W. D. Twichell
Encyclopedia
Willis Day Twichell was a Texas
surveyor
and civil engineer
, based primarily in Amarillo
and later Austin
, who surveyed 165 of the state's 254 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, 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. Presumably, he followed his father and stepmother to Ohio. In 1883, he graduated from the since defunct National Normal University
, a teaching institution in Lebanon
in southwestern Ohio. With a degree in civil engineering
, he established a surveying practice in Springfield
in western Ohio.
, where his first assignment was to stake out Garden City
, located some twenty-seven miles south of Big Spring
. Garden City became the seat of the newly created Glasscock County. In 1886, Twichell met William S. Mabry, a surveyor employed by the Capitol Syndicate, which owned the huge XIT Ranch
, which was then constructing the Texas State Capitol
in Austin. Mabry also had built the former T&P Hotel in Big Spring, the seat of Howard County. 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
, the seat of Lamb County, named for the cattleman George W. Littlefield
, a Confederate
officer and large donor to the University of Texas.
According to the Handbook of Texas
, Twichell's skill in cadastral surveying
, astronomy
, physics
, and mathematics
enabled him to use more precise methods of surveying than those that depended upon following directions via a magnetic compass. With cadastral surveying, Twichell's east-west survey lines corrected for the natural curvature of the earth's spherical surface.
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, now a ghost town
in Oldham County west of Amarillo and not to be confused with Atascosa County near San Antonio
.Surveyors were frequently prime targets of earlier Indian
raiding parties, but Twichell avoided even carrying a gun.
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
.
From 1900 to 1916, Twichell was the Texas state surveyor, a position in the General Land Office, though he kept 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
, the seat of Tom Green County, where he resided until his death at the age of ninety-five. He is interred there at Lawnhaven Cemetery.
Twichell became involved in Amarillo civic affairs. He was a Methodist and backed prohibition
, having once hosted an appearance in Amarillo by Carrie Nation
, known for her physical attacks on saloons. Perhaps using some of the normal school training, he taught from 1895-1897 at the forerunner to the community college
now known as Amarillo College
, where he not only launched the school band but in 1901 organized the Amarillo Concert Band.
Subsequent cadastral surveyors retracing his lines found them highly accurate. His survey records, composed of many field books, working sketches, some 200 finished maps, field notes, and about 50,000 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
.
On September 29, 2010, Chevron
, Atlantic Richfield, ConocoPhillips
, and ExxonMobil
, which held the remaining Twichell papers, donated the surveys to the office of General Land Commissioner Jerry E. Patterson.Altogether Twichell laid out more than forty towns and surveyed in 165 of the 254 Texas counties. 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
.
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. Twichell surveyed 15 million total acres, having averaged twenty miles in a typical day. He derived much satisfaction from his work because it created a constant demand for mental activity and allowed him the benefits of new experience and travel. Only one mistake was found in Twichell's work and that was made by an associate.
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
surveyor
Surveyor
Surveyor may refer to:Professions and their activities* Surveying, the process of determining accurate positions on, or near the Earth's surface** Cadastral surveying, the process of establishing boundary locations and land parcel corners...
and civil engineer
Civil engineer
A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering; the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructures while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing infrastructures that have been neglected.Originally, a...
, based primarily in Amarillo
Amarillo, Texas
Amarillo is the 14th-largest city, by population, in the state of Texas, the largest in the Texas Panhandle, and the seat of Potter County. A portion of the city extends into Randall County. The population was 190,695 at the 2010 census...
and later Austin
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
, who surveyed 165 of the state's 254 counties
County
A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain modern nations. Historically in mainland Europe, the original French term, comté, and its equivalents in other languages denoted a jurisdiction under the sovereignty of a count A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain...
.
Background
Twichell was born in HastingsHastings, Minnesota
Hastings is a city in Dakota counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota, near the confluence of the Mississippi and St. Croix Rivers. The population was 22,172 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Dakota County. The bulk of Hastings is in Dakota County; only a small part of the city extends...
in southeastern Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, to Daniel Wilson Twichell and the former Sarah Catharine Coons. After the death of his mother, which occurred when he was four, Willis lived on farms owned by uncles. His father remarried and moved to Madison County
Madison County, Ohio
As of the census of 2000, there were 40,213 people, 13,672 households, and 10,035 families residing in the county. The population density was 86 people per square mile . There were 14,399 housing units at an average density of 31 per square mile...
in west central Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
. Willis attended public schools in Minnesota and then Ohio. Presumably, he followed his father and stepmother to Ohio. In 1883, he graduated from the since defunct National Normal University
National Normal University
National Normal University was a teacher's college in Lebanon, Ohio. It opened in 1855 as Southwestern State Normal College and took the name National Normal University in 1870. Alfred Holbrook was the first president and the school's guiding force for most of its existence. He resigned in 1897...
