Their home at Hatfield, Mass. was attacked Sept. l677 by Indians.Obadiah & children were captured & Sarah left for dead. Obadiah was later ransomed, returned and married l692 Mehitable Hinsdale of Hadley, Mass. They had 4 children.
Sources:
CONNECTICUT GENEALOGY
HISTORY AND GENEALOGY OF THE FAMILIES OF OLD FAIRFIELD
TRILOGY
WILLIAM BEARDSLEY OF STRATFORD, CONNECTICUT
Resided at Danbury. Represented the Colonial Legislature. Had at least 6 sons & l daughter.
Sources:
HISTORY AND GENEALOGY OF THE FAMILIES OF OLD FAIRFIELD
IMMIGRANTS TO AMERICAN BEFORE l750
In 1831 Ephraim and two others became the first settlers of Spring Creek, McDonough County, Illinois. Ephraim's brothers William and Joshua followed soon after. Louisa, Maruah, and Mary Polly, his sisters, came later. In 1839, Ephraim is listed by the county commissioner as a guardian for a pauper in the county. In the spring of 1842, Ephraim and Phebe joined the Mormom church. It is not clear when they moved to Nauvoo, Illinois, but it could have been as early as 1844 the date of a patriarchal blessing given to Ephraim's daughter. Ephraim was an Elder in the church and was President of the Branch in San Juan Bautista. They held services in Joshua's home, as he had a large home. In 1856 Ephraim moved to San Bernadino, CA. While in California, Ephraim, Anciel, and son-in-law James Monroe Puffer, purchased a Spanish or Mexican land grant in the vicinity of San Bernadino, which they lost as they could not pay for it. The Twitchell reservoir south of San Luis Obispo, CA is named in their honor. They worked the gold fields near Sacramento for about eight years afterwhich they returned to Utah, settling in Beaver County. Ephraim served in the Black Hawk War in the command of Captain Hunt. He became presiding elder of the church at Indian Creek, Utah. Ephraim helped raise an Indian boy who was left an orphan due to a massacre. The indian boy named Nephi Burton later married Ephraim's daughter Olive.
The above is taken from a written account of the Twitchell trip with the Mormons to California & then Utah. Also the statement "Ephraim & 2 others became the first settlers of Spring Creek, McDonough Co., Ill." refers to Ephraim & his 2 brothers William & Joshua.
DEEDS
Meigs County Deed Index, Pre-1830
This page contains a index to the pre-1830 deeds of Meigs County. These entries were transcribed from a microfilm copy of volume 1 of the original deed index books (LDS film #), and are listed in alphabetical order by grantor.VOL PG ACRES LOT LOT NO COMMENTS
494 Feb 28, 1828 Twitchell, Ephraim & wife Twitchell, Wm. 2 507 80 640 5
505 Jan 15, 1824 Twitchell, Wm. Twitchell, Ephraim 2 141 80 640 5PUBLIC DOMAIN LAND RECORDS
Purchaser: TWITCHELL EPHRAIMLegal Description:
Aliquot Parts or Lot: N2NE
Section Number: 04
Township: 06N
Range: 03W
Meridan: 4
County of Purchase: MCDONOUGH
Details of Sale:
Acres: 69.57
Price per Acre: 1.25
Total Price: 86.96
Type of Sale: FD
Date of Purchase: 06/08/1835
Volume: 698
Page: 106Legal Description:
Aliquot Parts or Lot: N2NW
Section Number: 04
Township: 06N
Range: 03W
Meridan: 4
County of Purchase: MCDONOUGH
Details of Sale:
Acres: 71.60
Price per Acre: 1.25
Total Price: 89.50
Type of Sale: FD
Date of Purchase: 06/08/1835
Volume: 698
Page: 106SOURCES
For additional interesting information on Ephraim & his journey west to California see the following website.
A JOURNEY BACK IN TIME
Meigs County, Ohio Deeds
1840 McDonough Co., Ill. Census
US Public Domain Land Records McDonough Co., Ill.
http://www.geocities.com/heartland/valley/6368/Almond/EphraimTwitchellhistory.html