Twohy Family Obelisk - Spokane, WA
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T0SHEA
N 47° 42.391 W 117° 29.323
11T E 463337 N 5283797
This obelisk-headstone is one of several in the Fairmount Cemetery in Spokane. Adjacent to the Spokane River, the cemetery is on the western edge of the city.
Waymark Code: WMJMD9
Location: Washington, United States
Date Posted: 12/03/2013
Views: 2
This obelisk was erected in memory of the Twohy family, three brothers of which were rather better known than most in this cemetery, as they eventually became successful railroad contractors. The company they founded became a successful railroad car manufacturer, though two of the brothers, Denis and James, died relatively young.
The Twohy brothere, Denis, James and John, came to the Spokane Falls area from Minnesota in the 1890s.
The original Twohy brothers were John W. (1854-1927), James C. (1856-1908) and Dennis D. (1859-1909 ), sons of John and Lucy Twohy who had emigrated from Ireland in 1845. After various jobs and enterprises, in the early 1890s, James and Dennis successfully established themselves as Twohy Brothers Railroad Contractors at Helena, Montana. About 1898, their brother John, after a 15-year career as attorney and judge decided to join them, now at Spokane, Washington.
During the next 10 years, the company was quite successful at building railroads in the Pacific Northwest, and several other family members became a part of it. But in 1908 James—and in 1909 Dennis—died, leaving “Judge” John to carry on. On 25 January 1910 he reorganized the business as Twohy Brothers Company, Inc., an Oregon corporation, with himself as President and his sons John D. (1885-1930) and James F. (1889-1976) as Vice-President/General Manager and Secretary/Treasurer respectively.
From midcontinent.org
The company went on to become a successful builder of railroad cars in Portland as the Pacific Car & Foundry Company.