Twitchell was born in Vermont and served during the Civil War in the Vermont Infantry and as a captain in the 109th Colored Infantry. After the war he settled in Louisiana as a planter. He attended the 1876 Constitutional Convention, later became the leader of the Republican Party in the state, and in 1871 was elected to the state senate. Because he was a black sympathizer, the Ku-Klux Klan attempted to kill him in 1868 and again in 1876; during the second attempt he was badly wounded and both arms were amputated. His life in danger, he returned to Vermont. In 1878 he was appointed U.S. Consulat at Kingston, Canada, a post he held until his death.
From the description of Autobiography, 1876. (Indiana Historical Society Library). WorldCat record id: 19771598
