{{Short description|American politician (1811–1883)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2021}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Ginery Bachelor Twichell | image = Ginery Twichell - Brady-Handy.jpg | state = [[Massachusetts]] | district = [[Massachusetts's 3rd congressional district|3rd]] | term_start = March 4, 1867 | term_end = March 3, 1873 | preceded = [[Alexander H. Rice]] | succeeded = [[William Whiting (Massachusetts politician)|William Whiting]] | birth_date = {{Birth date|1811|8|26|mf=y}} | birth_place = [[Athol, Massachusetts]], U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1883|7|23|1811|8|26|mf=y}} | death_place = [[Brookline, Massachusetts]], U.S. | party = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] | spouse = {{Plainlist| * {{Marriage|Theolotia Ruggles|August 1846|March 9, 1876|end=d.}} * {{Marriage|Catherine M. (Burt) Vinal|June 28, 1877}} }} | relations = | children = | alma_mater = | occupation = | profession = | signature = Signature of Ginery Twichell (1811–1883).png | footnotes = }}

'''Ginery Twichell''' (August 26, 1811 – July 23, 1883) was president of the [[Boston and Worcester Railroad]] in the 1860s, the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] [[United States House of Representatives|Representative]] for [[Massachusetts]] for three consecutive terms and the sixth president of the [[Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway]].

He was born in [[Athol, Massachusetts]]. Some references list his actual birth date as August 22, 1811 (Waters, p.&nbsp;43), while others list it as August 26, 1811 (Congress Bioguide; and Massachusetts Vital Records).<ref>Massachusetts Vital Records to 1850 (Online Database: [https://americanancestors.org AmericanAncestors.org], New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2010). Athol births, p. 93; retrieved July 23, 2011.</ref> In 1827 Twichell left school to seek employment in a local mill. Subsequent jobs saw him working with livestock and later in retail. His strengths in transportation began to show in 1830 when he took control of a stage line between [[Barre, Massachusetts|Barre]] and [[Worcester, Massachusetts|Worcester]].

[[File:The Unrivaled Express Rider, Ginery Twichell.jpg|left|thumb|"The Unrivaled Express Rider, Ginery Twichell, Who rode from Worcester to Hartford, a distance of sixty miles in 3 hours & 20 minutes, through a deep snow, Jan. 23, 1846."]]

As a manager and business owner, Twichell gained a reputation for kindness and generosity, even toward his business competition. He saw his stage line grow to include many more lines throughout [[New England]]. When the [[Boston and Worcester Railroad]] (B&W) opened on July 1, 1835, Twichell's stage lines were both competition and complement to the railroad's service. This quasi-partnership lasted until June 1, 1848, when Twichell became the assistant superintendent of the railroad. Twichell rose through the B&W's ranks, becoming president in 1857.

In 1867 Twichell was elected to [[United States Congress|Congress]] where he served as a Republican Representative for Massachusetts. He was twice reelected, in 1869 and again in 1871, to stretch his tenure to three consecutive terms.

During his third term as a Representative, Twichell became president of the growing [[Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway]] in 1870. During his term with the Santa Fe, the railroad built the rest of the mainline across [[Kansas]] from [[Topeka, Kansas|Topeka]], connecting to [[Dodge City, Kansas]], on September 5, 1872, and then the [[Colorado]] state line by the end of 1873. Twichell served the Santa Fe Railroad for three years, leaving in 1873 to return to [[Massachusetts]] where he led the [[Boston, Barre and Gardner Railroad]] and the [[Hoosac Tunnel and Wilmington Railroad]]. [[File:Ginery Twichell late 1870's.png|left|thumb| Ginery Twichell, about the time he was president of the Santa Fe]] Twichell died on July 23, 1883, in [[Brookline, Massachusetts]], of [[typhoid fever]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/22441634/from-the-boston-globe-24-jul-1883/ |title=Death of Hon. Ginery Twichell |newspaper=[[The Boston Globe]] |page=5 |date=1883-07-24 |access-date=2021-03-04 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

==See also== *[[Ginery Twichell House]], a property he owned (but did not live in) in Brookline

==References== {{reflist}} * Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, ''[http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=T000443 Ginery Twichell]''. Retrieved July 15, 2005. (lists birth date as August 26, 1811). *Denehy, John William. [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_FHkUAAAAYAAJ/page/n141 <!-- pg=136 quote=Theolotia Ruggles. --> history of Brookline, Massachusetts, from the first settlement of Muddy River Until the Present Time 1630-1906], page 136 (1906). (lists birth date as August 26 *Twitchel, Ralph E.: [https://books.google.com/books?id=XObNAAAAMAAJ ''Stage Driver to Railroad President, Ginery Twitchell, Progressive in Transportation Matters becomes one or the First Presidents of the Santa Fe''.] The Santa Fe Magazine, January 1923, Vol XVII, Number 2. (lists birth date as August 25, 1811). *{{cite book| author=Waters, Lawrence L.| title=Steel Trails to Santa Fe| publisher=University of Kansas Press, Lawrence, Kansas| year=1950}} p 43–44. (lists birth date as August 22, 1811). {{s-start}} {{s-par|us-hs}} {{US House succession box | state=Massachusetts | district=3 | before=[[Alexander H. Rice]] | after= [[William Whiting (Massachusetts politician)|William Whiting]] | years=March 4, 1867 – March 3, 1873 }}

{{s-bus}} {{s-bef| before= }} {{s-ttl| title=President of [[Boston and Worcester Railroad]]| years=1857 }} {{s-aft| after= }}

{{s-bef| before=[[Henry Keyes]] }} {{s-ttl| title=President of [[Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway]]| years=1870 &ndash; 1873 }} {{s-aft| after=[[Henry Strong (ATSF)|Henry Strong]] }}

{{s-end}} {{USRepMA}} {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Twichell, Ginery}} [[Category:1811 births]] [[Category:1883 deaths]] [[Category:Politicians from Brookline, Massachusetts]] [[Category:Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway presidents]] [[Category:People from Athol, Massachusetts]] [[Category:Deaths from typhoid fever in Massachusetts]] [[Category:Republican Party United States representatives from Massachusetts]] [[Category:19th-century American businesspeople]] [[Category:19th-century United States representatives]]