16 Facts About Joseph Twichell

Reverend Joseph Hopkins Twichell was a writer and Congregational minister from Hartford, Connecticut.

Joseph Twichell was a close friend of writer Mark Twain for over forty years and is believed to be the model for the character "Harris" in A Tramp Abroad.

Twain and Twichell met at a church social after the Civil War when Twichell was pastor of Asylum Hill Congregational Church in Hartford, where he served for almost 50 years.

Joseph Twichell counseled the author on literary as well as personal matters for the rest of his life.

Joseph Twichell was born in Southington, Connecticut, to Edward Joseph Twichell and Selina Delight Carter.

Joseph Twichell attended the Lewis Academy in Southington and studied at Yale from 1855 to 1859.

Joseph Twichell rowed on the Yale crew the first time that Yale defeated Harvard.

From 1859 to 1861, Joseph Twichell attended Union Theological Seminary, New York City but left to join the Union Army when the Civil War began.

In 1861 when the American Civil War broke out, Joseph Twichell was still attending Union Theological Seminary, and was not yet ordained.

Joseph Twichell became pastor at the Asylum Hill Congregational Church in Hartford, Connecticut at the recommendation of Horace Bushnell.

Joseph Twichell met author Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, in October 1868 and they formed a deep friendship.

In 1871, Joseph Twichell became a supporter of the Chinese Educational Mission which was supervised by Yung Wing.

In 1874, Joseph Twichell accompanied Yung Wing to Peru to investigate the living conditions of Chinese citizens working there.

Joseph Twichell encouraged Clemens to write about his piloting career on the Mississippi River, as he had told the minister many stories from that time.

Clemens and Joseph Twichell undertook a walking trip of over 100 miles to Boston in 1874.

Joseph Twichell married Julia Harmony Cushman in November 1865 and together they had nine children.