JOHN TWIST.
Among the citizens of Melville township, this county, who have built up comfortable homes and surrounded themselves with real and personal prosperity, none has attained a higher degree of success than John Twist. With few opportunities except those his own efforts were capable of mastering, and with many discouragements to overcome, he has made an exceptional success of life, and has the gratification of knowing that the community in which he has resided has been benefited by his presence and counsels.
John Twist was born in England on November 26, 1862, a son of William and Mary (Green) Twist, whose lives were spent in England, their native country. William Twist was a bricklayer by trade, which occupation he followed all his life.
John Twist came to America just after he had reached his majority. He was married in 1882, after which he came to the United States, arriving here on Christmas eve, 1883. He proceeded at once to Illinois and settled at Port Byron, where he hved for ten years, farming on land rented for that purpose. In 1896 he came to Iowa, and rented a farm in Greeley township, this county. By dint of patient industry and economy he was enabled to buy some land with the savings which he had accumulated, and in October, 1906, purchased three hundred and twenty acres, for which he agreed to pay the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars. Mr. Twist has made many improvements on the land, erecting corn cribs and other outbuildings, and now has a model farm in every respect, the farm having greatly increased in value since it has been in his possession. The land is in the famed corn belt of Iowa, and Mr. Twist ordinarily raises one hundred and twenty acres of corn annually, this acreage yielding more than fiftv bushels to the acre. Mr. Twist feeds from sixty to seventy head of cattle each year, and from one hundred and seventy-five to two hundred head of hogs annually for the markets. Thus it is apparent that he is one of the largest farmers in Melville township, as well as one of the foremost citizens thereof, and has had much to do with the material progress of the county since coming here.
On January 27, 1882, John Twist was married to Emma Jane Wright, daughter of Samuel and Jane Wright, both natives of England. Mrs. Twist was born in England on October 15, 1865, and her marriage took place in that country. John Twist and wife are the parents of the following children: Robert, of Audubon, Iowa; Margaret, the wife of Jason Jones, of Audubon; Earl, a farmer of Melville township, and William, Nellie, Benjamin, Ivan and Ruth, who are still living under the parental roof. Robert Twist married Zena May Carter, and they have three children, Merle Emma, Helen Lucile and Veda May. Mrs. Margaret Jones has two children, Evelyn Beatrice and Bernice Olivene. Nellie Twist married Lona Peppers and has one child, Sherman.
John Twist, judged from any standpoint, is a self-made man. He is well informed, few farmers in the county having a wider fund of information. He considers himself an independent voter, but is a keen admirer of Colonel Roosevelt, and is inclined to endorse the principles and measures announced by the Progressive party. Personally, few men are more sociable and hospitable than John Twist, and few men are more richly deserving the confidence and respect of their fellow citizens than he.
Mr. and Mrs. Twist and family are earnest and faithful members of the Evangelical church; actively interested in the affairs of that denomination, and are liberal contributors to its support.
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Transcribed by Cheryl Siebrass, September, 2019 from History of Audubon County, Iowa Its People, Industries and Institutions With Biographical Sketches of Representative Citizens and Genealogical Records of Many of the Old Families, by H. F. Andrews, editor, Indianapolis: B. F. Bowen & Company, 1915, pp. 549-550.
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