Russell Peter Twist born July, 1827 at Eden, New York and lived in Ohio from 1835-1871. In 1871 he moved to Tiblow, Kansas, located in Delaware Township, Wyandotte County, where he lived for the rest of his life.

Twist had a varied career; from 1854-1861 he was the exclusive dealer for the Davis Adjustable Churn and Butter Works in Iowa and all but two counties in Illinois. In 1861 he joined Company E of the 16th Ohio Volunteers and served three months before recruiting men for the 16th Ohio Battery, in which he served as a first lieutenant and later as a captain.

Following his discharge from service in 1865, Twist used his land for pasturing cattle. After his move to Kansas in 1871, he engaged in construction and farming and growing apples on a 160 acre farm at Tiblow until his death on August 8, 1906 at Bonner Springs, Kansas.

Twist was fairly active in politics in addition to his business activity, helping to establish the Sub Alliance, a division of Farmer's Alliance in Wyandotte County. He was elected alternate delegate to the Greenback Labor Party convention held at Topeka in 1880, and also served as District Clerk of School District number 35 in Wyandotte County in 1873.