Allegany County
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GEORGE TERNENT was for many years a leading general merchant at Lonaconing, and at the time of his death the oldest business man in that line in the city, having been associated therewith from the time he entered the store of John Combs as clerk in 1872. To his substantial business qualities Mr. Ternent added sterling personal traits which brought him the esteem of all his follow citizens, and though his relations with them were confined to his mercantile and social activities, he was known to a wide circle, whose unlimited confidence he retained throughout a long life by his honorable conduct in every association.
Mr. Ternent was a native of England, born August 15, 1847, in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. His parents, William and Hannah (Elliott) Ternent, brought their family from England to this country in 1850, first locating at Cresaptown, Allegany county, Maryland, and in 1857 removing to Lonaconing. Here the father followed his trade of tailor for many years, dying in 1906, at the age of eighty. The mother had passed away in 1884, at the age of sixty-four years. Five of their children reached maturity, namely: Elizabeth, now deceased; George; James, a resident of Lonaconing; Jane, wife, of John Johnson, of Gilmore, Allegany county, Maryland; and Hannah, now deceased. The father was a member of the Episcopal Church. He voted the Republican ticket.
George Ternent was three years old when he crossed the Atlantic with his parents, and a boy of ten years when they settled at Lonaconing in 1857. It was then only a little mining town on the creek, and its educational facilities were in keeping with the rest of its conveniences, but he made the most of them. When fifteen years old he started work at the old Detmold Mines in this vicinity, and continued to follow coal mining until 1872, when he changed to the line which ever after occupied his attention, taking a position as clerk in the store of John Combs at Lonaconing. During fourteen years of association with the business in that and more responsible capacities, he acquired a thorough knowledge of the details of its requirements and operation, and when he bought out Mr. Combs in 1886, was quite capable of handling it profitably, as his subsequent success proved. He devoted the remainder of his life to the store, which became a leading general establishment of the city, commanding a full share of the trade in the town and surrounding territory. He moved from his first place of business, the old stand of John S. Combs, in 1889, to the present location of the store, which is well arranged and completely stocked with a line of desirable goods. Mr. Ternent was a man of dependable character, punctilious in his dealings and conscientious in rendering high-class service to all his patrons, who gave substantial evidence of their appreciation. His integrity in all the relations of life, temperate habits and modest disposition gained and held the unqualified respect of his associates and fellow citizens generally. He held to the principles of the Republican party in politics, but took no active part in such matters.
On August 8, 1871, Mr. Ternent married Miss Jeannette Darnley, of Lonaconing, daughter of James Darnley, and the eleven children of this marriage, seven sons and four daughters, are: Hannah, now the wife of A. M. Evans, of Lonaconing, mentioned elsewhere in this work; Miss Annie E., a partner in the store; Nettie, also unmarried and living in Lonaconing; Willam, a resident of Akron, Ohio; George, who conducts a shoe store in Youngstown, Ohio; James J., who now farms on the Eastern Shore of Maryland; Pearl, married J. W. Hudson, Chester, Pennsylvania; Harry B., who is a partner of the Ternent store in Lonaconing; Oscar G., an electrical engineer, at present located in Detroit, Michigan; Alvin H., a partner of the Ternent store; and Sampson S., a chemist of New York City.
Mr Ternent died August 7, 1918.
JAMES WALTER THOMAS--Truly both a gentleman of the old school, and yet
emphatically of the new, is James Walter Thomas of Cumberland, the polished
eloquent scholar, lawyer, historian and publicist, of whom Chief Judge Henry D.
Harlan, of the Supreme Bench of Baltimore City, spoke, as given below, when he
presented him to the board of regents of the University of Maryland in 1915, on
whom it was desired by the University to confer the degree of Doctor of Letters,
the first and only time this distinguished degree has ever been conferred by
this august seat of learning "It has been an immemorial custom for universities,
on festal occasions, to bestow upon men of learning and personal worth tokens of
appreciation and gratitude. In conformity to this usage, the University of
Maryland desires to place upon its honor roll on this occasion, the name of one
who has given much time to historical study and research, and painstaking care
in writing an accurate account of the important incidents in the history of
colonial Maryland. And I have the privilege, in accordance to the mandates of
the Regents, of presenting to you and asking you to admit to the degree of
Doctor of Letters in this university, Honoris causae, James Walter Thomas, of
Cumberland, Maryland, a lawyer, scholar, historian, a Bachelor of Letters of
Saint Johns College, a man of affairs, a master of style and a speaker of grace
and force, successful in his profession, for eighteen years president of the
Western Maryland Hospital, for eight years president of the Board of School
Commissioners of Allegany County, and otherwise prominent and useful in the life
of the community in which he dwells.
"Bearing in his veins the blood of three colonial governors of Maryland, Leonard Calvert, William Stone and Robert Brooke, it was not indeed strange that the events of the period in which they lived and acted should have attracted his deepest interest, and, touched by the Muse of History, that he should have been led, after exhaustive investigation and research to write `Chronicles of Colonial Maryland.' In this work he has made, what those competent to judge have pronounced, a most valuable contribution to Maryland history and to American literature.
"In recognition of the work of this scholar in the interest of historical research and narrative I ask, Sir, that he be admitted to the degree for which he has been recommended."
No truer or more appropriate words were ever spoken of a son of Maryland, and no more worthy subject could have been selected for the honor of this degree. He has all the suavity, dignity and fire of his forefathers, the erstwhile governors of Maryland, with the broad and practical wisdom of the twentieth century attorney and patriot. His fame as an orator does not belong to Cumberland, but is statewide in its scope, and as a lawyer he stands in the front rank of practitioners in the country.
Born July 12, 1855, near Chaptico, Saint Marys county, Maryland, at Deep Falls, the Thomas ancestral home, where this illustrious family has lived for more than two centuries, James Walter Thomas is a son of James Richard and Jeannette Eleanor (Briscoe) Thomas, and a lineal descendant of Governor William Stone, one of the earliest colonial governors, through his mother, who was a daughter of Dr. Walter Hanson Stone Briscoe. On his father's side Mr. Thomas is descended from James Thomas, who migrated from Wales to the Maryland Colony in 1651. So that the family is nearly as old, and has been closely connected with Maryland since it was created, taking part in its affairs in a prominent manner both during the period when it was a colony, and since its revolution as a State. The line descends through such notable ancestors as Gov. Leonard Calvert, William Stone, Robert Brooke, Colonel Courts and John Hanson, so it is but natural that Mr. Thomas should inherit the strong traits and high qualities of these distinguished men, who, having settled in what later became Charles and Saint Marys counties, developed into pioneers in thought, life and action, in the development of this mother section of what is now the great State of Maryland.
James Walter Thomas is a great-grandson of Major William Thomas, of the famous "Maryland Line," that splendid body of troops that did so much toward the winning of American independence, and on whom General Washington always relied for the most daring and dangerous undertakings and service in what for a long time appeared to be a hopeless fight against the overpowering numbers and seasoned troops sent against the struggling colonists by King George. He is a grandson of James Thomas, who served as governor of Maryland from 1832 to 1835, during whose administration of this high office such notable public enterprises as the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and the Susquehanna Railroad, now the Northern Central branch of the Pennsylvania lines, were projected and begun.