, a teaching institution in Lebanon
Lebanon, Ohio
The population at the 2010 census was 20,033. As of the census of 2000, there were 16,962 people residing in the city. The population density was 1,440.6 people per square mile . There were 6,218 housing units at an average density of 528.1 per square mile...
in southwestern Ohio. With a degree in civil engineering
Civil engineering
Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works like roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings...
, he established a surveying practice in Springfield
Springfield, Ohio
Springfield is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Clark County. The municipality is located in southwestern Ohio and is situated on the Mad River, Buck Creek and Beaver Creek, approximately west of Columbus and northeast of Dayton. Springfield is home to Wittenberg...
in western Ohio.
Migration to Texas
In November 1885, Twichell migrated to West TexasWest Texas
West Texas is a vernacular term applied to a region in the southwestern quadrant of the United States that primarily encompasses the arid and semi-arid lands in the western portion of the state of Texas....
, where his first assignment was to stake out Garden City
Garden City, Texas
Garden City is a Census Designated Place in Glasscock County, Texas, United States. It lies near the center of the county, approximately 27 miles south of Big Spring. Garden City serves as the Glasscock County seat, and at the 2010 Census, had a population of 334...
, located some twenty-seven miles south of Big Spring
Big Spring, Texas
Big Spring is a city in and the county seat of Howard County, Texas, United States, at the crossroads of U.S. Highway 87 and Interstate 20. With a population of 25,233 at the 2000 census, it is the largest city between Midland to the west, Abilene to the east, Lubbock to the north, and San Angelo...
. Garden City became the seat of the newly created Glasscock County. In 1886, Twichell met William S. Mabry, a surveyor employed by the Capitol Syndicate, which owned the huge XIT Ranch
XIT Ranch
The XIT Ranch was a cattle ranch in the Texas Panhandle which operated from 1885 to 1912. Comprising over 3,000,000 acres of land, it ran for two hundred miles along the border with New Mexico, varying in width from 20 to 30 miles...
, which was then constructing the Texas State Capitol
Texas State Capitol
The Texas State Capitol is located in Austin, Texas, and is the fourth building to be the house of Texas government in Austin. It houses the chambers of the Texas Legislature and the office of the governor of Texas. It was designed originally during 1881 by architect Elijah E. Myers, and was...
in Austin. Mabry also had built the former T&P Hotel in Big Spring, the seat of Howard County. 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
Littlefield, Texas
Littlefield is a city in and the county seat of Lamb County, Texas, United States. The population was 6,507 at the 2000 census. It is located in a significant cotton growing region, northwest of Lubbock on the Llano Estacado just south of the beginning of the Texas Panhandle...
, the seat of Lamb County, named for the cattleman George W. Littlefield
George W. Littlefield
George Washington Littlefield was a Confederate officer, cattleman, banker, and regent of the University of Texas. Born in Mississippi, Littlefield moved to Texas with his family as a boy.-Early life:George W...
, a Confederate
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
officer and large donor to the University of Texas.
According to the Handbook of Texas
Handbook of Texas
The Handbook of Texas is a comprehensive encyclopedia of Texas geography, history, and historical persons published by the Texas State Historical Association .-History:...
, Twichell's skill in cadastral surveying
Cadastre
A cadastre , using a cadastral survey or cadastral map, is a comprehensive register of the metes-and-bounds real property of a country...
, astronomy
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
, physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
, and mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
enabled him to use more precise methods of surveying than those that depended upon following directions via a magnetic compass. With cadastral surveying, Twichell's east-west survey lines corrected for the natural curvature of the earth's spherical surface.
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, now a ghost town
Ghost town
A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...
in Oldham County west of Amarillo and not to be confused with Atascosa County near San Antonio
San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...
.Surveyors were frequently prime targets of earlier Indian
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
raiding parties, but Twichell avoided even carrying a gun.
In 1890, Twichell moved his office to Amarillo, where he continued to conduct railway surveys. In 1893, he platted the city of Enid
Enid, Oklahoma
Enid is a city in Garfield County, Oklahoma, United States. In 2010, the population was 49,379, making it the ninth largest city in Oklahoma. It is the county seat of Garfield County. Enid was founded during the opening of the Cherokee Outlet in the Land Run of 1893, and is named after Enid, a...
in Garfield County
Garfield County, Oklahoma
Garfield County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma named after President James A. Garfield. As of 2010, the population was 60,580. Enid is the county seat and largest city within Garfield County...
in northern Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
.
From 1900 to 1916, Twichell was the Texas state surveyor, a position in the General Land Office, though he kept 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
San Angelo, Texas
San Angelo is a city in the state of Texas. Located in West Central Texas it is the county seat of Tom Green County. As of 2010 according to the United States Census Bureau, the city had a total population of 93,200...
, the seat of Tom Green County, where he resided until his death at the age of ninety-five. He is interred there at Lawnhaven Cemetery.
