Career
Twilight studied for the ministry with the Congregational Church and served several Congregational churches. His career was in ministry and education, fields which were considered closely allied at the time. His first job was teaching in Peru, New York.
While continuing to teach, Twilight studied theology, the church and the ministry. He occasionally led worship services and preached. The Champlain Presbytery of Plattsburgh licensed him to preach.
Twilight taught for four years in Peru, then moved to Vergennes, Vermont in 1828 to teach during the week and hold services on weekends in Waltham and Ferrisburg.
In 1829 Twilight was hired as principal of the Orleans County, Vermont Grammar School in Brownington, the only secondary school in a two-county area. He also served as minister of the Congregational Church, building a house for his family shortly after arrival, which still stands.
Wanting to ensure a place for students from out of town, from 1834-1836 Twilight designed, raised funds for, and had built a massive four-story granite building which he called Athenian Hall. The first granite public building in Vermont, it served as a dormitory for the co-educational school, also known as the Brownington Academy. Both buildings are today part of a recognized historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
In 1836, Twilight was elected to the Vermont General Assembly, becoming the first African American to be elected to a state legislature.
He left his job as headmaster in 1847.
After his death on June 19, 1857, Twilight was buried in the churchyard in Brownington.
Read more about this topic: Alexander Twilight
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