Genealogical and family history of the state of New Hampshire : a record of the achievements of her people in the making of a commonwealth and the founding of a nation, Vol. I, Part 24

Author: Stearns, Ezra S; Whitcher, William F. (William Frederick), 1845-1918; Parker, Edward E. (Edward Everett), 1842-1923
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: New York : Lewis Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 858

USA > New Hampshire > Genealogical and family history of the state of New Hampshire : a record of the achievements of her people in the making of a commonwealth and the founding of a nation, Vol. I > Part 24

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(VIII) Augustus Joshua, son of Joshua (2) and Theodatha B. ( Pillsbury) Hoitt, was born in Northwood, New Hampshire, December 18, 18.45, and educated in the common schools. September 26, ISOI, he enlisted in Company A, and was mus- tered into the United States service as a private, October 12, 1861. He re-enlisted and was mis- tered in January 1, 1864, and was wounded at Cold Harbor, Virginia, June 3, 1864. He was appointed captain of Company I, October 28, 1864, and mus- tered out June 28, 1865. He served through the war, participating in sixteen battles, and at the sur- render of General Lee at Appomattox, the regi- mental commander being absent, he, as the senior captain in point of service, took command of the regiment, and brought it to Washington, where it participated in the "Grand Review" by the general officers. On leaving the army Captain Iloitt settled in Lynn, Massachusetts. On account of his fitness and also on account of his war record, he was place in various responsible offices. He was elected to the common council, was city marshal two years, was appointed postmaster of Lynn by President Harrison, and was appointed by President Mc- Kinley, July, 1898, pension agent for the states of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, which position he has ever since filled. He also has charge of the payment of all naval pensions in New England, annually disbursing the sum of eight mil- lion dollars. Captain Hoitt's career has been active, prolonged and useful, and by his honorable conduct in the discharge of his duties and his affable and genial manner, he has surrounded himself by a large circle of admiring friends. It goes without saying that he is a lifelong Republican. In re- ligion he is a member of the First Universalist parish of Lynn. He is active in Grand Army circles, and has been commander of General Lander Post, No. 5, of Lynn, three times, and he was for- merly commander of Post No. 26. Department of Vermont, at Bennington, in which place he resided for a short time. He married Augusta Howard, daughter of Alfred P. Howard, of North Benning- ton, Vermont. They lost two children as infants,

(III) Joseph, fifth child and third son of John (2) and Mary (Barnes) Hoyt, was born July 14,

1666, and died intestate in 1719 or 1720. He was chosen tithingman, March 9, 1710; selectman, 1712; and a member of the grand jury, 1713. He probably lived on the homestead of his grandfather John (1) Hoyt, somewhere near the Powwow river. His widow's third included the house and one acre of land on the west side of the country road, land on the Powwow, six acres at "Lyon's Mouth," on the Powwow, and other land. The inventory of his estate amounted to three hundred seventeen pounds and twelve shillings. He married, October 5. 1702, Dorothy Worthen, who married Daniel Flanders, in 1724. The children of Joseph and Dorothy were : John, Mehetable, Joseph, Ezekiel, Judith, Nathan, Moses and Dorothy.

(IV) John, eldest child of Joseph and Dorothy ( Worthen) Hoyt, was born July 2, 1703, and died intestate, in South Hampton, as early as 1754. Hc bought the shares of Mehetable, Joseph, and Dor- othy, in his father's estate. John and wife Mary, were dismissed from the First Church in Ames- bury (East Parish) to the South Hampton Church, March 18, 1744. His children were all born in Amesbury, except possibly the youngest. The in- ventory of his estate was dated April 19, 1754. He married, December 15, 1726, Mary Eastman, of Salisbury, and they had seven children: Joseph, Jolın, Jonathan, David, Benjamin, Samuel and East- man (the last two and descendants receive further mention in this article).

