On November 12, 2025, Kip inspected the original manuscript of the 1929 Twitchell Genealogy, written by Ralph Emerson Twitchell (1859–1925). What follows is a summary of events that led to the University of Utah Marriott Library Special Collections having the manuscript and Kips assessment to the librarian during his visit.
Ralph Emerson Twitchell (RET) was a prolific writer and historian. He spent most of his life living in Santa Fe, New Mexico. His two volume opus on the history of the State of New Mexico is considered the definitive work on the subject. While he wrote many other things, served as a Colonial in the State militia and in other positions, he produced the most influential and comprehensive book on Twitchell’s.
At publication in 1929, a few years after his death, it was a significant compilation of all known Twitchell’s in the US, all descended from a common ancestor. Although he admitted he was not able to gather perfect data (in most respects due to lack of responses from others), it has served as the touchstone for Twitchell genealogy for a century despite the errors.
After RETs death, his collaborator Herbert Kenaston Twitchell (1865–1928) published the book. Decades later Henry Dale Twitchell Jr. (1921–1995) attempted to update the book, correcting mistakes and including current families. He collaborated with Robert “Bob” Mack Twitchell (1925–2015 Chad and Kip’s father)—who inherited his grandfather’s copy of the original book—and Brent Lynn Twitchell (1949–2007).
Around the time of the collaboration, the manuscript of the book was found in the Albuquerque Public Library, Special Collections branch by Chad’s friend Gail Rasmussen. She expressed a preference to having a bound version, rather than the two volume manuscript to save shelf space. Bob and Henry had reprinted and distributed numerous copies of the original book, and provide one to the library in exchange for the original manuscript. Bob then donated the manuscript to the U of U Marriott Library special collections where Kip inspected it in November 2025.
The donated materials at the U of U contain two copies of the book. In the Albuquerque Public Library they were bound in a hard cover expandable binding, now housed in file boxes. Each page is typed on one side.
Box 1 is likely the final manuscript used for printing, as it contains an index. Box 2 is the pre-publication manuscript, written on various recycled papers from his office in New Mexico like the back side of Railroad letterhead and any other paper available to him. It is much longer (over 800 pages rather than 500+), but perhaps only because of formatting changes. The images attached are Ralph’s description of himself in what appears to be the pre-publication manuscript.
It was a privilege to view these pages, and have a sense of the massive undertaking this book was. The name of Ralph Emerson Twitchell has been, and will continue to be remembered for generations because of it.
Twitchell Ancestry 
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