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Wife
- Mary Riggs
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Children
- Joseph b. 1640
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Grandchildren
- Ephraim b.
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Great-Grandchildren
- Thomas b. 1722
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Great Great Grandchildren
- Joshua Sr.
THE TWITCHELLS
The Twitchells lived in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, England for many years.
Benjamin Twitchell, the ancestor and founder of the family in America, was the son of Richard Twitchell and Cicely Waller. He was born in England in the year 1599, the great, great grandson of Henry Twitchell, born in the year 1460. Henry Twitchell's children were: George B. Twitchell, 1485 and Henry Twitchell. George B. Twitchell married and had two children, George Twitchell and Agnes Twitchell. George Twitchell married and had Richard Twitchell, born in 1540, who married Cicely Waller in 1581.
All of the Twitchells before Benjamin and including Benjamin were born in Caesium, Buckinghamshire, England. The oldest, Joseph, and the youngest, Benjamin, a Puritan, came to the Massachusetts Colony in the early days of the Colonial period, just prior to 1630. They were the two brothers who in the late 1620s were the original immigrants to America bearing the name of Twitchell. Our lineage comes through Benjamin.
Joseph had one son, Joseph, 16 years old when he came from England with the two brothers, but no record was ever found of him except his death record--no marriage record.
Benjamin lived in Medfield, Massachusetts. He was killed by Indians at the outbreak of King Philip's War in 1675. His oldest child, a son, Joseph Twitchell, lived for a while in Dorchester, Suffolk, Massachusetts, and later in Sherborn, Middlesex, Massachusetts where he built a very large and beautiful house on 180 acres.
This house was built in 1690, and is still standing in wonderful condition. No one but Twitchells, from generation to generation have lived in this house up until very recently.
That is for over three hundred years. The house has never been remodeled, but only well kept--never let to be run down, but always repaired, with one or two places restored. The ceilings are high with big heavy wooden beams or rafters all across them. Girders hold up the beams. The fireplace in the biggest room is very large, going all the way to the ceiling. There is another fireplace in the dining room, with a gun hanging over it. There are two ducks mounted above it, and on the mantle shelf are old dishes and a couple of tea pots. The furniture is old but sturdy and very beautiful. There are precious old pictures still in the house.
The last Twitchells, or descendants of Twitchells, owning it and living in it, said their children do not show any interest in taking it over. The fences are made of rock and still in good condition.
The descendants of Joseph: Ephraim, lived in Sherborn, Middlesex, Massachusetts; Thomas in Holliston, Middlesex, Massachusetts, and Joshua Sr. in Westborough, Worcester, Massachusetts.
The pioneer instinct has always been strong in the Twitchell blood. They seemed to have the same round of struggles, the same lack of advantages, the same deprivation of comfort, the same willing endurance of hardship which characterized the lives of all of our early pioneer ancestors. Why did they leave the easy life of England to find the hardship and uncertainty of a new life? Let's not forget why they did these things at such cost, such hardship and much suffering. The reason was THEY LOVED FREEDOM, which they did not have, and they were not satisfied until they got it.
Right from the first the Twitchells all seemed to believe that Democracy meant people who believe in doing things for other people making their community a better place for all. It was taking responsibility to be there when needed; to roll up their sleeves and get involved. Each generation since Benjamin and Mary Riggs, his wife, has helped to make America better place in which to live. Their descendants have always been very patriotic, battling periodically for the Union in every war.