(V) Captain Joseph (2), eldest child of John and Mary (Eastman) Hoyt, was born at Lyon's Mouth, 1727, and died about 1808. As early as 1752 he was living in that part of Brentwood, New Hampshire, incorporated as Poplin in 1764. He was taxed in Poplin as late as 1772, out very soon afterward removed to Grafton, where he was one of the earliest settlers. Tradition says that the first orchard set out in Grafton consisted of one hundred trees carried there from Poplin by Joseph's wife. It as said that Joseph raised twenty men, and went as captain, when the Indians burned Royalton, but did not reach the place. He paid all the expenses himself, but when his son Ebenezer was a member of the legislature. the money was refunded. An old arm chair, silver shoe buckles, and several other ancient relics, some of which are said to have been brought from England, are pre- served in the family. It will be seen that he was the oldest son of the oldest son of Joseph (3), and as Joseph (3) probably occupied the homestead of John, the immigrant, it is possible some of these things may have been quite ancient. He married ( first) Saralı Collins, and (second) Widow Ruth (Clough) Brown, of Poplin. His children, all by the first wife, were: Elizabeth, John, Joseph, Ebenezer, Sarah, Apphia, Dorothy and Jerusha.

(VI) Joseph (3), third child and second son of Captain Joseph and Sarah ( Collins) Hoyt, was born October 11, 1754, and died April 8, 1801. Hc lived in Grafton until about 1800, then removed to Bolton, Lower Canada. He married. August 1I, 1774, Mary Cass, died February 2, 181. and they were the parents of fifteen children: Joseph, Han- nalı, Polly, Benjamin. Ebenezer, Chandler, Sarah, Nason, John, Samuel, Amher-t, Dorothy, Moses Lewis, Asa and Sherburn.

(VII) Amherst, eleventh child and eighth son of Joseph (3) and Mary ( Cass) Hoyt, born July 12, 1789, and died in 1852, removed to Missouri in 1850. Ile married Sarah Chapman, who died in 1851. Their children were: Washington, Am- herst, Joseph, Sarah, Stephen, Susan, Amos, Asaliel and Hazen.

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(VIII) Joseph (4), third son and child of Am- herst and Sarah (Chapman) Hoyt, was born Au- gust 3, 1817. He had a large amount of land, and was a wealthy farmer in Magog, Province of Que- bec. He married, June 21, 1840, Susan Currier, daughter of Henry Currier, and they had five chil- dren, all born in Magog: Wallace N., Ahvilda A., Arreta F., Alfaretta J. and Adrian Hazen, next mentioned.

(IX) Adrian Hazen Hoyt, M. D., youngest child of Joseph (4) and Susan ( Currier ). Hoyt, born at Magog, Province of Quebec, March 7, 1862, at- tended the public schools of his native town, and the business college of Davis and Dewie in Mont- real, and subsequently matriculated at Dartmouth College, from which he was graduated with the class of 1887, with the degree of M. D. Returning to Magog he began the practice of his profession there, but finding it not congenial to his bent of mind, he went to St. Johnsbury, Vermont, where he entered the employ of the Standard Electric Com- pany. A year and a half later he removed to Man- chester, New Hampshire, and engaged in electrical experimental work for several years. Later he ac- cepted the position of manager of the Whitney Electrical Instrument Company, when it began to operate in Manchester, and when it removed to Penacook he continued as superintendent and man- ager of the company, filling those positions until 1905. In that year he built his present residence in Penacook, and engaged in business for himself. He has since erected a shop and employs a number of mechanics in the manufacture of electrical instru- ments and automobiles, and in doing repair work. In addition to his other work, in the year 1905 he was instructor in manual training and electrics in St. Paul's School. Dr. Hoyt displays the same energy and enthusiasm in his industrial employ- ment and in inventing, that his forefathers, "the fighting Hoyts," did in subduing the wilderness, and carrying on war against the enemies of their country. He has secured twenty-five or more pat- ents on electrical measuring instruments and scien- tific apparatus. A number of these devices are used in the construction of automobiles, in which Dr. Hoyt has always taken a deep interest, he be- ing the first owner and user of an automobile in the state of New Hampshire. He is the inventor of the alternating current ammeter, and was one of the first in America to make practical use of the X-ray. He is a member of the Methodist Church, and votes the Republican ticket. He is also a mem- ber of Contoocook Lodge, No. 26, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; of Hannah Dustin Rebekah Lodge, and a thirty-second degree Mason, having received the degrees of both the Scottish Rites and the Kinghts Templar.