James Richard Thomas, father of James Walter Thomas, was a planter living upon and cultivating the soil of the old homestead, Deep Falls, a property comprising many hundreds of acres, and as productive in the character of its soil as it is delightful in its location, on which stands the old colonial mansion. James Richard Thomas was a man of high attainments and cultured mind, which made him a figure and force in all matters of county and State, whose counsel and advice were much sought and eagerly followed by his fellow planters and compeers.
His early educational training received in the local schools near his home, James Walter Thomas turned toward outside sources for further pursuing his studies, and became a student of Charlotte Hall Academy, one of the oldest institutions of its kind in Maryland, and in the United States, from which he was graduated in 1873. His first practical experience was gained as a school teacher, and he was engaged in teaching in both Saint Marys and Howard counties, and while thus occupied, he began the study of law under the preceptorship of Judge William I. Merrick, one of the foremost legal light of Maryland.
Admitted to the bar in 1878, very shortly thereafter Mr. Thomas located at Cumberland, where he has since resided. On his admission to practice at a bar so well adorned by such lawyers as Walsh, McKaig, Williams and others of that period, Mr. Thomas realized that in such a field nothing but dauntless courage and tireless energy would gain a foothold, and he governed himself accordingly, and with in a short time won an enviable recognition, and immediately became an important factor in his profession, taking part in much of the litigation of that time, and always exhibiting marked ability and keen discernment in the conduct and management of his, cases, and not only built up a large and lucrative practice, but established an unquestioned reputation as a forceful and convincing speaker, whose services were sought not only in the form of the law, but as well on the platform as a political and public speaker.
About eighteen years ago Mr. Thomas gave up much of his active business at the bar, in order to devote himself to the preparation and publication of his "Chronicles of Colonial Maryland" a work that was intended to correct many of the inaccuracies of Maryland history as published, and to conserve for future generations much matter of historical interest and value that he had through many years been collecting with this end in view. This work takes rank with any extant of its character, and although modestly entitled "'Chronicles of Colonial Maryland," it is really a history of Maryland in colonial times so accurate and authoritative that it has been adopted by a number of institutions of learning as a text book on Maryland history. The first edition was soon exhausted and three years ago the demand became so great for it, that after some additional matter had been arranged, another edition was published that is now also exhausted.
This remarkable work contains the only authentic description and picture of Maryland's statehouse, great seal and coat of arms, all of which required exhaustive research and painstaking care to secure, such as only a man of Mr. Thomas' mind and bent would give to it, and in the publication of this notable volume he has conferred upon his State and all Marylanders a lasting heritage of great value. As an authority on Maryland State history Mr. Thomas has no peer, and as a historian generally he has few equals, and he is almost daily consulted about some matters of historical interest by those in a position to know his vast storehouse and collection of historical data. His library, which is among the largest and best of private collections, contains everything of a historical nature that has ever been written about matters pertaining to Maryland, and he is constantly adding to it by the best selection of rare old volumes. To this wonderful library his friends have easy access and free use.
Mr. Thomas has always been identified with every work of advancement in his adopted city-civil, educational, commercial, religious and charitable. He was instrumental in establishing the Home and Infirmary of Western 'Maryland, now the Western Maryland Hospital, and was for, eighteen years one of its directors, and its president. He was for eight years a member of the Allegany County School Board, and its president. Mr. Thomas helped to organize and establish the TriState Sanitary Milk Company for the pasteurization of milk and cream, and for the manufacture of dairy products generally, and has continued its president from its inception. He is a director and vice president of the S. T. Little Jewelry Company; the largest jewelry house in Western Maryland; a director of the Commercial Savings Bank, one of the foremost financial concerns in the city, which is now located in its handsome new banking house on the public square; was one of the first presidents of the Allegany County Bar Association; helped to establish and is vice president of the Association Charities of the city of Cumberland, giving liberally of his time and means in every move for the betterment of humanity and the alleviation of distress, and it may be said of him that he has woven a thousand garments of charity of which he has worn none.
In politics he is a regular Democrat in every sense of the term, but has never held or sought public office, although repeatedly urged to do so; he is zealous in his work for the success of his party, and ever ready to labor for and contribute to that end.
Mr. Thomas is a member of Emmanuel Episcopal church of Cumberland, whose handsome gothic church edifice occupies a part of the site of old Fort Cumberland, As he is as liberal in his religious views as he is on other matters, he does not confine his donations to his own church, but contributes to others, for he believes all creeds are designed to help humanity, and as such should be encouraged.
In 1884 Mr. Thomas married first Miss Susan Maxwell Smith, a daughter of Dr. James M. Smith, of Cumberland, one of the prominent medical practitioners of that time. She was a lady of culture and refinement, whose death occurred in January, 1914. Their only child, a son, James McLain Thomas, died in infancy.
In November, 1916 Mr. Thomas married second Mrs. Sarah D. Avirett, a most charming and delightful lady of Cumberland, and they occupy Rose Hill, a picturesque and stately residence north of the city, and overlooking the Potomac River. During much of the summer they occupy the old homestead at Deep Falls, Saint Marys county, which he owns. He has expended a large amount of money in beautifying this charming colonial home, which contains all of the valuable collections of antique furniture and furnishings, paintings, plate and side arms of his ancestors, and during the season its broad halls, wide verandas and well-shaded sloping lawns are filled with delighted guests, who are welcomed by their host and hostess with true Southern hospitality of the Maryland type.
GENERAL CHARLES M. THRUSTON was born in 1792, and was graduated at West Point in 1814. He was made captain of Company C, Third Artillery, of the Regular Army in 1820. He attained the rank of Brigadier General during the Civil War.
He married on September 5, 1820, Miss Juliana Hughes, daughter of Christopher Hughes of Baltimore, Md. Her brother Christopher Hughes, Jr., represented the American Government at Stockholm, and was one of the Diplomatic Corps at the Treaty of Ghent in 1815, and brought the first news that the treaty had been signed to the United States.
In 1837 General Thruston moved to Cumberland, where he lived until the time of his death in 1873, his wife surviving him until 1881, when she died in her 53rd year. They had children: Mrs. Charles H. Manning of Baltimore, Colonel George A Thruston, Charles B. Thruston, William S. Thruston, Dr. Henry Scott Thruston and Julian Thruston.
Colonel George A. Thruston married Elizabeth M. Tidball, of most enduring and happy memory. She was the daughter of Thomas A. Tidball who for many years was the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Winchester, VA. Colonel Thruston was a lawyer of commanding position at the Cumberland Bar and represented Allegany County for several terms in the General Assembly of Maryland. He died May 3, 1874, at the early age of 53 years, leaving surviving him his widow and three daughters, Mrs. Leroy Brown, of Virginia, Elizabeth Thruston, the wife of the Honorable Andrew Hunter Boyd, Chief Justice of the State of Maryland, and Violet Thruston, who married Paul Mackey of New York.
