, a position in the General Land Office in Austin, though he retained his own office in Amarillo until he relocated to Austin in 1918. He retired from active business on January 1, 1934, to become a consultant and moved to [[San Angelo, Texas|San Angelo]] in Tom Green County in west Texas, where he resided until his death at the age of ninety-five. He is interred there at Lawnhaven Cemetery.<ref name=handbook/>​

From 1900 to 1916, Twichell was the Texas state surveyor, a position in the General Land Office in Austin, though he retained his own office in Amarillo until he relocated to Austin in 1918. He retired from active business on January 1, 1934, to become a consultant and moved to [[San Angelo, Texas|San Angelo]] in Tom Green County in west Texas, where he resided until his death at the age of ninety-five. He is interred there at Lawnhaven Cemetery.<ref name=handbook/>​

​

​

==Legacy==​

==Legacy==

On September 4, 1895, Twichell married Eula Trigg. They had four daughters and a son, Trigg Twichell; another son died in infancy.<ref name=handbook/> ​

 

O September 4, 1895, Twichell wed the former Eula Trigg (1875-1976). They had four daughters and a son, Trigg Twichell (1901-1992), the director of the Austin branch of the [[United States Geological Survey]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/10025423/trigg-twichell|title=Trigg Twichell|publisher=Findagrave.com|accessdate=October 14, 2019}}</ref> A second son died in infancy.<ref name=handbook/> ​

​

​

Twichell became involved in Amarillo civic affairs. A [[Methodist]], he backed [[prohibition]], having once hosted an appearance in Amarillo by [[Carrie Nation]], known for her physical attacks on saloons.<ref name=ttu/> Perhaps using some of the normal school training, he taught from 1895 to 1897 at the forerunner to the [[community college]] now known as Amarillo College, at which he not only launched the school band but in 1901 organized the Amarillo Concert Band.<ref name=handbook/> ​

Twichell became involved in Amarillo civic affairs. A [[Methodist]], he backed [[prohibition]], having once hosted an appearance in Amarillo by [[Carrie Nation]], known for her physical attacks on saloons.<ref name=ttu/> Perhaps using some of the normal school training, he taught from 1895 to 1897 at the forerunner to the [[community college]] now known as Amarillo College, at which he not only launched the school band but in 1901 organized the Amarillo Concert Band.<ref name=handbook/> ​

A limestone rock used as a surveying reference point when Twichell drew the north and west lines of Lamb County is on display at the Texas Last Frontier Museum in Morton in Cochran County. The rock bears the vestige of an inscription that could refer to the Capitol Syndicate, which built the state Capitol in return for vast acreage in ten Panhandle counties.<ref>Tai D. Kriedler, executive director of West Texas Historical Association, memorandum to members, June 20, 2013.</ref>​

A limestone rock used as a surveying reference point when Twichell drew the north and west lines of Lamb County is on display at the Texas Last Frontier Museum in Morton in Cochran County. The rock bears the vestige of an inscription that could refer to the Capitol Syndicate, which built the state Capitol in return for vast acreage in ten Panhandle counties.<ref>Tai D. Kriedler, executive director of West Texas Historical Association, memorandum to members, June 20, 2013.</ref>​

​

​

==Bibliography==​

==Bibliography==

''[[The Handbook of Texas]]'' uses these sources for its biographical sketch of Twichell: ​

​

''The Handbook of Texas'' uses these sources for its biographical sketch of Twichell: ​

  ​

  ​

*Alice Duggan Gracy, "Willis Twichell, Civil Engineer." Gracy was the daughter of a Texas state senator, Arthur Pope Duggan, Sr.  (1876-1935), an [[attorney]] and [[real estate]] developer from Stamford, Texas, who was married to a niece of George Washington Littlefield.<ref>{{cite web|url=​https://legacy.lib.utexas.edu/taro/ttusw/00018/tsw-00018.html|title=Alice Duggan Gracy: An Inventory of Her Papers 1910-1951|publisher=Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library in [[Lubbock]]|accessdate=October 14, 2019}}</ref>

*Alice Duggan Gracy, "Willis Twichell, Civil Engineer." Gracy was the daughter of a short-term Texas state senator, Arthur Pope Duggan, Sr.  (1876-1935), an [[attorney]] and [[real estate]] developer from Stamford, Texas, who was married to a niece of George Washington Littlefield.<ref>{{cite web|url=​https://legacy.lib.utexas.edu/taro/ttusw/00018/tsw-00018.html|title=Alice Duggan Gracy: An Inventory of Her Papers, 1910-1951|publisher=Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library in [[Lubbock]]|accessdate=October 14, 2019}}</ref>

*''Panhandle-Plains Historical Review'' Vol. 18 (1945)​.

*''Panhandle-Plains Historical Review'' Vol. 18 (1945)​.