Birthday Present for Joseph Twichell: A House!

The house was presented to Twichell free of all encumbrances and insured for three years.

The total gift was the house, $10,000 for improvements, and three years of insurance on the house, but the article also describes the parishioners’ gift as “above the cost of the house” and as “the additional amount.”  I have taken this to mean the church paid the $6,000 and the parishioners then contributed $10,000 above that.

1. “Mr. Twichell was taken altogether unprepared, and was totally unable to express his gratitude in words. ‘His first remarks,’ said on of the gentlemen who were present, ‘were a series of exclamation points.’”
2. “Mr. Twichell’s many friends have been agitating the subject for some weeks, in a quiet way, and, owing to the strong attachment felt by Mr. and Mrs. Twichell for their home, a gift from his people could not have taken a more acceptable shape.”
3. "The dimensions of the lot are 100x250 feet, and the property is situated in one of the most desirable portions of the city."

The house in question was located at 125 Woodland Street.  It is now a parking garage for Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center.

Unattributed, “Mr. Twichell Surprised,” Hartford Courant, May 28, 1888, page 8.