He married, in Magog, Province of Quebec, June 13, 1887, Lizzie C. Schedrick, born at Magog, November 28, 1868, daughter of Daniel and Almeda Schedrick. They have one child. Wallace, born October 15, 1888, now (1906) a student in the high school.

(V) Samuel, sixth of the seven sons of John and Mary (Eastman) Hoyt, was born in Amesbury, Massachusetts, January 24, 1739-40. He lived in Poplin, now Fremont, New Hampshire, in 1764, and his name appears on the tax list of that town in 1765; but he was living in Chester, New Hamp- shire, in June, 1765. He came to Hopkinton, New Hampshire, as early as February, 1767, where he lived till his death, which occurred November 22, 1821. He was thrice married. His first wife was Joanna Brown, who died January 1, 1778. They

had six children: Jonathan, who moved to Pom- fret, Vermont; Joanna, who married Samuel Blais- dell; Samuel; John, who moved to Canada; and Lydia, who died in 1777, the year of her birthi. His second wife was Mrs. Anna ( Sibley) Stevens, who died September 14, 1792. They had four chil- dren : Lydia, who married Jonathan Bean, of Salis- bury, New Hampshire; Anna, who married Dorcot Paul Tenney, and lived at first in Wilmot, New Hampshire, and then went West; William, who lived in Hopkinton, New Hampshire; and Sarah, who married Jolin Hoit. Samuel Hoyt's third wife, who survived him, was Mrs. Mehetabel Kilborn, of Weare, New Hampshire, who died November 15, 1833. Samuel Hoyt was nearly eighty-two when he died, and he had been a resident of Hopkinton for almost fifty-five years, where his whole married life was spent.

(VI) William, only son and third of the four children of Samuel Hoyt and his second wife, Mrs. Anna (Sibley ) Stevens, was born in Hopkinton, New Hampshire, July 24, 1783. He married Polly French, of Weare, New Hampshire, on February 28, 1805. His home was in Hopkinton, New Hamp- shire, where he died February 19, 1813, before he had completed his thirtieth year. His widow at- terwards married Enoch Hoit, a remote cousin, who spelled his name differently, and moved to Horse Hill, West Concord, New Hampshire, where she died August 2, 1848. William and Polly (French ) Hoyt had five children: Freeman, who went to Sumterville, South Carolina; Sewel, who lived in Concord, New Hampshire; Mary French, who mar- ried a man by the name of Lynam K. Cheney; Wil- liam, who also went to Sumterville; and French, who died young. By her second marriage Mrs. Mary (French) Hoyt (she seems to have dropped the diminutive "Polly" after she became a widow) had nine children: Robert B .; Gilman T., who died at twenty-four; Oliver, who died at twenty-five; and a twin sister who died in babyhood; Priscilla M., who lived to be ten years of age; Rosette and Jennette, another pair of twins; Henriette and a sister who died at birth, the third pair of twins; and Enoch Wyette, who died at the age of five years.

(VII) Sewel Hoit, who spelled his name with an i, after his stepfather's fashion, was the second son and child of William and Mary (French) Hoyt. He was born in Hopkinton, New Hampshire, February 2, 1807. He was twice married. His first wife was Catherine Pillsbury, from that part of Concord, New Hampshire, now called Penacook. She died October 19, 1843, aged twenty-three. There were no children. He married his second wife, Hannah Elizabeth Nichols, daughter of Luther Weston and Hannah (Tompkins) Nichols, at Am- herst, New Hampshire, March 4, 1852. There were two children: An infant, who was born and died in 1856; and Jane Elizabeth, the subject of the succeeding sketch, who was born September 23, 1860.