Charles B. Thruston, second son of General Thruston, also represented Allegany County in the General Assembly, and was States Attorney for this county in 1859, and again in 1867, but he did not live to serve the whole of the latter term, having died on September 6, 1868, aged 42 years. He married Miss Rose-Gantt of Virginia, a popular and most estimable woman. Surviving them are Miss Lillian Thruston; the descendants of Ross Thruston McDermott and Elizabeth Hunter Thruston, who married the Rev. Mr. Levell of Virginia.
William B. Thruston, third son of General Thruston, was accidentally drowned in 1865, at the early age of 37 years. Dr. Henry Scott Thruston was a surgeon in the Civil War and was killed on June 15, 1868. Julian Thruston, youngest son of General Thruston died on April 9, 1858 when only 19 years of age.
Contributed by Barbara Algieri
Born in Lexington, Ky. on Feb 22, 1789, son of Buckner and Jeannette (January) Thruston; graduated from the U.S. Military academy and was appointed 2nd Lieut., corps of artillery, on July 21, 1814; he served as acting assistant-engineer in the defense of Governor's Island, New York harbor, 1814-1815 (during the War of 1812); from 1815-1818 he was on garrison duty at Ft. McHenry, Md., and was promoted to 1st Lieut. on April 20, 1818; from 1818-1821 he served as adjutant of artillery; from 1821-1827 he served as adjutant of the 3rd artillery at headquarters; on Feb. 17, 1827, he was promoted to captain; from 1827-1833 he was on garrison duty in Maryland and Connecticut; from 1833-1835 he was on garrison duty at Ft. Monroe, Va.; he married Julia Armstead of Baltimore; served as acting adjutant-general of the Florida army from Feb.-May, 1836, and engaged in combat with the Seminole Indians and Oloklikaha on March 31, 1836; resigned from the service in August, 1836; he then retired to a farm at Cumberland, Md., where he was president of Mineral Bank, 1838-1841, and mayor of Cumberland from 1861-1862; as Brigadier-General of U.S. Volunteers during the Civil War, he guarded the B&O Railroad, 1861-1863, but resigned on April 17, 1862, and retired to his farm. He died in Cumberland on Feb. 18, 1873
Buckner Thruston, the father of Charles Mynn, also has his biography on the same page of Lamb's:
was born near Winchester, Va.; was the son of the Rev. Charles Mynn and Mary (Buckner) Thruston and a descendant of John Thruston, chamberlain of the city of Bristol, England, and of his son, Edward Thruston, who settled in Gloucester County, Va., in 1666. Buckner's father, the Rev. Charles Mynn Thruston, 1738-1812, was an Episcopal minister and served as captain and later colonel in the Revolutionary War; Rev. Thruston was also a judge and a member of the Va. state Legislature before moving to Louisiana in 1811. Buckner was educated and moved to Frankfort, Ky., where was began the practice of law; he married Jeannette, daughter of Peter January of Lexington, Ky.; he declined the U.S. territorial judgeship of Orleans Territory in 1805 after having been elected U.S. senator from Kentucky for the term that expired March 4, 1811. He served from Dec, 2, 1805 to July 1, 1809, before he resigned to become U.S. judge of the District of Columbia. Henry Clay was elected to complete his term in the Senate. Buckner served as judge of the district from 1809-1845. He died in Washington, D.C. on Aug. 30, 1845.
A few other details come from Appleton's Cycolpaedia of American Biography, Vol 6, New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1889:
Regarding the Rev. Charles Mynn Thruston, the grandfather of Brig.-Gen'l Charles Mynn Thruston of Cumberland, it said, "He was educated at William and Mary college, and after prosecuting his theological studies in England was ordained to the ministry of the Episcopal church in Gloucester county. Subsequently he removed to Clarke county, and officiated in a church, near Shenandoah river, that is still standing. At the beginning of the Revolution he raised a company, was commissioned as captain, and badly wounded at Trenton. On his recovery he was appointed colonel, being known as the 'warrior parson.' After the war he was a judge and a member of the legislature, and in 1808 removed to Louisiana."
Appleton's information on Buckner Thruston is essentially the same as that from Lamb's
Regarding Charles Mynn Thruston of Cumberland, the only difference from Lamb's is this: "and in July, 1814, was commissioned as lieutenant of artillery, and assigned to duty on Governor's island, New York harbor, where he was engaged in erecting fortifications till the close of the war with Great Britain."
Incidentally, Charles Mynn Thruston's nephew, Gates Phillips Thruston, was a lawyer and served in the Civil War from Ohio and was decorated and eventually promoted to brevet Brigadier-General in 1865. Gates' brother, Dickinson Phillips, also served from Ohio. Gates' biography also appears in Lamb's.
The following is from the article, " Violence Along the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal: 1839," by W. David Baird, Maryland Historical Magazine, Vol. LXVI, 1971, pages 124-125,127 &
In 1839 Colonel Charles Mynn Thruston of Cumberland was ordered by Gen. Otho H. Williams to raise two companies of militia from the Cumberland area to put down the riots by Irish workers building the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. Joined by two troops of Washington County cavalry, his 150 men began marching on Aug. 27, 1839, and returned to Cumberland on August 31, having quelled the riot in five days and after marching 81 miles. As a result of the militia's actions, suit was brought against Thruston and two others for destroying property of those not involved in the rioting. The $2737 judgment was lodged against the defendants who turned to the state legislature for relief, but were rebuffed.
Supplemental information contributed by Tim Snyder
Source: Lamb's Biographical Dictionary of the United States, Vol. VII, Boston: Federal Book Company of Boston, 1903, page 329.
WILLIAM EDWARD TURNER is the proprietor of one of the leading
drug stores in Cumberland and is the oldest active druggist in
the Western end of the State. His reputation for reliability,
both as a druggist and in transactions of a purely business
nature, is second to none. He is well and favorably known among
his fellow tradesman and the medical fraternity in the city and
county, as well as to a wide circle of patrons, whose
appreciation of his dependable service has been manifested in the
most substantial way. His honest worth has gained him the esteem
and friendly regard of his associates in every relation of life.
Mr. Turner is a native of Berkeley county, West Virginia, born August 14, 1852, and his family is an old one in the Old Dominion, of English and Scotch-Irish origin. His grandfather, William Turner, was born in Virginia, and his father, Joseph W. Turner, in what is now West Virginia, the latter dying in 1885 in Cumberland, Maryland, where he had spent the last twenty years of his life, engaged in the mercantile business. For a number of years he was superintendent of the Honeywood Mills, at Dam No. 5, and later was at Four Locks and Clear Spring, Washington county, Maryland, where he was associated with Denton Jacques and Jonathan D. Prather before his removal to Cumberland in 1865. He married Ann C. Lowe, a native of Washington county, Maryland, and they became the parents of nine children, of whom we have the following record: William Edward is mentioned below; Sarah is the wife of William R. Pitzer, of Erie, Pennsylvania; Mary E. is married to Charles E. Rhind, of Cumberland, Maryland; Joseph W. is deceased; Charles H. is deceased; Denton J. is deceased; Lloyd L. and Arthur B. are deceased. The father was a Lutheran in religious connection and a Democrat in politics.
