Ralph E. Twitchell
{{short description|American attorney, politician and writer (1859–1925)}}
{{For|the modernist architect|Ralph Twitchell}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2019}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name = Ralph E. Twitchell
|image = Ralph Emerson Twitchell.JPG
|office = 3rd Mayor of Santa Fe
|term_start = 1893
|term_end = 1894
|predecessor = Manuel Valdez
|successor = J.H. Sloan
|birth_date = {{birth date|1859|11|29}}
|birth_place = Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S.
|death_date = {{death date|1925|08|26}}
|death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.
|party = Republican
|spouse = Margaret Olivia Collins
Estelle Bennett Burton
|children =
|education = University of Kansas (BA)
University of Michigan (LLB)
|signature = Signature of Ralph Emerson Twitchell (1859–1925).png
}}
Ralph Emerson Twitchell (1859–1925) was an American attorney, historian, and politician who served as the mayor of Santa Fe, New Mexico and chairman of the Rio Grande Commission, which drafted a treaty between the United States and Mexico leading to the building of the Elephant Butte Dam. Twitchell helped organize the first National Irrigation Congress in 1891. He is credited with rescuing the Spanish Archives from the territorial capitol building when it caught fire on May 12, 1892, and also designing the first Flag of New Mexico in 1915.{{Cite web|title=The meaning of our state flag {{!}} Roswell Daily Record {{!}} Roswell Area News|url=http://www.rdrnews.com/archive/?p=103955|access-date=2020-11-18|language=en-US}}{{Dead link|date=November 2024}}
Early life and education
Ralph Emerson Twitchell was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, to David Sawin and Delia Scott Twitchell.{{cite journal |last1=Jenkins |first1=Myra Ellen |title=A Dedication to the Memory of Ralph Emerson Twitchell 1859-1925 |journal=Arizona and the West |date=1966 |volume=8 |issue=2 |pages=103–106 |jstor=40167196 |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/40167196 |access-date=8 July 2020}} He received his Bachelor's degree from the University of Kansas and his L.L.B. from the University of Michigan Law School.
Career
He first moved to New Mexico Territory in 1882, settling in Las Vegas, New Mexico to work in the law office of Henry L. Waldo. In 1897, Governor Miguel Otero appointed him judge advocate of the New Mexico militia and granted him the title of colonel. For the remainder of his life, Twitchell was always addressed respectfully as "colonel."{{cite news |last1=Simmons |first1=Marc |title=The story behind N.M. history author |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-santa-fe-new-mexican-the-story-behin/158741117/ |access-date=2024-11-09 |newspaper=The Santa Fe New Mexican |date=August 30, 2008 |pages=C-1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-santa-fe-new-mexican-the-story-behin/158741177/ C-3] |via=Newspapers.com}}
From 1889 to 1892 he was District Attorney for the First Judicial District. For forty-three years Twitchell worked in the legal department of the Santa Fe Railroad. In 1921, he was appointed special counsel for the United States Attorney General, specializing in Native American and water rights cases.{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times/136860675/ |title=Former Mayor of Santa Fe Called |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |page=17 |date=August 27, 1925 |access-date=2024-11-09 |via=Newspapers.com}}
Twitchell was involved with numerous organizations in Santa Fe. He sat on the Board of Regents of the Museum of New Mexico. He founded and edited a historical quarterly called Old Santa Fe: A Magazine of History, Archaeology, Genealogy and Biography, which covered the activities of the Museum of New Mexico, Historical Society of New Mexico, and the Santa Fe branch of the School of American Archaeology. As President of the Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce from 1920-1922 he helped revive the Santa Fe Fiesta.
Personal life
In 1885, he married Margaret Olivia Collins.[https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V287-35P "Missouri Marriages, 1750-1920"], database, FamilySearch, January 18, 2020), Ralph E. Twitchell, 1885. {{Subscription required}}[https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKZ7-KLS2 "Missouri, County Marriage, Naturalization, and Court Records, 1800-1991"], database with images, FamilySearch, October 2, 2019, Ralph E Twitchell and Margaret Olivia Collins, 09 Dec 1885; citing Marriage, Buchanan, Missouri, United States, Missouri State Archives, Jefferson City; FHL microfilm 007424541. {{Subscription required}} He died August 25, 1925, at the age of 68 in Los Angeles, California.[https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPQW-SGRQ "California, County Birth and Death Records, 1800-1994"], database with images, FamilySearch, September 26, 2019, Ralph Emerson Twitchell, 1925. {{Subscription required}}[https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKSM-NQ94 "California Death Index, 1905-1939"], database with images, FamilySearch, November 8, 2017, Ralph E Twitchell, 26 Aug 1925; citing 37335, Department of Health Services, Vital Statistics Department, Sacramento; FHL microfilm 1,686,047. {{Subscription required}}
Bibliography
- {{cite book |first=Ralph Emerson |last=Twitchell |title=Leading Facts of New Mexico's History|volume =2|publisher=The Torch Press|location=Cedar Rapids, Ia. |date=1912 | oclc = 14987171| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=VrsUAAAAYAAJ}}
- {{cite book |first=Ralph Emerson |last=Twitchell |title=The Spanish Archives of New Mexico|publisher=Arno Press|location=New York|date=1914|url=https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:The_Spanish_Archives_of_New_Mexico|oclc= 2188907}}
- Old Santa Fe
- {{cite book |first=Ralph Emerson |last=Twitchell |title=Genealogy of the Twitchell Family|publisher=H.K. Twitchell|location=New York, N.Y.|date=1929|url=https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Genealogy_of_the_Twitchell_Family|oclc= 260076039}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20120225035309/http://www.newmexicohistory.org/filedetails.php?fileID=21280 Twitchell, Ralph Emerson].
- {{find a Grave|33009414}}
{{Mayors of Santa Fe, New Mexico}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Twitchell, Ralph E.}}
Category:19th-century mayors of places in New Mexico
Category:Mayors of Santa Fe, New Mexico
Category:New Mexico Republicans
Category:Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway people
Category:People from Las Vegas, New Mexico
Category:University of Kansas alumni
Category:University of Michigan Law School alumni
Category:19th-century American lawyers
{{NewMexico-mayor-stub}}