The Coolidge examiner., 1931-09-11
|: STAGE COACH
TALES
B y E. C.. T AYL o r
From Stage Driver to Rail
road President

AOod COI0SIAA
THE Hon. Ginery TWitchell rose
l. from ObScurity to become one
of the leading figures of the era of
stage coach transportation, then
president of the railroad that put
his stage lines out of business, and
then a member of congress.
Many a New England child, hear
ing the cry of "Ginery's coming
Ginery's coming :" and probably
wondering what a "ginery" was,
watched with delight as a great
stage coach with six prancing, reek-
ing, foaming horses came to a stop
in front of the BayState house, in
Boston, or the taverns of WOrces-
ter, Mass, or BrattlebOrO Vt.
Seated atop the magnificent We
hicle was a dignitied, selfcOntented
man, ruddy of face, his stout body
swathed in a heavy greatcoat and
on his head a tall silk hat. Ginery
TWitchell would sit erect on the
cOachmans seat, gather the reins
well in hand and suddenly be off
with a great rattle of wheels and
blowing of horns.
Ginery Twitchell was called
Honorable" even then Probably
it was because of his vast reputa-
ton for integrity, and probably al
so because he was an inveterate
politician, and always had a finger
in the political maneuverings and
plottings of his part of New Eng
land.
His stage coach was one Of the
most famous that ever rolled over
the rough roads of the early days
of the United States. 1t was built
in 1887 by Henry T. Breck of
Worcester, and never was repaired
beyond occasionally getting a new
coat of varnish. In 1910, at the
request Of the citizens of Barre, Vt,
seats were added to the top, so that
the great coach carried 80 persons,
II inside and 20 outside.
1t once carried 62 young women
from Worcester on a blackberry ex-
cursiOn, with eight horses drawing
this record load. During the Presi-
Dental campaign of 1910, it carried
the political leaders to and from
meetings around QuinsigamOnd.
His last driver, Henry S. Miner,
narrates that Twitchell before the
days of the railroad collected cleo
tion votes on horseback, and once
road from Greenfield, Mass, to
Worcester, a distance of "a miles,
in four and half hours. He had
relays of fresh horses every six
or ten miles. and made the ride at
night.
In the days when he was post
rider, before he had accumulated
sufficient funds to buy an interest
in a stage coach line, he once slept
In his clothes, including buckSkin
underwear, in the American House
in Worcester for a week, waiting
for dispatches from British steam
ers. He also had men and fresh
horses waiting the entire week
along the road to Norwich, Conn.
When the boats arrived, Twitch-
ell mounted his horse and started
for Norwich. He met the boat. and
delivered the dispatches in New
York hours ahead of any other post
line.
Ginery Twitchell was a great fav-
orite with those who rode with him,
and the seat beside the driver was
eagerly We'd for, even in bad wealth
er. He had an ineXhaustible fund
,f 80 inI hn
galed his acquaintances. The peo-
pie along his post and stage routes
trusted him with their business
commissions, and he performed a
service similar to that of the ex-
press companies of today.
After long period of self-denial
in his early days, he bought stage
coach and two horses from a Mr..
Stockwell, and established a stage
line between BrattlebOro and
Worcester. In 1S43 he owned and
operated line between Barre and
Worcester. and later established a
stage line from Greenfield to Brat
tlebOrO.
In that year the postmaster gen
eral at Washington advertised for
contracts to carry the mail and
Twitchell, instead of bidding for one
route, went to Washington and OBJ
tanned several. Within a short time
he was the largest stage operator
in New England, owning a large
number of fine stage lines and
coaches.
One Of his feats was driving a
coach from Worcester, Mass, to
Hartford, Conn, a distance of 60
miles, in hours and 20 minutes,
through deep snow. That was on
January %, 1916.
When the railroads came, Twitch-
ell turned to the new mode of trans
portation, and became first presi-
dent of the Boston & Western rail
road.
90. 1881. Western Newspa per Union.)