USA > Pennsylvania > Luzerne County > Wilkes-Barre > A history of Lodge no. 61, F. and A. M., Wilkesbarr?, Pa. with a collection of masonic addresses > Part 26
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* Capt. SAMUEL THOMAS, who commanded the "Matross"during the War of 1812-14, was born in Connecticut, February 2d, 1787. In 1806 he removed to the Wyoming Valley and settled in Kingston township,where, May 10th, 1807, he married Marcia Pettebone, daughter of Oliver Pettebone, Esq., and sister of the Hon. Henry Pettebone (a sketch of whose life will be found further on in this chapter). In 1821 Captain Thomas was elected Brigade Inspector of the 2d Bri- gade, 8th Division, Pennsylvania Militia. This office he held until 1828, when he was elected and commissioned for a term of seven years Brigadier General of the 2d Brigade. In 1825, and again in 1826, he was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, from Lu- zerne county.
In 1834 General Thomas emigrated with his family to Illinois, and
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with credit, sustaining the reputation of Luzerne county for good and true soldiers. * After fifteen months of active duty the company was mustered out of the service and sent home.
Ziba Hoyt was a man of unusual abilities. He was well and thoroughly known throughout the Wyoming Valley and being a man of purity and integrity of character, and for many years a Ruling Elder in the Presbyterian Church, he had great influence in the community. He married Nancy Hurlbut | January 23d, 1815, and died at Kingston December 23d, 1853, being survived by his wife and four children.
settled in Stark county, a few miles east of Toulon, where, in the spring of 1836, he located and laid out a town, naming it Wyoming, now a large and thriving place.
For many years he was engaged in merchantile pursuits and in farming. In 1846 he was a member of the Illinois Legislature, from Stark county. He died at his home in Wyoming, Ill., July 13th, 1879, honored and respected by all who knew him.
General Thomas was made a Mason in LODGE No. 61 November 4th, 1811, and remained a member of the Lodge until a short time previous to his removal to Illinois. He became one of the charter members of Toulon Lodge No. 93, A. F. and A. M., organized and constituted at Toulon, Ill., November 19th, 1846. He held at different times the offices of Senior Warden, Junior Deacon, and Treasurer of the Lodge, and continued to be a member in good stand- ing until his death.
*JAMES BIRD was a member of the " M'atross." It was his un- timely end, and the inexcusable circumstances surrounding it, that inspired Charles Miner to write the popular ballad entitled " James Bird."-See biography of Charles Miner, POST.
+ NANCY HURLBUT (born April 8th, 1793 ; died February 26th, 1872) was a daughter of Christopher Hurlbut, who was born in Groton, New London county, Conn., in 1757. He served as a soldier through the Revolutionary War, and took part in many important battles. After the war he resided in Hanover, Luzerne county, Penn'a, until 1797, when he removed to Arkport, N. Y., where he died April 21st, 1831.
He was sixth in descent from Lieut. Thomas Hurlbut, born in Eng-
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HENRY MARTYN HOYT, fifth child of Ziba and Nancy (Hurlbut) Hoyt, was born in Kingston June 8th, 1830. He remained at home working on his father's farm until the age of fourteen years, when he entered the old Wilkesbarré Acadamy, then in charge of Professors Owens and John W. Sterling. He attended the Academy but a short time and then entered the Wyoming Seminary at Kingston, where he pursued his studies until the Summer of 1846. In the Autumn of that year he entered the Sophomore class of Lafayette College, Easton, Penn'a. In Septem- ber, 1848, the President of the college, Dr. George Junkin, tendered his resignation.
He was very popular with the students, and as it was known that his resignation was occasioned by personal difficulties with certain members of the Board of Trustees of the college, a large number of the students, who were the Doctor's admirers and sympathizers, left Lafayette with him, and entered at Union, Williams, Washington, and other colleges. Young Hoyt, who was then only eighteen years of age, was among those who "went out" with the Doctor. * Entering the Senior class of Williams College, Mass., he was graduated the next year (1849) a Bachelor of Arts, and in 1852 received his Master's degree.
In October, 1880 (being then Governor of Pennsylvania),
land about 1615 ; immigrated to New England ; was lieutenant of the first company that garrisoned the fort at Saybrook, Conn .; was wound- ed in the Pequot War, and in 1671 was voted a tract of land for his services in that war. He was a member of the Connecticut Assembly in 1640, and was one of the first settlers of Wethersfield, Conn., where he died about the year 1672.