Mrs. H. Elizabeth (Nichols) Hoit belonged to one of the old New England families. Her grand- father, Timothy Nichols, was third in descent from Richard Nichols, the original immigrant, who came from England to Ipswich, Massachusetts, and later settled in Reading. See Nichols family. (1\') Tim- othy Nichols, Jr., second son and youngest of the three children of Timothy and Mehitabel ( Weston) Nichols, was born in Reading, Massachusetts. February 16, 1756. He was a soldier in the Revo- lution. In the year 1778 a brigade of New Hamp-

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shire militia was sent to Rhode Island under the command of General William Whipple. Colonel Moses Nichols, of Amherst, New Hampshire, com- manded one of the regiments, and Timothy Nichols, Jr., then of Amherst, served in the company com- manded by Captain Josiah Crosby. The latter part of the next year Timothy Nichols, Jr., married Susannah, daughter of Captain Archelaus Towne, of Amherst, New Hampshire. She was born De- cember 29, 1762, and they were married October 21, 1779. They settled in Amherst, but later moved to Norwich, Vermont, where she died December 2, 1840. Mr. Nichols lived till August 22, 1846. They had nine children, two of whom married and went to live in Concord, New Hampshire, where they held leading positions. One of the sons, John Perkins, went to Boston where his son, Dr. Arthur H. Nichols, has been for several years a noted physician. Dr. Nichols' winter home is on Mount Vernon street, but he has a summer place at Cornish, New Hamp- shire, where his daughter, Miss Rose Elizabeth Nichols, has a famous garden. Miss Nichols has travelled and studied much in Europe, and is an authority on landscape gardening. She has re- cently published a book on "Famous Gardens in Europe." The children of Timothy Nichols, Jr., and his wife, Susannah Towne, were: Susannah, who married John Smith, of Bradford, and died without children; Grace Gardner, who married William Low, Jr., lived in Concord, New Hamp- shire, and died without children; Sophia, who mar- ried Deacon Benjamin Damon, Jr., and lived in Concord, New Hampshire; Luther Weston, who is mentioned in the succeeding paragraph; Leonard Towne, who married Fanny Blanchard; Lattin Mor- ris, who married Clarissa Safford; John Perkins, who married May Ann Clark; Robert, who mar- ried Betsey Ainsworth; and Charles, the youngest, who was born December 9, 1808.

(V) Luthier Weston, eldest son and fourth child of Timothy, Jr., and Susannah (Towne) Nichols, was born in Amherst, New Hampshire, April 22, 1789. He married, in Boston, Massachu- setts, July 19, 1812, Hannah Tompkins, seventh of the fourteen children of Gamaliel and Mary (Church) Tompkins, of Little Compton, Rhode Island. She was born April 18, 1790. Luther W. and Hannah (Tompkins) Nichols had four chil- dren : Jane Franklin, born March 12, 1813; Charles Hambleton, born December 31, 1814; Luther Wash- ington, born December 4, 1818; Hannah Elizabeth, born July 12, 1828. Mr. Nichols was for many years a dry goods merchant in Boston, Massachu- setts. His store was in Washington street, and his home from 1832 to 1850 was on Gooch street. In the latter year the family removed to Amherst, New Hampshire, where they lived in a fine old mansion, formerly the Hillsborough County Bank, in which the original formidable safes still remain. Mrs. Hannah (Tompkins) Nichols died December 25, 1852, Her husband subsequently married Mrs. Lucy R. Horne, who lived till June 17, 1878. He died April 9, 1866.

Hannah Elizabeth, youngest of the four chil- dren of Luther Weston and Hannah (Tompkins) Nichols, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, July 12, 1828. Upon her marriage to Sewel Hoit, March 4, 1852, she came to Concord, New Hampshire, to live, and that city was ever after her home save for a few years subsequent to her second marriage when she lived in Marlboro, New Hampshire. Sewel Hoit learned the carpenter's trade, and in early life he located in Concord, where many sub- stantial buildings still testify to the excellence of

