Difference between revisions of "Willis Twichell"
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==Legacy== | ==Legacy== | ||
| − | 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> | + | 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> Twichell became involved in civic affairs in Amarillo. A [[Methodist]], he backed [[prohibition]], having once hosted an appearance in Amarillo by [[Carrie Nation]], known for her physical attacks on [[saloon]]s.<ref name=ttu/> Perhaps using some of the normal school training, he taught from 1895 to 1897 at the forerunner to Amarillo College, a junior college at which he not only launched the school band but in 1901 but organized the Amarillo Concert Band as well.<ref name=handbook/> |
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Subsequent cadastral surveyors retracing his lines found them particularly accurate. His survey records, composed of many field books, working sketches, some two hundred finished maps, field notes, and about fifty thousand pages of correspondence, were purchased by six major oil companies a short time before Twichell's death and were long maintained in a private depository in [[Midland]], Texas.<ref name=handbook/> | Subsequent cadastral surveyors retracing his lines found them particularly accurate. His survey records, composed of many field books, working sketches, some two hundred finished maps, field notes, and about fifty thousand pages of correspondence, were purchased by six major oil companies a short time before Twichell's death and were long maintained in a private depository in [[Midland]], Texas.<ref name=handbook/> | ||
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| − | On September 29, 2010, Chevron, Atlantic Richfield, ConocoPhillips, and [[ExxonMobil]], which held the remaining Twichell papers, donated the surveys to the office of the Texas General Land Office under then Commissioner [[Jerry Patterson]] and since 2015, [[George P. Bush]].<ref name=papers>{{cite web|url=http://www.glo.texas.gov/glo_news/press_releases/2010/SEPTEMBER/Twichell-papers.html|title=Legendary land surveying papers donated to Texas General Land Office|publisher=glo.texas.gov, September 29, 2010|accessdate=May 3, 2011; no longer on-line}}</ref> Altogether Twichell laid out more than forty towns and surveyed in 165 of the 254 Texas counties.<ref name=papers/> Patterson reflected on Twichell's long-term significance to Texas history and development. Twichell surveyed the developing areas along the Texas and [[New Mexico]] boundary, marked lands giving rise to the XIT Ranch, helped to build railroads, developed the funding mechanism for part of the costs of public education, and provided for the abundant exploration of [[petroleum]] and [[natural gas]].<ref name=papers/> | + | On September 29, 2010, Chevron, Atlantic Richfield, ConocoPhillips, and [[ExxonMobil]], which held the remaining Twichell papers, donated the surveys to the office of the Texas General Land Office under then Commissioner [[Jerry Patterson]] and since 2015, [[George P. Bush]].<ref name=papers>{{cite web|url=http://www.glo.texas.gov/glo_news/press_releases/2010/SEPTEMBER/Twichell-papers.html|title=Legendary land surveying papers donated to Texas General Land Office|publisher=glo.texas.gov, September 29, 2010|accessdate=May 3, 2011; no longer on-line}}</ref> Altogether Twichell laid out more than forty towns and surveyed in 165 of the 254 Texas counties.<ref name=papers/> Patterson reflected on Twichell's long-term significance to Texas history and development. Twichell surveyed the developing areas along the Texas and [[New Mexico]] boundary, marked lands giving rise to the XIT Ranch, helped to build railroads, developed the funding mechanism for part of the costs of public education, and provided for the abundant exploration of [[petroleum]] and [[natural gas]].<ref name=papers/> |
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| − | His survey also extended into [[Arizona]]. In 1901, Twichell was called upon to survey the Spindletop oil field near [[Beaumont, Texas|Beaumont]] in southeastern Texas. His surveying brought him into contact with such figures as the legenday [[justice of the peace]], | + | His survey also extended into [[Arizona]]. In 1901, Twichell was called upon to survey the Spindletop oil field near [[Beaumont, Texas|Beaumont]] in southeastern Texas. His surveying brought him into contact with such figures as the legenday [[justice of the peace]], Roy Bean of Langtry, Texas, as well as author, [[O. Henry]], cattleman Charles Goodnight, and the Comanche chief Quanah Parker. He trained the Lubbock surveyor Sylvan Sanders.<ref name=ttu/> Twichell surveyed 15 million total acres, having averaged twenty miles in a typical day. He derived much satisfaction from his work because it demand constant mental activity and allowed him the benefits of travel. Only one mistake was found in Twichell's work, and that was made by an associate.<ref name=wtha/> |
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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> | ||
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==Bibliography== | ==Bibliography== | ||
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Revision as of 11:34, October 14, 2019
| Willis Day "W. D." Twichell (Civil engineer who surveyed 165 of Texas' 254 counties) | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 24, 1864 Hastings, Minnesota, USA Residences |
| Died | September 23, 1959 (aged 95) San Angelo, Texas Resting place: |
| Spouse | Eula Trigg Twichell Children: |
| Religion | Methodist |
Willis Day Twichell (March 24, 1864 – September 23, 1959) was a civil engineer, based primarily in Amarillo and later Austin, [Texas]], who surveyed 165 of the state's 254 counties.