William Edward Turner was a boy of twelve years when the family settled in Cumberland, and continued his education in the public schools of the city. He had previously attended common school in Washington county, Maryland, having very good advantages for the time. At the age of seventeen years he began to support himself, becoming a clerk in the drug house of C. C. Shriver & Co. at Cumberland, in whose employ he continued for nearly sixteen years, during which period he acquired a thorough familiarity with both the chemical and commercial branches of the business. He had also gained enough confidence to make a venture on his own account, and in 1884 started business at the stand on North Center street, where he is now established, remaining there until his removal to Louisville, Kentucky, in 1902. Having done very well in the retail trade, he took advantage of an opportunity to enter the pharmaceutical manufacturing line, in which he was interested at that point for the, next four years, continuing it for another two years at Hagerstown, Maryland. In 1908 he sold out the business at Hagerstown and returned to Cumberland, resuming the retail drug trade at No. 111 Baltimore street, where he was established for five years, coming back in 1913 to his original location at Nos. 43-45 North Center street. Mr. Turner has commodious and well-equipped quarters, his store being thoroughly appointed in every respect and well stocked with the best the market has to offer in druggists' merchandise, with a full line of all kinds of oils and paints in addition. He takes proper pride in catering to a discriminating class of patrons, and is well prepared to keep up with the demands of customers. He has installed a fine soda fountain, and all the other accessories of a modern drug establishment.
Aside from his business Mr. Turner is probably best known in Masonic circles, being a member of Fort Cumberland Lodge, No. 211, A. F. & A. M., and Antioch Commandery, No. 6, K. T., of Cumberland; he is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason, and is a member of Boumi Temple, A. A. 0. N. M. S., of Baltimore. On public questions he is independent, supporting the men and measures he favors regardless of their party affiliations.
On October 11, 1882, Mr. Turner was married to Miss Mary L. Fechtig, of Cumberland, by whom he has four children: Nellie Lowe, Mary F., Ilda and Edward L., the son an attorney at law now practicing in Los Angeles, California.
In 1900 Mr. Turner was elected president of the Maryland State Pharmaceutical Association. Governor (later Senator) John Walter Smith appointed him a member of the first Maryland State Board, of Pharmacy in 1902.
AUSTIN DAVIS TWIGG was born February 28, 1863, at Twiggtown, Allegany county, Maryland, and is the seventh son of Oliver Twigg and Mary Ann (Stallings) Twigg, who had ten children born to them, all of whom grew to manhood and womanhood, married and have issue, and all of whom, save one (Norman Bruce) still survive and are hale and hearty. Their names in the order of their birth are: Almira, widow of John Johnson, residing on her fare six miles east of Cumberland; John Milton, retired farmer, residing in Cumberland; Norman Bruce, deceased, of Davis West Virginia; Susannah, Mrs. Thornton Wilson, of Rush, Maryland; Horace Resley, with Cumberland Milling Company Daniel Chapman, employe of the Western Maryland Railroad; Charles Johnson farmer, Twiggtown; Alvin Perry, practicing physician of Flintstone and postmaster; Austin Davis, subject of this biographical sketch; Laura Virginia, Mrs Thomas Middleton, Spring Gap, Allegany county, Maryland.
Austin Davis Twigg attended the Twiggtown public school during winter; up until his fifteenth year, working or his father's big farm when not at school He next attended Summer Normal School in Flintstone, and the following summer attended Summer Normal School in Cumberland and passed the teachers' examination successfully, but was not granted a teacher's certificate because he was under the required age. So he went across the Potomac river, where they did not ask him his age, and taught school in Hampshire county, West Virginia. He next taught, the three winters following, in Allegany county, at Spring Gap, Twiggtown and Robey, and spent the summers that fall between on the farm at home. We next find him taking a summer course at the Transylvania Business College of Lexington, Kentucky, from which he is a graduate. That summer we find our young business graduate clerking for the S. A. Brown Lumber Company of Emporia, Kansas. He next took employment with J. C. Altman of Emporia, and helped him open up his boot and shoe store, cost marked his stock for him and remained with him as clerk one year. He then returned to Lexington, Kentucky, and married his former schoolmate, Miss Nannie Jane Burdine, daughter of William and Mary (Bailey).Burdine. He then returned home to Twiggtown with his bride, and went to farming along with his brother Charles J. on the home place, fifty-fifty. At the end of the three years, and after the death of their father, Charles and he (Austin) bought the farm, fifty-fifty, and went to farming for themselves and continued thus until after Charles had married and moved upon the upper place, when they agreed upon a division of the farm and executed deeds to each other, each to each, so that each held his half instead of as tenants in common, as under the first deed from their fellow heirs as heirs at law of Oliver Twigg. And they have both met with success since, as they had before, but each in fuller measure because of individual incentive.
There have been five children born to Austin D. and Nannie J. Twigg, all of whom are grown and out in the world for themselves and doing well. Their names in the order of their ages are: Lillian Burdine, Mrs. Leroy Gibson Harris, of Cleveland, Ohio; Carl C., of Clarksburg, West Virginia, general agent of the Continental Insurance Company of Delaware, and has noteworthy performances to his credit; Homer Lee, of Westminster, Mary, land, superintendent of the Hampstead Fertilizer Company: of Hampstead, Baltimore county, Maryland; Lester Alvin, of Washington, D. C., at present assistant statistician of the United States Shipping Board; Austin Davis, Jr., with the Continental Insurance Company.
Austin Davis Twigg, Sr., was appointed postmaster of Twiggtown in 1893. He established a small country store in connection with his post office venture, and he is still Twiggtown's efficient postmaster, and the little country store has thrived steadily and affords a necessary convenience for the Twiggtown countryside. His large farm includes within it the western half of the famous Sink Hole Bottom tract, patented by his great-grandfther, John Twigg, of Susan, and has passed down from father to son in the family ever since. Recently he built himself a modern country residence with every convenience. He razed all of the old log cabins and log stables that clustered about the west side of the Big Pond to make room for the new home with its broad lawns. This big, limpid pond, fed by a great spring by its side, adds to the natural beauty of the place, for bigness is expressed everywhere here in the famous old Sink Hole Bottom, and here only, for it is surrounded by mountains on every side, and is like a great bowl cupped by them.
Here Austin D. Twigg, Sr., and his good wife and wonderful helpmeet, Nannie Jane Twigg, a blue-grass Kentucky girl, transplanted to Twiggtown, are spending the afternoon of their busy and useful lives in comfort and unremitting hard work the year round. After all have they not found the best way to get across the hours?
