Alexander Twilight

Alexander's father, Ichabod, was born in Boston, July 1765. Ichabod's father was black, his mother, white, possibly an indentured servant. Eventually, Ichabod married Mary, described as 'white' or 'light-skinned,' implying she was of partial African descent. Ichabod and Mary were free and mixed race, of African and English descent. It is unknown if they were born free; they were likely descendants of enslaved Africans and English settlers. Ichabod was a Revolutionary War veteran from New Hampshire. His parents were both listed in the Corinth, Vermont town history as "the first negroes to settle in Corinth where they bought property, moving from Bradford on November 28, 1798. ==Early life and education==

Alexander Lucius Twilight was born September 23, 1795, in Bradford, Vermont. Starting around 1802 when he was eight years old, Twilight worked for a neighboring farmer in Corinth. Twilight enrolled in Randolph's Orange County Grammar School in 1815 at the age of 20. ==Career==

Twilight's first job was teaching in Peru, New York. Wanting to create a residence dormitory to accommodate out of town students, from 1834 to 1836, Twilight designed, raised funds for, and had built a massive four-story granite building which he called Athenian Hall. In 1836, Twilight was elected to the newly established Vermont House of Representatives (Vermont's legislature was unicameral, consisting only of the House until 1836), becoming the first African American to be elected to a state legislature. As a member of the House, he worked unsuccessfully to persuade the Vermont General Assembly not to divide school funding between Brownington and nearby Craftsbury, which had decided to open its own school. He left his job as headmaster in 1847, apparently after a falling out with the Brownington school's trustees. He taught school in Shipton and Hatley, Quebec. Without Twilight's leadership, the school in Brownington experienced declining enrollment, and it was closed in 1852. Persuaded to return to Brownington, Twilight resumed his duties as principal and pastor. He resigned as pastor in 1853, and continued as principal until 1855. ==Death and burial==

In October 1855, Twilight suffered a stroke which left him partially paralyzed and caused him to retire as principal of the Brownington school. He died on June 19, 1857, and was buried at the Congregational church in Brownington. ==Marriage and family==

In 1826, Twilight married Mercy Ladd Merrill of Unity, New Hampshire. They remained married until his death, and had no children. Mercy Twilight died in 1878. ==Legacy and honors==

• Alexander Twilight House (1830), still stands across the street from Athenian Hall. Today it serves as headquarters for the Orleans County Historical Society. It is within the Historic District listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). • Athenian Hall (1834–36) is now operated by the Orleans County Historical Society as the Old Stone House Museum, and anchors the Historic District of Brownington. It was the first granite public building in Vermont. • The Twilight Awards, a special awards show to celebrate teachers, schools and education nonprofits were named for Twilight. • Howard Frank Mosher wrote about the Stone House in Vermont Life Magazine, Autumn 1996: I like the way the Stone House still looms up on that hilltop, where the wind blows all the time. There it sits, unshaken and monolithic, as I write this sentence and as you read it, every bit as astonishing today as the day it was completed. What a tribute to the faith of its creator, the Reverend Alexander Twilight: scholar, husband, teacher, preacher, legislator, father-away-from-home to nearly 3,000 boys and girls, an African American and a Vermonter of great vision, whose remains today lie buried in the church-yard just up the maple-lined dirt road from his granite school, in what surely was, and still is, one of the last best places anywhere. • An official portrait of Alexander Twilight hangs in the Vermont State House. == See also ==