FAMILY
HISTORY
Recent
Family Findings: Elisabeth
Kenneday
James Regan and Tabitha Twidwell Regan
Map
- Twidwell/Wayman Land in North Carolina 
Obediah
and Thomas Twidwell Land in North Carolina
Origin
of the Twidwell Surname & Early
Twidwell Records
Family research indicates that the Twidwell surname may be
connected to a spring called TWEEDS WELL, the source of the Tweed
River
which flows through southeast
Scotland
and northern
England. Although the exact spelling of our surname does not appear in primary sources,
the surname Tweeddale and variants of Tweeddale do appear. Tweeddale is also a
designation for the Tweed
River Valley
in Scotland. Various sources mention variants of the name Tweeddale:
Tweedale, Tweedell, Tweedle, Twaddle, Twadle, Twadell, Twidale,
Twidle, Twidell. There is evidence that all of these names are from the same source,
an ancient
Peebleshire,
Scotland
family of Boernician origin.
Before last names came into common use, circa 1120 to 1300,
people with surnames originating from place-names were often identified, for
example, as
"John
of Tweeds Well". The name could have evolved into: John Tweedwell.
The earliest record found of the exact spelling of our
surname is a record of christening of Mary Twidwell, daughter of John and Mary
Twidwell,
at St. Giles Cripplegate Church at
London
in 1656. According to legend, a man in Scotland, with given name John,
went to England
to live and marry an English lady (Mary Hightower). First he had to get
permission from the Earl of Hay. When he went to
England, his surname came to be spelled Twidwell. This could be the John and Mary Twidwell whose
daughter was christened at St. Giles Cripplegate in 1656.
Early records of our family in the
United States
start in the mid-1700’s. The Pittsylvania County, Virginia, Tithable Lists
include: W. Tredwell (1767); George and Wm Tweedwell (1770); George and Wm
Tweedwell (1773); Wm and George Tweedwell (1774); George Tweedwell (1775); and George Tweedwell (1776).
A record of a William Twidwell
is found in 1750 in Halifax County,
Virginia, when he purchased land. Also in
Halifax County, William Sampson
made a will Sept. 27, 1800
, where he mentions a daughter Mary Twidwell and a grandson George.
Mary Sampson Twidwell's brother, Francis, was born in 1747. Mary was, in all probability, married to a
William Twidwell Jr., born about the
same time as Francis Sampson. In Halifax County,
Virginia, the marriages of William
and George Twidwell are recorded in 1788 and 1800 respectively.
William was probably William Sampson
Twidwell.
The signature of William Tweedell appears on the
"Ten-Thousand Name" petition, presented during the first General
Assembly session on
October 16, 1776
. The petition asked for disestablishment of the Church of England as well as
religious equality. It consisted of 125 pages sewn or joined together with wax
seals, and was signed by an unprecedented ten thousand Virginia
citizens. With other petitions, this enormous manuscript began the debate over
the relationship of church and state in Virginia.
In
Rowan County, North Carolina, a William Twidwell is found in the 1800 and 1810
census. In the 1820 census, Obediah
Twidwell
is found.
George Twidwell moved to Rowan Co.,
North Carolina in 1822, according
to members of that family.
Our
documented family history begins with two Twidwells who came west from
North Carolina, Thomas and Obediah. Thomas Twidwell settled in Illinois;
Obediah in Missouri. Family researchers believe the father of
Thomas Twidwell
died when he was very young, so he was reared by his grandfather, George
Twidwell, in Georgia. George Twidwell was the son of Mary Sampson Twidwell
and the grandson of William Sampson and Jenny.
We do not know Thomas’ mother’s name.
However, we believe that William Twidwell, the emigrant, was the husband of Mary Sampson
. Obediah Twidwell may have been Thomas’ brother, but recent evidence
indicates he may have been his uncle.