* Only three men were graduated from Lafayette in the class of 1849. Twenty-two members of the class (including H. M. Hoyt) left the in- stitution in 1848, among the number being Robert Bruce Petriken, member of the Pennsylvania Senate, 1874-7; W. W. Schuyler, now Judge of the Courts of Northampton county, Penn'a ; Robert Watts, for many years Professor of Theology, Belfast, Ireland.
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he made a speech at Lafayette College, and, referring to his having left the college at the end of his Junior year, said ; "This, in some respects, has been a lifelong disadvan- tage. For example, I lost the differential calculus! That was a Senior study at Lafayette, a Junior study at Williams ; and between the two colleges I missed it in early life, and have ever since been trying in vain to catch up with its in- estimable beauties and treasures.
"But there was one thing I found at both colleges, and that was the Catechism. Doctor Junkin drilled us in it; so did Doctor Hopkins. If anybody here wants to ask me any of the one hundred and seven questions, I am ready to give him the answer. I don't live up to the Catechism perhaps as well as I ought, but it is one of the things I claim to know."
Within two or three months after his graduation from college Mr. Hoyt took charge of a school in Towanda, Bradford county, Penn'a, and taught there until the Autumn of 1850, when he went to the Wyoming Seminary at Kings- ton as Professor of Mathematics. In April, 1851, he regis- tered as a student-at-law with the Hon. George W. Wood- ward, who had just returned to practice at Wilkesbarré from the 4th Judicial District of Pennsylvania, of which he had been President Judge for ten years. In May, 1852, Judge Woodward was appointed by Governor Bigler a Judge of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, and Mr. Hoyt continued his law studies with Warren J. Woodward, Esq., at Wilkesbarré.
He was admitted to the Bar of Luzerne county April 4th, 1853, and in the following October went on a prospecting tour through the South-western States of the Union. He got as far as Memphis, Tenn., then a town of 12,000 inhab- itants, where he procured employment as a teacher. He remained there until the Summer of 1854, when he returned North, opened an office in Wilkesbarré, and began to prac-
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tice law. In 1855 he was the candidate of the Whig and Know-nothing parties for District Attorney of Luzerne county, but was defeated by a small majority by S. S. Win- chester, Esq., the Democratic candidate. In 1856 he took an active part in the Fremont campaign.
At the breaking out of the War of the Rebellion he was Captain of the Wyoming Light Dragoons, of Wilkesbarré, having been elected to the position in September, 1858. The Union cause found no more ready supporter than Captain Hoyt, and he was very active in raising the 52d Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. The rendezvous of the regiment was Camp Curtin, Harrisburg, where in August, 1861, it was organized ; John C. Dodge, Jr., being commis- sioned Colonel, Henry M. Hoyt, Lieutenant Colonel (com- missioned August 14th, 1861), and John Butler Conyngham, of Wilkesbarré, Major.
November 8th, 1861, the regiment proceeded to Wash- ington, D. C., where it remained engaged in drill and guard duty until March 28th, 1862, when it was ordered to take the field. While in camp at Washington Colonel Hoyt was detailed for duty on an Examining Board, and this gave him an opportunity to diligently study works on tactics, engineering, fortifications, and on the various requirements of a soldier. Upon taking the field the regiment was as- signed to the First Brigade (commanded by Gen'l Henry M. Naglee), 3d Division, 4th Army Corps, and was moved before Yorktown, where a siege was in progress. The regi- ment participated in the reconnoissance from Bottom's Bridge to Seven Pines in advance of the whole army, and Lieutenant Colonel Hoyt commanded the party which con- structed the bridges across the Chickahominy river. The regiment was engaged in the battle of Fair Oaks on May 3Ist, and lost 125 killed and wounded, and 4 prisoners. When the battle opened Colonel Hoyt rendered signal ser- vice by communicating to General Sumner the exact posi-
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tion of the Union troops, joining Sumner's column as it moved to the support of Heintzelman in that battle, and fighting under him to the end. While the battle at Gaines' Mill was in progress the 52d, with other regiments, was guarding the bridges across the Chickahominy, the men often standing waist deep in the water of the swamp. At the close of the Peninsular campaign the 52d went into camp at Yorktown, where they occupied the fortifications and were drilled in heavy artillery tactics.