his work. About 1840 he built the dignified dwelling on the corner of State and Maple streets which has always remained in the possession of the family and is now the home of his daughter. One of the most important of his works was the building of the third house of worship of the First Congrega- tional Church, or Old North, as it is usually called. This structure was completed in 1842 and stood on the corner of Main and Washington streets until it was destroyed by fire in July, 1873. It was a wooden building, painted white, with pillars in front, and is pleasantly remembered by our older citizens. Mr. Hoit did some farming in later life on a large tract of land which he owned, between what is now the Reservoir and Bradley street. Ile was a Republican in politics, and served as as- sessor from Ward Four in 1858 and 1859. He was a member of the Governor's Horse Guards, a noted military company with resplendent uniforms, which flourished in Concord from 1860 to 1865, inclu- sive. Mr. and Mrs. Hoit were members of the First Congregational Church. Mrs. Hoit was an interesting woman, of agreeable social qualities, ac- tive in church and missionary work, fond of travel and given to hospitality. Sewel Hoit died at Con- cord, New Hampshire, January 22, 1875, and was buried in the family tomb in the Old North Ceme- tery. Four years later his widow married Frank- lin R. Thurston, of Marlboro, New Hampshirec. They were married on Thanksgiving Day, 1879, and went to live in Mr. Thurston's home at Marl- boro, where they remained till 1885, when they re- turned to the Hoyt homestead in Concord, New Hampshire. Mrs. H. Elizabeth (Nichols) Hoit Thurston died at Concord, New Hampshire, April 30, 1897. Mr. Thurston died at the home of his daughter in Concord, Massachusetts, January 4, 1901.

(VIII) Jane Elizabeth, only living child of Sewel and H. Elizabeth (Nichols) Hoit, was born in the old homestead which her father built and where she now lives, on Sunday, September 23, 1860. She was educated in the public schools of Concord, and was a student at Wellesley College from 1879 to 1883. She began her medical course in the autumn of 1886 at the Woman's Medical College of the New York Infirmary (the Blackwell College) in New York City. She was graduated in medicine May 28, 1890. During her last year of student life she held the position of second as- sistant in the New York Infant Asylum. The po- sition has only twice been given to an undergradu- ate. Dr. Hoyt (she has reverted to the original spelling of the surname) spent the summer of 1890 in England and Scotland, and in September she re- turned to this country to assume the duties of resident physician at Lassell Seminary, a noted school for girls at Auburndale, Massachusetts. While here she gave daily morning service in the surgical room at the Boston Dispensary in Bennet street. She served as interne in the New England Hospital for Women and Children at Boston for one year, beginning June 1, 1891,

In June, 1892, Dr. Hoyt sailed again for Europe to pursue a year's study in the hospitals. The summer months were spent at Heidelberg in the acquirement of the German language. In the au- tumn she begani work at the University of Vienna under Professors Schauter, Hertzfeld, Kaposi and Lukasieweiz. Upon her return to Concord, New Hampshire, June, 1893, she began the practice of medicine at her old home, being the first woman of Concord birth to establish herself as a physician. She had a successful practice for six years, and

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then decided, after the death of her mother, to make a third visit to Europe. She left Concord in Janu- ary, 1899, and remained abroad nearly three years. About half of this period was given to lectures in the University of Leipsic. Nine months were spent in Italy in the study of the history of art, and three months were given to travel in North Africa, where she visited Tunis, Algiers, and the Desert of Sahara. In June, 1902, Dr. Hoyt again resumed the prac- tice of her profession in Concord. In April, 1906, she went abroad for the fourth time, remaining three months. On this occasion she went as dele- gate from New Hampshire to the International Medical Congress, which met at Lisbon, Portugal. She then travelled through Spain, which country she had not previously visited, and again went to North Africa, including Tangier in her trip. Upon her return to Concord in July she brought with her a little Spanish boy, Abelardo Linares, of Granada, Spain, whose parents wish him to have an American education. He is a member of her household at North State street. Dr. Hoyt's home is filled with souvenirs of foreign travel. Among other valuables she has a collection of over three thousand photographs. She has always had a strong interest in art, and has occasionally lectured on the subject. She has one of the largest general libraries in town, with a fine collection of books in various languages. She has written much for publication : newspaper letters of foreign travel, and reports em- bodying scientific research. The latter articles have appeared in the Transactions of the New Hamp- shire Medical Society and in various medical jour- nals.

