White Bluffs spokesman. [volume] (White Bluffs, Wash.) 1907-1938, 1931-11-26
|STAGE COACH
! TALES
by E. C. TAYLOR
From Stage Driver to Railroad
President a

From Stage Driver to Railroad
President
THE Hon. Ginery Twitchell rose
4 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 q mem.
Der of congress.
Many New England child, hearing
the cry of "Ginery's coming! Ginery's
conling!" and probably wondering
what "ginery" was, watched with
delight as great stage coach with
six prancing reeking, foaming horses
came to a stop in front Of the Bay
state house, in Boston, or the taverns
of Worcester, Mass, or Brattleboro,
| Vt ae
Seated atop the magnificent vehicle
was dignified, selfcontained man,
ruddy of face, his stout body swathed
in heavy greatcoat and on his head
a tall silk hat. Ginery Twitchell would
sit erect on the coachman's seat,
gather the reins well in hand and
suddenly be off with great rattle of
wheels and blowing of horns.
Ginery Twitchell was called "Hon-
orable" even then. Probably it was
because Of his vast reputation for
integrity, and probably also because
he was an inveterate politician, and
always had a finger in the political
maneuverings and plottings of his
part of New England.
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 &C.
casionally getting new coat Of var
nish. 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, IL inside and
20 outside.
1t once carried g. 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 election
votes on horseback, and once rode
from Greenfield, Mass, to Worcester,
.l:c
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 suf-
ficient funds to buy an interest in
stage coach line, he once slept in his
clothes, including buckskin under
wear, in the American House in Wor-
cester for week, waiting for des-
patches from British steamers. He
also had men and fresh horses wait
ing the entire week along the road
to Norwich, Conn.
| When the boats arrived, Twitchell
mounted his horse and started for
| Norwich. He met the boat, and de
livered the dispatches in New York
hours ahead Of any other post line.
Ginery Twitchell was 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. lie had an ine1haustible fund
Of racy anecdotes with which he re-
called his acquaintance The people
along his post and stage routes trust
ed him with their business commits
sions, and he performed service
similar to that of the express COM
panies Of today.
After a 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 Worces-
ter. In 1913 he owned and oper-
ated line between Barre and Worces-
ter, and later established a stage
line from Greenfield to Brattleboro.
In that year the postmaster general
at Washington advertised for con-
tracts to carry the mail and Twit-
chell, instead of bidding for one route
went to Washington and obtained sew
eral. Within short time he was the
largest stage operator in New Eng
land, owning large number of fine
stage lines and coaches.
One Of his feats was driving a
coach from Worcester, Mass, to Hart
ford Conn. distance of 60 miles,
in 3 hours and 20 minutes, through
deep snow. That was on January %,
1916.
When the railroads came, Twitchell
turned to the new mode Of transpor.
tation, and became first president of
tho Roston 81 Western railroad