In December, 1862, the regiment was detailed to accom- pany the gunboat Monitor, on an expedition under sealed orders. The Monitor was lost in a storm, and the vessel carrying the 52d regiment put in at Newbern, N. C. In the latter part of January, 1863, the regiment was ordered to Port Royal, S. C. Later they were engaged in the siege of Fort Wagner, the first serious obstacle to the reduction of Charleston. Their operations were laborious, and were conducted under the terrible fire of the enemy, and the more wasting effects of the Summer's heat. For forty days the work was pushed. "Over all this diversity of labor were constantly exploding, at night, the shells of the enemy. 'Cover, Johnson !' would be called out from a lookout. There was a flash away across the harbor, and in ten or fif- teen seconds came a report. Away up in the air was seen a small, unsteady twinkle. Presently the shell whistled and wobbled and roared like a coming storm. Down, down on the heads of the men crouching behind the mounds of sand, lower and lower still, and in very imminent proximity, it wound up with a bang, and a villainous whir-r-r of half a hundred pieces humming into the marshes, or mayhap into the living muscles of its poor victims. Then the 'Bull of the Woods' would open its pyrotechny, and 'Bee', and 'Beauregard', and the ' Peanut', and ' Haskell',-and so the thing was kept up until, tired, and weary, and mangled, the detail went out of the trenches at dawn."
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When all was ready a hundred heavy guns opened upon Fort Wagner, and the troops were held in readiness to as- sault. Lieutenant Colonel Hoyt was assigned the task of leading the charge against Fort Gregg, but before the time for the movement came the enemy evacuated, and the stronghold fell without a blow. During the operations against Fort Wagner the "52d" suffered severely, but there is no exact record of its casualties.
In December, 1863, many of the men in the regiment re- enlisted, and were granted a veteran furlough. When they returned to the front the regiment was recruited to the maxi- mum, and newly armed and equipped. Colonel Dodge having resigned November 5th, 1863, Lieutenant Colonel Hoyt was promoted to Colonel January 9th, 1864, and Major Conyngham was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. The regiment remained at Hilton Head, S. C., until May, 1864.
In June, 1864, a plan was devised to capture Charleston by surprising the garrison guarding its approaches. The attempt was made on the night of July 3d, 1864, Colonel Hoyt commanding the body, or division, of troops desig- nated to attack Fort Johnson, the approach to which was by water, through channels narrow and difficult. The pilot of the boat conveying this command utterly failed in his duty, either through ignorance or treachery. Thereupon Colonel Hoyt, who had fully determined to carry out if possible the orders that had been given him, undertook the guidance of the boat, and triumphantly cleared the bar. But precious time having been lost, the boat was discovered as it approached the fort, and a heavy fire was opened by the enemy. Colonel Hoyt's supports failed to follow-although of this he was ignorant-and he landed with only one hundred and thirty- five men, his whole immediate force. Rushing boldy for- ward they charged and captured a two-gun battery. The heavy guns of Fort Johnson, two hundred yards beyond, were beginning to open their hoarse throats, while the inter-
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vals were filled with the sharp rattle of musketry. No sign of wavering was seen in the intrepid band led by Colonel Hoyt, as they moved steadily forward. They crossed the parapet of the fort, struggled at the crest face to face with the foe, and began to leap into the fort, when the astounding and mortifying fact was discovered that they were unsup- ported. The whole garrison was now alive and swarming upon all sides. It was plain that a further struggle would be useless, and the detachment surrendered as prisoners of war. The skill and daring displayed by Hoyt and his men extorted the highest praise from friend and foe. The Charleston Mercury of July 6th, 1864, said :
"The second column under the immediate command of Colonel Hoyt, of the 52d Pennsylvania Regiment, landing in overwhelming numbers, attacked the Brooke gun. Lieutenant Roworth, of the 2d South Carolina Artillery, was compelled to fall back, after fighting bravely. The enemy, cheered by this success, with their commander at their head waving his sword, advanced in heavy force upon Fort Johnson ; but there they were received with a terrific fire by the light and heavy batteries on the line."
General Foster, in command of the Department, said in Orders:
"The boats commanded by Colonel Hoyt, Lieutenant Colonel Con- yngham, and Lieutenants Stevens and Evans, all of the 52d Pennsyl- vania, rowed rapidly to the shore, and these officers, with Adjutant Bunyan (afterwards killed) and 135 men landed and drove the enemy; but, deserted by their comrades, were obliged to surrender to superior numbers. Colonel Hoyt bestows unqualified praise on the officers and men who landed with him ;- of these seven were killed and sixteen wounded. He himself deserves great credit for his en- ergy in urging the boats forward, and bringing them through the nar- row channel; and the feeling which led him to land at the head of his men was the prompting of a gallant spirit which deserves to find more imitators."