William Shakespeare's famous adage, "Home-keeping youth have every homely wit," points its truth in the career of Austin D. Twigg, Sr., for when he had returned home after having wandered far afield in the great and wide West, and hired and then hired again and again, and worked hard but never got far ahead as hired man, had the light come to him, for he now saw clearly that his opportunity was back at Twiggtown, so he quietly left the Sunflower State for his home back in Maryland, and he had every good reason that a young man ever had or ever shall, can or will have. For his sweetheart back there in the Kentucky blue-grass country, half way back home, was waiting for him to come for her. They got married and came back together with the purpose of staying and together building themselves a home in Twiggtown, and they concentrated with rare "togetherness" upon that single purpose and they have attained it.
They saw to it that all of their children should have the opportunities of education which they had longed for but lacked. All of the boys went to college, two of them, Carl and Lester, graduated with honors at their chosen school-the Western Maryland College, Westminster, Maryland.
Austin Davis Twigg has specialized in his farming with considerable success, engaging in strawberry and raspberry culture at different times, and later concentrated -upon market gardening on a large scale and very successfully.
He, like all his people before him, is a Methodist; likewise, he and they have been Democrats from Jefferson's time down, ever ready with reasons for the faith that in them.
The story of the two John Twiggs, who settled on opposite sides of the Big Pond at Twiggtown as pioneers, black-eyed John on the east side and blue-eyed John on the west side, sharing the waters of the great flowing springs by the south side of the pond between them as they did the lands of the great Sink Hole Bottom, and the stories of their numerous progeny would make an interesting and big book in itself.
Blue-eyed John had arrived and located first and had taken his choice of the Big Pond's sides and of the contiguous lands around.
After the arrival of big black-eyed John on the other side of the pond, and after his building himself a rude log cabin, he went away and in a little while returned with a black-eyed, black-haired wife. And then twelve black-eyed boys and one black-eyed girl were born to them and played around the east side of the Big Pond. In the meantime there had been born to the blue-eyed John and his blue-eyed wife, Susannah, on the west side of the pond, six blue-eyed boys to four blue-eyed girls, who played on the west side of the pond. After awhile the old-time amity between the more prosperous and provident blue-eyed Twiggs on the west side of the pond, and the care-free, jovial, boisterous, devil-may-care, fearless, black-eyed Twiggs on the east side of the pond became constrained.
The canny; blue-eyed Scotch mother kept her blue-eyed brood on her own side of the big pond, and discouraged in every way she could the coming of the black-eyed brood from the east side of the big pond to play with her blue-eyed girls and blue-eyed boys. She established a border between them over which she forbid her blue-eyed youngsters to go.
This was the beginning of the two Twigg clans at Twiggtown, so called because only Twiggs lived around the big pond, and its country sides at that time and for long afterwards.
It would seem that this constraint grew out of cast only. The blue-eyed Twiggs felt themselves socially, as well as financially, above the black-eyed Twiggs. And blue-eyed Susan, prompted by mother love and fear for her blue-eyed girls, broke off what amity was left between the black-eyed and blue-eyed children on opposite sides of big pond. The canny Scotch mother whispered her reasons - "Black-eye Mummy Twigg was an Indian squaw" and it went like wildfire by every wind to every quarter to which the winds blew; and whether true or false, Dame Rumor and Granny Grundy did the rest. They completed the job as far as the black-eyed Twiggs were concerned, forever after-wards they have been "Indian Twiggs;" anyway blue-eyed Susan had affected her purpose. She had determined that none of her blue-eyed girls should marry any of those "half breeds" across the pond, but she did not triumph for long, for youth must be served and love will defy even locks and keys, much less parental objections. Blue-eyed Susan's second born son, blue-eyed Dave, fell for the soft black eyes of Savilla, the Indian Squaw's thirteenth born (and only daughter) and they lived together, more or less happily, ever after; and in the next generation a black-eyed Brice Twigg stole a blue-eyed Mary Twigg, and they went away off in the woods and built themselves a home, and this happy marriage broke the feud between the black-eyed and blue-eyed Twiggs of Twiggtown.
HANSON POWERS TWIGG, a member of the old Twigg family of Allegany county, Maryland, was born on July 15, 1873, in Allegany county, and is a son of Michael O. Twigg, who was born January 1, 1843, in Allegany county, and Amanda (Kifer) Twigg, who was born in Allegany county about the year 1847. Mr. Twigg's brothers and sisters are as follows: David and Edman Twigg; Julia Bender, Rosy Slider, Viola and Emma Crabtree.
[Per 1880 Census, children of Michael O & Amanda Twigg, Julia b ca 1869; Hanson b ca 1874, Elnora b ca 1876, Rosa b May 1880. Per 1900 Census David b Mar 1883, Viola b June 1886, Edman b Oct 1889, Emma B b May 1893.]
Mr. Twigg is a farmer by occupation. He attended the public schools in the county. In politics he is a Republican and in religion, a member of the Methodist church.
On January 2, 1884, [per 1900 census, married 6 years, hence, 1894 not 1884 is yr of marriage] Mr. Twigg married Miss Dessie G. Slider, who was born in Allegany county on October 1, 1873, and is a daughter of George and Nancy Slider. She has one brother, Charles L. Slider. The following children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Twigg : Nita M. McLaughlin and Mammie Twigg. Mrs. Twigg's father died in 1910. The grandchildren of Mr. and Mrs. Twigg are: Ellis Eugene and Loy Milliard Twigg and Carl G. Twigg. Mr. Twigg's father was a soldier in the Union Army in the Civil War and served as a teamster.
[Per 1900 & 1910 census, children of Hanson & Dessie G Twigg: Carl G b Dec 1894; Elis C b Feb 1898 d before 1910; Nita M b Feb 1900; Naomie I b 1905. Per 1920 census, George age 66 & Nancy age 72 are alive and enumerated immediately after Hanson & Dessie Twigg.]
George Slider married Nancy Athey Sept 1872. George is the son of William & Nancy Slider. William appears to be the son of John and Rachel Slider (see 1850 census of Allegany County p 179b).
DR. JOHN A. TWIGG was born on his father’s farm near Cumberland, Maryland, in the year 1865. After receiving a liberal general education, he took up the study of medicine in the office of his brother, Dr. William F. Twigg , at Cumberland Maryland. He graduated from the University of Maryland in 1893, and immediately located in South Cumberland, and very soon had a large and growing practice. His medical career was brief, covering a period of only five years after graduation, until his untimely death, which occurred May 13, 1898.
During that short allotment of professional life, Dr. Twigg was resident Surgeon in Western Maryland Hospital, Cumberland. So far as any records show, Dr. John A. Twigg was the first local physician to successfully perform ovariotomy in Cumberland.
Only five weeks previous to his death, Dr. Twigg married Miss Jane Maud Boteler, of Petersburg, Maryland. His brothers and sisters were: Dr. William F. Twigg, C.B. Twigg, Tarreyson M. Twigg, Alvey Twigg, Mrs. Mary J. Dicken, Mrs. Columbus Knight, Mrs. Hattie L Hinkle, Mrs. Hanson Dean and Miss Laura A. Twigg. Dr. Twigg was a promising young physician.
