USA > Pennsylvania > Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume I > Part 2
USA > Wyoming > Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume I > Part 2
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107
Rogers, Lewis L. 396
Rogers, Sarah C. 398
Ross Family 100
Rutter Family 319
Rutter, James M. 321
Rutter, Nathaniel B 322
Salzman, Marcus 300
Sax. John
363
Saxe, William R .. 363 Sutherland Family 427
Schwartz, Frederick
5.58
Sutherland, Walter
C.
428
Seely, Philip
464
Sutton Family
208
Sharpe, Richard 54
Sutton. James 210
Swetland, William R.
88
Szedvidis, Michael
482
Yeager, John B.
233
Shaver Family 510
Shaver, Ira D. 472
Taylor, Lewis H. 309
Thomas, Isaac M. IO.1
Tompkins, Alva 488
Torbert, John K. 502
Shoemaker, Archie C.
369
Townend Family.
486
Townend, Hugh C. 487
Townsend, Sampson 432
Tripp Family 430
Tripp, Edwin M. 432
Troutman, George H. 3.38
Troxell Family 398
Troxell, Ephraim 399
Turner, William J. M. 484
Van Campen, Abraham .. 476
Van Horn, Alexander H .. 289
Van Scoy. Henry Y. 367
Vaughn, Stephen B.
405
Wadhams Family 171
Wadhams, Raymond L. 175
Waller Family 182
Waller, Levi E. 186
Weiss Family
121
Welles, Theodore L
355
Welles Family 351
Welles, Henry H. 354
292
Sterling Family 348
Wheaton Family 24
Sterling, Addison A 351
Wheaton, Frank W. 26
Wheaton, Thomas J. 25
Wilcox, Daniel D. 428
Wilde, Charles L. 474
Williamson, James P 370
Woodward Family 14
Woodward, George W 15
Woodward, John B
Woodward, 'Stanley 17
Wright Family 380
Wright, George R. 384
Wright, Harrison. 382
Wright, Hendrick B 382
Wright, Jacob R .. 382
Wright, Thomas A
27.4
Wyoming Seminary
247
Sharps, John 528
Shaver, Isaac N. 511
Sheeder. Vincent B. 530
Shoemaker Family 333
Shoemaker, Elijah 331
Shoemaker, Ira R. 366
Shoemaker, Jacob I .. 365
Smith, Amos Y. 553
Smith, Harradon S 359
Smith, George C. 215
Smith, John B. 371
Snow, John C. 473
Reiter. Charles D. 305
Sprague, Levi L. 249
Speicher, Jacob 511
Stark, David S. 5.38
Stark, Joseph M. 400
Stark, 'S. Judson 257
Stearns Family
83
Stearns, Irving A. 84
Strong Family
129
Strong, Theodore I32
."Sturdevant Family 534
Sturdevant, John 537
Sturdevant, Samuel 534
Sturdevant, Samuel H. 535
Sturdevant, Samuel B 537
Sturdevant, Sinton H. 233
Sturdevant, Thomas K. 538
Sturdevant, William H 537
Yeager, Harvey
373
PAGE
PAGE
Raeder, John W. 287
-
Stearns, Lazarus D. 85 Wetherbee, Benedict J
Streater. Harry P 487
.
THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS
HOYT FAMILY. Simon Hoyt, the first of the name in this country, came from England to Salem, Massachusetts, in September, 1628, with Governor Endicott, and was one of the founders of seven different towns. He was of the party who traveled through the woods to explore and settle Charlestown. In 1636 he was among the founders of Windsor, Connecticut, and deacon of the Rev. Thomas Hooker's church.
Daniel Hoyt, sixth in descent from Simon Hoyt, was born in Danbury, Fairfield county, Connecticut, May 2, 1756. He came from Dan- bury with his wife Anna (Gunn) and seven chil- dren, and settled in Kingston, Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, in 1794. In his later life he was known throughout the Wyoming valley as "Dea- con" Hoyt, having been a deacon in the first Presbyterian congregation, organized in Kings- ton in 1819. He died there in 1824.