General Schemmelfinnig said of Colonel Hoyt, after re- counting the preliminaries :
"After this you placed yourself at the head of the column and led them most gallantly, faithfully carrying out as far as possible with the
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small number of men who landed with you, the orders given you by me. Had you been supported as your brave conduct deserved, it would have ensured the success of the important operations then being car- ried on in front of Charleston."
Colonel Hoyt, with other Union officers, was sent to Macon, Ga., and subsequently to Charleston. While en route from Macon to Charleston, Colonel Hoyt and four other officers leaped from the cars and undertook to make their way to the Union fleet. After several days and nights of efforts for liberty, they were recaptured by the Confederates by the aid of bloodhounds.
Colonel Hoyt and Lieutenant Colonel Conyngham were of the fifty officers who, at Charleston, were placed in con- finement under the fire of the Union batteries on Morris Island .*
In August, 1864, having been released from confinement and exchanged as a prisoner, Colonel Hoyt returned to his regiment at Morris Island. He was honorably discharged from the military service November 5th, 1864, and, return- ing to Wilkesbarré soon afterwards, he resumed the practice of his profession. He was brevetted Brigadier General of Volunteers March 13th, 1865, for meritorious conduct while in the service.
In 1866 he was elected a Director of the Wilkesbarré Public Schools, and for several years was a very active and useful member of the Board.
By an Act of the Pennsylvania Legislature June 27th, 1867, provision was made for an additional law-judge for Luzerne county. The Act was approved by Governor Geary, who, on the 5th of July, appointed General Hoyt to the judgeship, to serve until the next election. He took his seat the Ist of August, and presided at the term of Argu- ment Court then held. A couple of months later the General received the nomination of the Republican party
*See biography of Gen'l E. L. Dana, page 236, ante.
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for this office, but at the election in October he was, al- though running largely ahead of his ticket, defeated by the Democratic candidate, General E. L. Dana, who took his seat on the Bench December 2d, 1867, for a ten years' term. At that time Luzerne county was strongly Democratic.
In May, 1868, General Hoyt was a delegate from Penn- sylvania to the National Republican Convention at Chicago, which nominated General Grant for President.
In March, 1869, he became a candidate for the office of U. S. Collector of Internal Revenue for the 12th district of Pennsylvania, comprising the counties of Luzerne and Sus- quehanna. Gideon W. Palmer, of Abington, and John B. Smith, of Kingston, were also seeking the appointment, and it was published that the latter had made a proposal to Com- missioner Delano, the head of the Internal Revenue Bureau, to the effect that he would, if appointed collector, "give the proceeds of the salary and percentage of the office to the Wilkesbarré Home for Friendless Children."
Notwithstanding this liberal and novel proposition, Presi- dent Grant named Major Palmer for the office and sent the nomination to the Senate, then in extra session, on the 2d of April.
A "Washington correspondent" of that day wrote :
"Harry [Hoyt], feeling that his honor was in the balance, started immediately for this city. Great was his surprise upon his arrival to find one of the strongest politicial combinations of the Keystone State in league against him. He almost despaired of a successful encounter, but knowing 'success to be a duty' he rushed into the conflict and in forty-eight hours after his arrival had Mr. Palmer's name withdrawn. The second day of the Executive session of the Senate found his own name before that body for confirmation.
Your correspondent, in conversation with one of Mr. Palmer's friends on the evening of the day that Hoyt's name had gone to the Senate, was told that the General's name would be withdrawn on the next day, and a powerful influence was brought to bear upon the Presi- dent and Secretary of the Treasury to that end ; but the General was master of the situation, and in a masterly way thwarted their every pur-
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pose. The day following closed with his confirmation. Nevertheless the opposition despaired not yet, but made a great effort in the Senate to bring about a reconsideration by resorting to all kinds of political artifice, but were again doomed to disappointment, and yesterday [April 18th] the defeated head of the combination left the city ; but before doing so met his successful competitor, and by an expression of his congratulation buried the hatchet of this one of the warmest competitions for government patronage.
There is not a man from Luzerne in the city who has not some complimentary word for General Hoyt, not alone because of his success but because of the skill and determined pertinacity of manner he has evinced in manipulating his case, and in such a gentlemanly even- handed way, disdaining to resort to artifice or misrepresentation. That he will fill the place so acceptably filled by his able and gentle- manly predecessor needs no words from us to assert."
General Hoyt performed the duties of this office until 1873, when he resigned.