JOHN M. TWIGG was born December 24, 1845, at Twiggtown, Allegany county, Maryland. The name Twiggtown is a misnomer, for there never was a town there, not even a village. It is but a neighborhood, where once upon a time, long ago, there lived so many Twiggs that it came to be called "Twiggtown" by some countryside wit, and the name hangs to it still. Were you to go from Cumberland looking for Twiggtown today you would find a little frame store by the south side of the very old Williams road, at a point eight miles east of Cumberland, where the road emerges from the wooded gap between Collier's Mountain and Bushy Ridge into a wide stretch of meadow land fronting and spreading eastward and southward from a great sinkhole pond fed. by a nest of wonderful gravel bed springs. Just across the road from the store stands a little log farmhouse which, so innocent looking now, was in the long ago notorious as Jerry Johnson's grog-shop, or "doggery," as the old-time Methodists dubbed it. It was terribly hated by the good mothers of the neighborhood, as it was highly sought and frequented by their wildoats-sowing sons. It was as notorious for its gambling as for its great drinking bouts. This house and the store constitute Twiggtown proper of today. The great pond is quite a stretch further on.
On opposite sides of this big pond stand the present homes of Austin D. Twigg, Sr., and Benjamin F. Middleton, both of whose histories are included in this volume. Here, on the site of Austin D. Twigg's beautiful country home, in an old loghouse with its rude mudstick chimney, our John M. Twigg was born, and here he grew to manhood as a farm boy. He was the second born of the ten children of Oliver and Mary Ann (Stallings) Twigg, and the oldest of seven sons. Being the oldest boy, he was rapidly developed into a full farm hand, and doing a man's work made a man out of him betimes. The little schooling he got was at the nearest school during midwinter months, when he could be spared from farm work, but there were always many chores for John, for his father was the greatest stock raiser of his neighborhood, specializing in sheep raising. In his seventeenth year he visited his relatives in Ohio, where he immediately took up farming, for farming was already John's trade. He farmed a year for his Uncle Jasper Chaney, who lived near Columbus, and the next two years he farmed for another uncle, Charles Johnson, in Wayne county, after which he returned to Twiggtown to help his father again, and remained with him on the home place seven years. When he got to the town of Wooster, Ohio, to get a train for home, he bought himself the best ready-made suit he had as yet ever worn; it was too fine and good to wear, John thought, so he gave it to his mother to put away and keep for him, and seven years afterward he was married in it, thus early in life evidencing his saving proclivities. Is it any wonder that farmer John M. Twigg, of Twiggtown, got rich in the next forty-eight years of hard work and thorough farm management, and a thrift that had been the admiration of Stephen Girard and Benjamin Franklin? He married Hannah Jemima Wilson, February 21, 1871, daughter of Anion and Anne Wilson, who was born at Rush, Murley's Branch, Allegany county, Maryland, February 19, 1855. He picked a good and faithful helpmeet, who more than doubled his thrift.
They first went to live on his father's farm at Oliver's Grove in Frog Hollow, twelve miles southwest of Flintstone. Then they bought a farm at the junction of Murley's Branch and Dickinson Run Hollow roads, where John M. Twigg and Hannah Jemima moved in 1875, and settled down to the task of paying for his farm and establishing there their permanent home, with an energy and devotedness rarely ever equalled and never excelled. Good land, unremaining industry good management, strength of bodies, good health and rare thrift,' brought a full measure of success in the next succeeding forty and four years, when John M. Twigg sold his farm at his own price and moved to Cumberland, where, possessing himself of a comfortable home at 707 Maryland avenue, he signs himself John M. Twigg, retired farmer, but he has had an arduous task in inuring himself to this new life of his on Easy street, after fifty odd years of farming.
Had he not lost his faithful helpmeet back there on the farm, a little while after leaving, where one day she lay down her load and rested from her earthly labor, now his days would be full of peace to the uttermost.
Twelve children were born to John M. and Hannah J. (Wilson) Twigg, whose names in the order of their birth are as follows: Elie Wilson, who died at home in his twenty-first year; Mary Allie, wife of Alfred Bennett, of Bedford county, Pennsylvania; Ida M., who died in her fifth year; Thornton S., employee of the Kelly-Springfield Tire Co., Cumberland, Maryland; Isabelle, unmarried and resides at home; Thomas Alvin, one of the firm of Twigg Bros., grocers, Cumberland; Susanna Ursula, wife of Ray Smith, electrician of Clarksburg, W. Va. ; Augustine Randall, carpenter of Clarksburg, W. Va.; Lenora O., who died in her second year; Elsie, unmarried and residing at home; Judie Blanche, wife of John Fisher, of Cumberland; John Milton, electrical engineer of the Kelly-Springfield Tire Company, graduate of Johns Hopkins University and who saw service in the World War.
Here follow the names in the order of their births of the children of Oliver Twigg (of John M. of John) and Mary Ann (Stallings) Twigg [married 16 Mar 1841]: Elmira, widow of John Johnson, R. F. D. No. 2, Cumberland; John M., subject of this biography; Norman Bruce, deceased, of Davis, West Virginia; Susanna, wife of Thornton Wilson, Murley's Branch; Horace Resley, miller, Cumberland, Maryland; Daniel Chapman, railroad car repairer, Cumberland, Maryland; Charles Johnson, farmer, Twiggtown ; Alvin P., physician, Flintstone; Austin Davis, farmer, Twiggtown; Laura Virginia, wife of Thomas Middleton, Spring Gap, Maryland.
Here follow the names of the children of John McElfish Twigg (of John of John) and Elizabeth (Johnson) Twigg, married March 22, 1809: Rebecca, wife of Jasper Chaney, of Ohio; Naomi, wife of William Le Fever, of Ohio; Anah, wife of John H. Stallings; Darkey, wife of Thomas Chaney; Susanna, wife of James Willison; Thomas, married Jane E. Newell, Murley's Branch; Argyle, married to Alley Robinette, Twiggtown ; Oliver, married to Mary Ann Stallings, Murley's Branch.
Next follow the names of the children of John Twigg (of John) and Susanna (McElfish) Twigg: John McElfish, married to Elizabeth Johnson; David; Boyad (or Abihud), bachelor; Gabriel, bachelor; Amon, married Julia Uphold; Weston, married Easter Gordon; Nancy, wife of Alfred Burgess; Elizabeth, wife of Richard Burgess; Lowie, wife of Jeremiah Johnson; Darkey, wife of John Allen House.
This gets our John M. Twigg back to his first progenitor in Maryland, who was the oldest of the three Twigg brothers who came to Murley's Branch along with its earliest permanent settlers, where they arrived possibly as early as 1787, when George Washington was President, and the story runs that these three blue-eyed brothers, John Twigg, Robert Twigg and Francis Twigg, of John, left their home in England and moved into Ireland, from whence they soon embarked for Calvert's Province in the New World, on Chesapeake bay, and their decision got Maryland three more sturdy pioneer citizen farmers. Westward the course of empire was taking its way and these three brothers joined in its march westward, and sailing from Ireland it was but natural that they should choose to come to Maryland, the land of liberty and opportunity. It is not clear whether they brought their mother with them to the New World or not, but it is highly probable that the family all came over at the same time. The land records and the wills records of Allegany county, Maryland, establish the facts that their father was named John Twigg and that their mother's name was Rebecca Twigg.