Dr. Hoyt is a woman of intense activity, and has many and varied interests. She is a life mein- ber of the New Hampshire Historical Society, of the Woman's Hospital Aid Association, the New Hampshire Cent Union and the New Hampshire Bible Society; also of the Seaman's Friends Society and the Concord Female Charitable Society. founded in 1812, and of the Woman's Medical Association ot New York City. She is a member of the New Hampshire Medical Society, the Center District Medical Society, the National Medical Association. the New England Hospital Medical Society, and the New Hampshire Equal Suffrage Association. Doctor Hoyt belongs to many local clubs, literary, philanthropic and special. She was a charter mem- ber of the Outing Club, founded in 1896, whose country house, Camp Weetamoo, was the first in tlie state to be established for the out-door recre- ation of women. She was chairman on the building committee of same. Dr. Hoyt has always been deeply interested in religious matters. From infancy she was called "one of Dr. Bouton's girls." She was the last person outside the immediate family to speak with him before his death, and this was in response to his expressed wish. Deacon William G. Brown, from the year 1876 to the year of his death (and this occurred at the Hoit home April 5, 1892), made his headquarters here whenever his duties in behalf of the Bible Society called him to Concord. His death was occasioned from angina pectoris. He was found in the morning-having failed to appear at breakfast-dead in his bed. At the age of fourteen she joined the North Congrega- tional Church of Concord, under the pastorate of Rev. Franklin D. Ayer, D. D. She continued her membership in this church till 1897. After her re- turn from her third and longest sojourn in Europe she became a communicant of St. Paul's Church, Protestant Episcopal, of Concord, New Hamp- shire.

On June 26, 1907, at her home in Concord, Dr. Jane Elizabeth Hoyt was married to George Washı- ington Stevens, of Claremont, New Hampshire. Mr. Stevens is the eldest of the seven children of William Jackson and Cynthia (Young) Stevens, and was born at Acworth, New Hampshire, Novem- ber 10, 1843. His grandfather, David Stevens, who married Abigail Foster, lived at Salisbury, this state, which place was at one time called Stevens- town, from the original grantee, Ebenezer Stevens. While still an infant George W. Stevens moved with his people to Salisbury, where he remained till he reached his majority. He then returned to Acworth for a few years, and lived in Unity from 1874 to 1876, in Charlestown during 1876 and 1877, and for the next thirty years in Claremont, being for forty-five years a respected citizen of Sullivan county. Mr. Stevens is highly esteemed by the people of Claremont, where the most active half of his life has been passed, and where he has al- ways been an active promoter of the public weal. He is an active member of the Methodist Church there, and has been class leader thirteen years, superintendent of the Sunday-school eighteen years. trustee of the church twenty-five years, and for nineteen years treasurer of the Claremont Junction Union Camp Meeting Association. In politics Mr. Stevens is a strong Republican, and was road com- missioner of Claremont for eight years between 1895 and 1905, tree warden from 1901 to 1905, and a representative to the legislature in 1905. Mr. Stevens is interested in the Patrons of Husbandry, and belongs to the Claremont Subordinate Grange, the Sullivan County Pomona Grange, and the State and the National Grange. George W. Stevens married for his first wife, January 12, 1874, Mrs. Julia R. (Bailey) Neal, daughter of Ucal and Chloe WV. (Twitchell ) Bailey of Unity, New Hampshire. Iler first husband, Ransom Merritt Neal, was one of the earliest volunteers of the civil war, and died of diphtheria in the fall of 1861. Mrs. Julia (Bailey) (Neal) Stevens died in Claremont, Sep- tember I, 1903, leaving no children.

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Genealogical and family history of the state of New Hampshire : a record of the achievements of her people in the making of a commonwealth and the founding of a nation, Vol. I, Part 24

Author: Stearns, Ezra S; Whitcher, William F. (William Frederick), 1845-1918; Parker, Edward E. (Edward Everett), 1842-1923 Publication date: 1908 Publisher: New York : Lewis Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 858

Author: Stearns, Ezra S; Whitcher, William F. (William Frederick), 1845-1918; Parker, Edward E. (Edward Everett), 1842-1923
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: New York : Lewis Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 858