In 1875, having been appointed Chairman of the Repub- lican State (Penn'a) Committee, he conducted the campaign of that and the succeeding year with very great success.
In 1878 he was nominated by the Republican party for the office of Governor of Pennsylvania. It was at a time of great excitement in the State over the question of the resumption of specie payments. Many believed that no one could be elected on an unqualified hard-money plat- form, but General Hoyt, scorning all subterfuges, sounded the key-note of the campaign by the following declaration : "Professing to be an honest man, and the candidate of an honest party, I believe in honest money." In November following General Hoyt was elected, defeating his competi- tor, Andrew H. Dill, by a large majority.
The members of the Bar of Luzerne and Lackawanna counties tendered the newly elected Governor a compli- mentary dinner, which took place at the Wyoming Valley Hotel, Wilkesbarré, on the night of December 31st, 1878. More than seventy gentlemen were present, including the leaders of the Bars of the two counties, and the occasion was a highly successful one and marked with much éclat.
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Governor Hoyt was inaugurated with imposing ceremo- nies at Harrisburg January 14th, 1879, the oath of office being administered to him by the Hon. Warren J. Wood- ward, his former instructor in the law, and then a judge of the Supreme Court of the State.
At a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Union League of Philadelphia, held March 11th, 1879, it was re- solved to tender Governor Hoyt a reception. It took place at the League house on the evening of April 15th, following, and was described as a "spontaneous ovation in its way- a generous recognition of the worth of the distinguished gentleman who had been raised to the highest office in the gift of the people of the Keystone State."
Very many distinguished men were present, and after an elaborate banquet the Governor was welcomed by President George H. Boker, the poet and diplomat, in an eloquent and stirring speech. He first spoke of the political and financial conditions existing in the country, and then said :
"To you, Governor Hoyt, I need not appeal for sympathy with the sentiments which I have uttered on this occasion. I know that you are one with us in all that I have had the time to say, and in more that might be said at this momentous crisis of our country. I know the metal of which you are made and what ring that metal gives forth when it is smitten.
You were baptized in fire at Fort Johnson, and you bore martyrdom for your faith in a Southern prison. We thank Heaven that you lived to hear the tale of your life told to your own ears, and to receive from your grateful countrymen the highest honor that our State can bestow upon military and civic desert. We know where to find you when we may have occasion to look for you; and we shall feel, at the darkest hour, even without seeing, your presence, and step boldly forward, assured that our leader is before us, and that the voice which cheers us on is his."
The Governor's response was fitting and eloquent, and was received with much favor. Speeches were also made by Judge Russell Thayer, Hon. Edward McPherson, former Governor Hartranft, and others.
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Governor Hoyt's term was for four years, he being the first governor, under the Constitution of 1873, to serve for that period. During his incumbency of the office no ex- traordinary occasion was presented for a display of executive ability, but his whole administration was a marked and successful one. He filled the position of chief magistrate with courage, ability, and independence.
Hon. Henry W. Palmer, who was Attorney General of the Commonwealth during Governor Hoyt's administration, has said, in speaking of it :
"The Governor of the State finds it to be his duty, from time to time, to reverse the action of the General Assembly, and it is sometimes difficult to prevent strained relations and disagreeable antagonisms. Such was the tact, courtesy and dignity exercised by Governor Hoyt, and the soundness of the reasons always given for his actions, that notwithstanding the veto by him of a large percentage of the bills passed during his term, his relations with the General Assembly were most cordial, and its members were always willing and ready to adopt his suggestions for improvement in the laws of the Commonwealth. All his dealings with the legislature were characterized by courage that never faltered.
"In the contest between the accounting officers of the State and the members over the salary question, the position of Governor Hoyt was outspoken and unequivocal. Though to oppose the members in their demand for fifty days' pay, at ten dollars per day, above the salary provided by the law was a most unpopular action, yet Governor Hoyt did not flinch or falter. He believed the members were wrong, and never hesitated to vindicate his belief. The contention of the Auditor General and the State Treasurer was sustained by the Courts of Dau- phin county, but their judgment was reversed by the Supreme Court in a majority opinion, which was diametrically opposed to the principal of all decided cases in this and other States, and which created a genuine surprise to the profession and brought out severe criticism in the public press. The litigation, though unsuccessful for the time, brought forth fruit that vindicated the soundness of the law, for which the Governor contended, viz : That under the constitution of 1873 the members of the General Assembly could be compensated only by a round sum covering the entire term of service, and that a per diem allowance after a fixed term was unlawful. The General Assembly
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