That they were people of means is evidenced by the fact that they immediately began to acquire large tracts of the most desirable lands that were to be had at the time of their arrival. August 6, 1788, Robert Twigg had bargained with Lawrence O'Neal, Clerk of the Court of Montgomery County, Maryland, for 100½ acres of "SinkHole Bottom." It would seem that their father, John Twigg, had died in England or Ireland before they came to Maryland, or if he had migrated with them that he died in Southern Maryland. We find the family tradition full of "Granny Becky's" house, just where it stood and a story of her having a Negro slave girl, Ruth, take an axe and endeavoring to kill a cherry tree that stood down by the Williams roadside, a considerable distance away from her home, because it had several times blossomed but had never borne any cherries. Ruth, in execution of her mistress' orders, hacked the trunk of the cherry tree awfully, and "Granny Becky" had taken her revenge upon the fruitless cherry tree, as had Jesus Christ upon the barren fig tree that bore no fruit. But negro Ruth's hacking all the bark from around the trunk of the barren cherry tree did not kill it, but made it ever after a never failing tree, and it grew and grew into a giant cherry tree and its luscious, never failing fruit was the delight of "Granny Becky" Twigg's children's children to the fourth generation.
September 4, 1799, Rebecca Twigg ("Granny Becky)" made a will on her death-bed, a custom of that time, which runs thus: "To my beloved daughter Lurena one negro girl Ruth of Madison county, Kentucky, which I acquired by bill of sale," and further: "All the rest and residue of my personal property to my beloved daughter Mary Twigg." This will was witnessed by William McMahon, Thomas Cromwell and James McCleery. On the 28th day of August, 1821; John Twigg (of Rebecca) and Susanna (McElfish) Twigg, his wife, for $399.00 deeded in fee simple to their son, John McElfish Twigg, grandfather of our John M., "Resurvey on Abedingoe's Choice, Twigg's Lot and Hobson's Choice," but in signing the deed he writes himself John Twigg of John, as he was in the habit of doing, instead of John Twigg of Rebecca, as written in the recitals of the deed, which clinches the fact that "Granny Becky" Twigg was the mother of John, Robert and Frank Twigg, the three blue-eyed brothers who came from Ireland, as the story runs in the family traditions. Anion Twigg, brother of John M. Twigg, the first, married Julia Uphold, and their children's names are George, Amon, David Allen, John T., Rebecca, Mehala. His brother Weston moved, to the wilderness of Northern Virginia and the present town of Weston, West Virginia, is called after him. He owned all of what is now the city of Weston and for miles around.
Robert Twigg, the first, one of the original three blue-eyed brothers, whose wife was named Mary, made a will on May 17, 1805, in which he named his children as follows: John, Francis, Robert, Charles and Jeremiah, making no mention of daughters.
Francis Twigg, the first, the youngest of the three brothers above mentioned, lived on this side of the mountain, and had great land holdings in the neighborhood of Mount Hermon, on the Williams road. He left an only son, Asa Twigg, to whom he willed all his lands after his wife Mary had finished her life estate in them. He had daughters, but made no mention of them in his will. Asa Twigg left an only son, Francis Twigg (father of Dr. William F. Twigg), Benton, John, Torreyson, Alfred, Mary Jane, Harriet, Josephine and Laura.
But as prolific as were the progeny of the original three blue-eyed Twigg brothers, John, Robert and Francis, they were far outnumbered by the black-eyed Twiggs by the end of the third generation, all of whom, it would seem, sprang from their single progenitor, black-eyed John Twigg, who was the owner of three other nick-names, namely: "The great John Twigg," "fleet-footed John Twigg" and "stamping John Twigg," who built himself a log cabin on the east side of the Sink Hole Bottom Pond at Twig town and went away and was gone for a long time. When he returned he brought a black-eyed, very dark complexioned bride with him, and it was soon talked about the neighborhood that she was an Indian squaw. Be that as it may, she was a good woman and a very wonderful one, for she bore and reared to manhood twelve stalwart, black-eyed, black-haired, swarthy skinned sons, and the thirteenth born was a daughter named Savilla, who lived to care for her mother when she was old. This good woman who had to mother this family of twelve sons and one daughter, and do most of the providing for them, for John of the black eyes was a great hunter, which means he was a no-account, ne'er-do-well farmer. So if she was not an Indian woman, she at least had an Indian woman's strength, thrift and intimate knowledge of extracting a living from God's great out-of-doors and the industry of her own hands. Her husband, the "Great John Twigg," was a roistering, jovial giant and possessed of tremendous strength and hardihood. He was always present when there was anything going on. No distance was too great for him to cover to be present at a chicken-fight or man-fight, corn husking, woodchopping, barn or house raising, public sale, election or circus for a half hundred miles around.
The writer tried for months to find out from the oldest Twiggs living, and their oldest neighbors, what was the name of black-eyed John Twigg's wife, and all that he could get from them was that she had always gone by the name of "Mummy" Twigg. Finally in desperation he went to the Court House and found that she had, on the sixteenth day of May, 1837, made her last will and testament, and had it witnessed by John North, David Twigg, her blue-eyed son-in-law, and Samuel Dannison, and her will reads like any other white woman's will; it says: "I, Ruth, bequeath to my sons Nathan, Elias, Francis, Brice, Greenbury, Osborn, Simon, Aden, John, Robert, Sela and Ely, each the sum of twenty-five cents. All the rest and residue of my property both real and personal, to my daughter Savilla, and I hereby constitute and appoint my daughter Savilla Twigg to be my sole executrix of this my last will and testament."
"Mummy" Ruth Twigg stuck to the girl who stood by her through thick and thin to the end. The writer has heard it said that "Mummy" Twigg was Miss Ruth Farmer out of the deep woods of Bedford county, Pennsylvania, on Upper Flintstone Creek, and that she was of an excellent family. Her twelve sons all married and raised large families and her daughter Savilla, left by her marriage with blue-eyed David Twigg five black-eyed children.
The story of the black-eyed Twiggs, across on the east side of the pond from where our John M. Twigg was born and grew up, has been included in this biography of John M. Twigg, the fourth of his line, with his consent, for the purpose of perpetuating the history of all of the Twiggs of Twiggtown, from whence they rapidly spread throughout the whole county.
Hannah Jemima (Wilson) Twigg, wife of our John M. Twigg, was the daughter of Amon and Alley Wilson. She had two brothers, Eli and William, and two sisters, Mary Susan and Martha Anne. Her father, universally known as "Uncle Amon" Wilson, was a very unusual man. He possessed a dominating individuality and tireless energy. He was a great landowner and the foremost man of Murley's Branch in his generation.
