William Twine
*William Twine was born on this date in 1864. He was a Black lawyer and newspaper publisher.
William Henry Twine was born a freedman in Richmond, Kentucky. His father, Thomas J. Twine, was a wheelwright and former slave of mixed Black and Native American ancestry; his mother, Lizzie Twine, was an African woman. Twine settled a homestead in Oklahoma Territory in September 1891. He was the first African American permitted to practice law in the Indian Territory. As an attorney, he defended Black clients and often slept at the jail on occasion to help deter lynchings.
The modern town of Taft, Oklahoma, was initially named Twine in his honor. Twine moved to Texas, where he was admitted to the bar. From 1898 to 1904, he edited the Pioneer Paper in Texas. He published the Muskogee Cimeter from 1904 to 1921. The publication was aligned with the Republican Party and reported on political matters about the Black community.
Twine retired from the publishing industry in 1921 but continued his law practice. He died on October 8, 1933, in Muskogee. His sons were Henry Twine and Pliny Twine.