Legacy
On September 4, 1895, Twichell married the former Eula Trigg. They had four daughters and a son, Trigg Twichell; another son died in infancy.Twichell became involved in Amarillo civic affairs. He was a Methodist and backed prohibition
Prohibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
, having once hosted an appearance in Amarillo by Carrie Nation
Carrie Nation
Carrie Amelia Moore Nation was a member of the temperance movement, which opposed alcohol in pre-Prohibition America. She is particularly noteworthy for promoting her viewpoint through vandalism. On many occasions Nation would enter an alcohol-serving establishment and attack the bar with a hatchet...
, known for her physical attacks on saloons. Perhaps using some of the normal school training, he taught from 1895-1897 at the forerunner to the community college
Community college
A community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries.-Australia:Community colleges carry on the tradition of adult education, which was established in Australia around mid 19th century when evening classes were held to help adults...
now known as Amarillo College
Amarillo College
Amarillo College is a two-year fully accredited community college in Amarillo, Texas with over 10,000 students that was established in 1929 as Amarillo Junior College...
, where he not only launched the school band but in 1901 organized the Amarillo Concert Band.
Subsequent cadastral surveyors retracing his lines found them highly accurate. His survey records, composed of many field books, working sketches, some 200 finished maps, field notes, and about 50,000 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
Midland, Texas
Midland is a city in and the county seat of Midland County, Texas, United States, on the Southern Plains of the state's western area. A small portion of the city extends into Martin County. As of 2010, the population of Midland was 111,147. It is the principal city of the Midland, Texas...
.
On September 29, 2010, Chevron
Chevron Corporation
Chevron Corporation is an American multinational energy corporation headquartered in San Ramon, California, United States and active in more than 180 countries. It is engaged in every aspect of the oil, gas, and geothermal energy industries, including exploration and production; refining,...
, Atlantic Richfield, ConocoPhillips
ConocoPhillips
ConocoPhillips Company is an American multinational energy corporation with its headquarters located in the Energy Corridor district of Houston, Texas in the United States...
, and ExxonMobil
ExxonMobil
Exxon Mobil Corporation or ExxonMobil, is an American multinational oil and gas corporation. It is a direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil company, and was formed on November 30, 1999, by the merger of Exxon and Mobil. Its headquarters are in Irving, Texas...
, which held the remaining Twichell papers, donated the surveys to the office of General Land Commissioner Jerry E. Patterson.Altogether Twichell laid out more than forty towns and surveyed in 165 of the 254 Texas counties. Patterson reflected on Twichell's long-term significance to Texas history and development. Twichell surveyed the developing areas along the Texas and New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
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
Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
and natural gas
Natural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
.
His survey also extended into Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
. In 1901, Twichell was called upon to survey the Spindletop
Spindletop
Spindletop is a salt dome oil field located in the southern portion of Beaumont, Texas in the United States. The Spindletop dome was derived from the Louann Salt evaporite layer of the Jurassic geologic period. On January 10, 1901, a well at Spindletop struck oil . The new oil field soon produced...
oil field near Beaumont
Beaumont, Texas
Beaumont is a city in and county seat of Jefferson County, Texas, United States, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city's population was 118,296 at the 2010 census. With Port Arthur and Orange, it forms the Golden Triangle, a major industrial area on the...
in southeastern Texas. His surveying brought him into contact with such figures as the legenday justice of the peace
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
, Roy Bean
Roy Bean
Phantly Roy Bean, Jr. was an eccentric U.S. saloon-keeper and Justice of the Peace in Val Verde County, Texas, who called himself "The Law West of the Pecos". According to legend, Judge Roy Bean held court in his saloon along the Rio Grande in a desolate stretch of the Chihuahuan Desert of...
of Langtry
Langtry, Texas
Langtry is an unincorporated community in Val Verde County, Texas, United States. The community is notable as the place where "Judge" Roy Bean, the "Law West of the Pecos", had his saloon and practiced a kind of law.-History:...
, Texas, as well as author O. Henry
O. Henry
O. Henry was the pen name of the American writer William Sydney Porter . O. Henry's short stories are well known for their wit, wordplay, warm characterization and clever twist endings.-Early life:...
, cattleman Charles Goodnight
Charles Goodnight
Charles Goodnight, also known as Charlie Goodnight , was a cattle rancher in the American West, perhaps the best known rancher in Texas. He is sometimes known as the "father of the Texas Panhandle." Essayist and historian J...
, and the Comanche
Comanche
The Comanche are a Native American ethnic group whose historic range consisted of present-day eastern New Mexico, southern Colorado, northeastern Arizona, southern Kansas, all of Oklahoma, and most of northwest Texas. Historically, the Comanches were hunter-gatherers, with a typical Plains Indian...
chief Quanah Parker
Quanah Parker
Quanah Parker was a Comanche chief, a leader in the Native American Church, and the last leader of the powerful Quahadi band before they surrendered their battle of the Great Plains and went to a reservation in Indian Territory...
. He trained the Lubbock surveyor Sylvan Sanders. Twichell surveyed 15 million total acres, having averaged twenty miles in a typical day. He derived much satisfaction from his work because it created a constant demand for mental activity and allowed him the benefits of new experience and travel. Only one mistake was found in Twichell's work and that was made by an associate.