Background
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.[1]
Migration to Texas
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.[2]Mabry also had built the former T&P Hotel in Big Spring.[1] 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 officer and a large donor to the University of Texas.[3]
According to The Handbook of Texas, Twichell's surveying was enhanced by his knowledge of physics, mathematics, and astronomy, all of which enabled him to use more precise methods of surveying than had been previously depended on the magnetic compass. Twichell's east-west survey lines corrected for the spherical curvature of the surface of the earth.[1]
Throughout the late 1880s Twichell and Mabry conducted right-of-way surveys for the Fort Worth and Denver City and the Southern Pacific railroads in West Texas. The two maintained an office in Tascosa, since a ghost town in Oldham County west of Amarillo (not to be confused with Atascosa County near San Antonio).[1] Surveyors were frequently prime targets of earlier Native American raiding parties, but Twichell avoided even carrying a gun.[3][4]
In 1890, Twichell moved his office to Amarillo, where he continued to conduct railway surveys. In 1893, he platted the city of Enid in Garfield County in northern Oklahoma.[1]
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 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.[1]
Legacy
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.[5] Twichell became involved in civic affairs in Amarillo. A Methodist, he backed prohibition, having once hosted an appearance in Amarillo by Carrie Nation, known for her physical attacks on saloons.[3] Perhaps using some of the normal school training, he taught from 1895 to 1897 at the forerunner to Amarillo College, a junior college at which he not only launched the school band but in 1901 but organized the Amarillo Concert Band as well.[1]
Subsequent cadastral surveyors retracing his lines found them particularly accurate. His survey records, composed of many field books, working sketches, some two hundred finished maps, field notes, and about fifty thousand pages of correspondence, were purchased by six major oil companies a short time before Twichell's death and were long maintained in a private depository in Midland, Texas.[1]
On September 29, 2010, Chevron, Atlantic Richfield, ConocoPhillips, and ExxonMobil, which held the remaining Twichell papers, donated the surveys to the office of the Texas General Land Office under then Commissioner Jerry Patterson and since 2015, George P. Bush.[6] Altogether Twichell laid out more than forty towns and surveyed in 165 of the 254 Texas counties.[6] Patterson reflected on Twichell's long-term significance to Texas history and development. Twichell surveyed the developing areas along the Texas and New Mexico boundary, marked lands giving rise to the XIT Ranch, helped to build railroads, developed the funding mechanism for part of the costs of public education, and provided for the abundant exploration of petroleum and natural gas.[6]
His survey also extended into Arizona. In 1901, Twichell was called upon to survey the Spindletop oil field near Beaumont in southeastern Texas. His surveying brought him into contact with such figures as the legenday justice of the peace, Roy Bean of Langtry, Texas, as well as author, O. Henry, cattleman Charles Goodnight, and the Comanche chief Quanah Parker. He trained the Lubbock surveyor Sylvan Sanders.[3] Twichell surveyed 15 million total acres, having averaged twenty miles in a typical day. He derived much satisfaction from his work because it demand constant mental activity and allowed him the benefits of travel. Only one mistake was found in Twichell's work, and that was made by an associate.[4]
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.[7]
Bibliography
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 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.[8]
- Panhandle-Plains Historical Review Vol. 18 (1945).
- Fred M. Truett, Texas Was His Land (Austin: Eakin Press, 1982).
- Sue Watkins, ed., One League to Each Wind: Accounts of Early Surveying in Texas (Austin: Surveyors Association Historical Committee, c. 1964). name=handbook/>
==References==
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Alice Duggan Gracy. Twichell, Willis Day. The Handbook of Texas. Retrieved on October 13, 2019.
- ↑ H. Allen Anderson. Mabry, William S.. The Handbook of Texas on-line. Retrieved on October 14, 2019.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Oral History Collection. swco.ttu.edu. Retrieved on May 3, 2011.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Mark Lambert of the Texas General Land Office in Austin, "How to Survey 20 Miles a Day and Other Tips for a Long Life by W. D. Twichell," West Texas Historical Association annual meeting, Lubbock, Texas, April 2, 2011.
- ↑ Trigg Twichell. Findagrave.com. Retrieved on October 14, 2019.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Legendary land surveying papers donated to Texas General Land Office. glo.texas.gov, September 29, 2010. Retrieved on May 3, 2011; no longer on-line.
- ↑ Tai D. Kriedler, executive director of West Texas Historical Association, memorandum to members, June 20, 2013.
- ↑ [https://legacy.lib.utexas.edu/taro/ttusw/00018/tsw-00018.html Alice Duggan Gracy: An Inventory of Her Papers, 1910-1951]. Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library in Lubbock. Retrieved on October 14, 2019.
