The Passing of a Big Bend Pioneer
Daniel Twinning, a Welsh immigrant and early homesteader, returns to his final resting place in Paradise Valley.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The subject of this sketch passed away last Saturday morning, May 27, at Bell, California. He had been in poor health for a number of years, suffering from asthma. Mr. Twinning was born in the County of Pembroke, Wales, Oct. 20, 1854, and emigrated to this country about thirty-four years ago. In the winter of 1888, he married Miss Anna Howells, and they lived in the vicinity of Coulee City until January 1903, when she died, leaving him with five children. As a man, Mr. Twinning did not try to imitate anyone. He was an experienced sailor and mechanic, but he was most adapted to handling stock and farming, and he succeeded in improving horses. Mr. Twinning was a pioneer in the Big Bend and filed on a homestead about the year 1884. His remains were shipped here to be interred beside his wife in Paradise Valley Cemetery. The funeral was held today before a large number of friends.
“The old timers cannot forget him as a neighbor, associate and friend.”
The death of a pioneer homesteader in 1916 marks the end of an era for the Big Bend region, where agricultural legacies defined the landscape. Today, Paradise Valley remains a quiet testament to these original homestead families, though the farming methods they established have evolved into modern industrial operations.
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