When John M. Twigg married Hannah Jemima Wilson he united the two most numerous and greatest landowning family lies of all the Murley's Branch section. There were four different families by the name of Wilson who came into the lower Murley's Branch and Flintstone neighborhoods about the same time. And these families of Wilsons soon got busy intermarrying, as did the Twiggs, so that their present relationship is a mosaic of lineage.
John M. Twigg, like all of his line, is an ardent Democrat. He is a director of the Peoples Bank of Cumberland. He is a member of the Southern Methodist Church, and a strong and staunch supporter of his church always and an ardent Sunday school scholar. His friends believe in him, trust him, love him. He is a good neighbor, a good citizen and a man in the fullest sense of that often misapplied word.
WILLIAM FRANKLIN TWIGG, M. D. The problems of health are really the problems of life, and
must pertain to all questions of human interest, so that the physician and
surgeon is the most important man of his community. He must possess a wide range
of general culture, be an observant clinician and well-read neurologist, even
though he never specializes along any particular line. To take his place among
the distinguished men of his profession, he must bear the stamp of an original
mind, and be willing to be hard-worked, while at the same time his soul
oftentimes faints within him when studying the mysteries of his calling.
Acquainted with the simple annals of the poor, and the inner lives of
his patients, he acquires a moral strength, courage, conscience and power which
permits him to interfere with the mechanism of physical life, alleviating its
woes and increasing its resistance to the encroachments of
disease. No wonder that a skilled, learned and
sympathetic medical man commands such universal admiration and respect, and one
who measures up to the highest standards in Allegany county is Dr. William
Franklin Twigg, of Cumberland, where he has been established as a medical
practitioner for more than thirty years. His popularity and prosperity have both
been built up from the solid foundation of skill, knowledge and usefulness.
Service has been his watchword throughout his professional life, the true goal
of his ambition, the incentive to industry in practice and study, the measure by
which he has judged his own worth. This service has assumed many forms, for the
real physician who wishes to benefit his fellow man is ready to work when
opportunity presents itself, and this high ideal has enhanced Dr. Twigg's
personal reputation as well as his professional standing.
Doctor Twigg belongs to a pioneer family of Maryland; his grandfather, Asa Twigg, was a native of the State and his father, Francis Twigg, a resident of Allegany county. The latter married Catherine Gleichman, of Allegany county, Maryland.
William Franklin Twigg was born on a farm located on the Williams road in Allegany county, April 14, 1858, and spent his early life amid rural environments. His early experiences were the same as those of any farmer's son of his generation and neighborhood, and he alternated working on the farm during the summer months with attendance at the district schools in the winter ones, maintaining this mode of life until he was sixteen years old. At that time a change was effected, and he became a student of the high school at Schellsburg, Pennsylvania, and completed a three years' course. Returning to Maryland he was engaged in school teaching in his native county for a period of three years. All of this time he was working toward a definite goal, and at the age of twenty-two was able to become a pupil of the late Dr. D. P. Welfley, of Cumberland, and in 1880 he commenced attending lectures at the University of Maryland, from which he was graduated, in the medical department, in 1883. In the fall of that year he entered upon the practice of his profession, locating first at Keyser, West Virginia, but soon afterwards went to Elk Garden, in the same State, and remained there for three years. Upon the death of his old preceptor, Dr. Welfley, Dr. Twigg established himself at Cumberland and entered upon a general practice in this city January 1, 1887. This date marks the beginning of an uninterrupted period of well-chosen labor, for, although his work has often been arduous, he has seldom found any phase of it uncongenial, and his natural and acquired fitness for its duties has enabled him to perform them most effectively. His offices are at No. 22 South Center street. Dr. Twigg has allied himself with all of the local medical bodies of high standing, including the Cumberland Academy of Medicine, the Allegany County Medical Society, as well as the American Medical Association, in this way keeping in touch with the advances made in his profession. He is a Mason and belongs to Potomac Lodge, No. 100, A. F. & A. M., of Cumberland. He deserves unqualified credit for the high rank which he has reached, his place among the most worthy practitioners of the day having been attained entirely through his own efforts. For fourteen years Dr. Twigg was county physician, and as such had charge of the Sylvan Retreat Asylum, and for twenty-five years has been surgeon for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad at Cumberland.
On March 23, 1887, Dr. Twigg was married to Miss Sarah M. Hetzel, a daughter of the late C. F. Hetzel, of Allegany county. Three children were born of this marriage, namely: Margaret, who is the wife of John Findlay, of Mount Savage, Maryland, who has a son, William Franklin; Marion K., who died unmarried at the age of nineteen years; and Nial Franklin, who made the supreme sacrifice during the World War and died October 10, 1918, at the age of twenty-five years at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, of pneumonia, leaving his heartbroken parents and sister to mourn his untimely demise at the very commencement of what promised to be a long and brilliant career in medicine and surgery.
Dr. Nial F. Twigg was graduated from Allegany County High School, the Allegany
Academy, Saint John's College, Annapolis, Maryland, and Johns Hopkins
University, from which he was graduated in 1917, being advanced in his course by
several months so as to enable his going abroad with the Johns
Hopkins unit and joining the British army. He was commissioned a first
lieutenant, was stationed at a base hospital and remained there for a year.
Returning to the United States; he spent a few days with his parents at
Cumberland and then was sent to Fort Oglethorpe, where he was still serving a. a
member of the medical staff of General Hospital No. 14. While in England he had
a number of interesting experiences; including aeroplane flights, and the dining
with Sir William Osler at Oxford.
The body of Lieutenant Twigg was returned to Cumberland, and impressive funeral services were held from the home of Dr. and Mrs. Twigg, Rev. Ambrose H Beavin, rector of Emmanuel Episcopal Church, officiating. Burial was made in Rose Hill Cemetery. The body was in charge of Lieut. Charles L. Larkin, of Connecticut, who was associated with Lieutenant Twigg at General Hospital No. 14 in taking care of epidemic cases, and of Dr. W. F. Twigg, who went to Fort Oglethorpe immediately upon the receipt of the news of his son's serious illness. A military funeral was held at Chattanooga, Tennessee, previous to boarding the train for Cumberland. Following a service by the chaplain, the parade to the station formed, led by the military band, the firing squad and the entire surgical staff of General Hospital No. 14. At the station three volleys were fired over the casket and taps were sounded. The service was most impressive.
The surgical staff of General Hospital No. 14, Fort Oglethorpe, signed the following which was presented to the family of the young surgeon.
"To the family of Lieut. Nial F. Twigg, M. C. U. S. A.: This, from the surgical staff of General Hospital No. 14, U. S. A.: We cannot put in words our deep sense of personal loss. We need and miss his joyful enthusiasm, his ready sympathy, his keen intuition, his ripe judgment, his technical skill.
"He is with us now, a vivid and inspiring memory. Those who tread the path of honor and glory never die.
"Knowing him, we understand the greatness of your sacrifice."
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