Ziba Hoyt, the sixth child of Daniel, was born September 8, 1788, at Danbury, Connecticut, and accompanied his father to Wyoming. At the opening of the war of 1812 Ziba Hoyt was sec- ond lieutenant of the Wyoming Volunteers Mat- ross Artillery Company, organized in Kingston township in April, 1810, under the captaincy of Henry Buckingham, The company left Kings- ton on April 13, 1813, thirty-one strong, and embarked on a raft (which was being floated to market) on the Susquehanna river, at the mouth of Shupp's creek. They debarked at Danville, Pennsylvania, whence they marched by way of Lewistown and Bedford through Fayette county, recruiting as they went, and May 5 arrived at
Erie, Pennsylvania, ninety-five strong. The com- pany was attached to Colonel R. Hill's regiment of Pennsylvania militia, and soon afterwards Ziba Hoyt was promoted to first lieutenant. In the cannonading at Presque Isle Harbor the com- pany did effective service. In the battle of the Thames the "Matross," in the absence of Cap, tain Thomas, who was in command of the guard at Detroit, was commanded by Lieutenant Hoyt, and acquitted itself with credit. After fifteen months of active duty the company was mus- tered out of the service and sent home. Ziba Hoyt was a man of unusual abilities. He was well known throughout the Wyoming valley as a man of purity and integrity of character, and was for many years a ruling elder in the Pres- byterian Church. He married Nancy Hurlbut, January 23, 1815, and died at Kingston, Decem- ber 23, 1853, being survived by his wife and four children. H. E. H.
GOVERNOR HENRY MARTYN HOYT, fifth child of Ziba and Nancy (Hurlbut) Hoyt, born in Kingston, June 8, 1830, worked on his father's farm until the age of fourteen years, when he entered the old Wilkes-Barre Academy, in charge of Professor Owens and John W.Sterling. He attended the academy but a short time and then entered the Wyoming Seminary at Kings- ton, where he studied until the summer of 1846. In the autumn of that year he entered the sopho- more class of Lafayette College, Easton, Penn- sylvania .. In September, 1848, the president of the college, Dr. George Junkin, tendered his resignation. He was very popular with the stud-
1
2
THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.
ents, and as it was known that his resignation was occasioned by personal differences with cer- tain members of the board of trustees, a large number of the students, his admirers and sympa- thizers, left Lafayette with him and entered at Union, Williams, Washington and other colleges. Young Hoyt, then eighteen years of age, was among those who "went out" with the Doctor. Entering the senior class of Williams College. Massachusetts, he was graduated the next year (1849) a Bachelor of Arts, and in 1852 received his Master's degree. Within two or three months after his graduation Mr. Hoyt took charge of a school in Towanda, Bradford county, Pennsyl- vania, and taught there until the autumn of 1850, when he went to the Wyoming Seminary at Kingston as professor of mathematics.
In April. 1851, Mr. Hoyt registered as a student-at-law with the Hon. George W. Wood- ward, who had just returned to practice at Wilkes-Barre from the fourth judicial district of Pennsylvania, of which he had been president judge for ten years. In May, 1852, Judge Wood- ward was appointed by Governor Bigler a judge of the supreme court, and Mr. Hoyt continued his law studies with Warren J. Woodward, Esq., at Wilkes-Barre. He was admitted to the bar of Luzerne county, April 4, 1853. and in the following October went on a prospecting tour through the southwest. At Memphis, Tennessee, then a town of ten thousand inhabitants, he se- cured employment as a teacher, and remained there until the summer of 1854, when he returned north and opened an office in Wilkes-Barre and began to practice law. In 1855 he was the candi- date of the Whig and Know-nothing parties for district attorney of Luzerne county, but was defeated by a small majority by S. S. Winchester, Esq., the Democratic candidate. In 1856 he took an active part in the Fremont campaign.
At the breaking out of the Civil war he was captain of the Wyoming Light Dra- goons of Wilkes-Barre, having been elected to the position in September. 1858. The Union cause found no more ready supporter than Cap- tain Hoyt, and he was very active in raising the Fifty-second Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer
Infantry. In August, 1861, it was organized at Camp Curtin, Harrisburg, John C. Dodge, Jr., being commissioned colonel; Henry M. Hoyt, lieutenant-colonel (commissioned August 14, 1861), and John Butler Conyngham. of Wilkes- Barre, major. November 8, 1861, the regiment proceeded to Washington, D. C., where it was engaged in drill and guard duty, and while here Colonel Hoyt was detailed for duty on an ex- amining board, this giving him opportunity to diligently study works on tactics, engineering, fortifications and on the various requirements of a soldier. March 28, 1862, the regiment was ordered to the field, and was assigned to the First Brigade (commanded by Gen. Henry M. Naglee), Third Division. Fourth Army Corps, and participated in the siege of York- town. The regiment took part in the reconnaiss- ance from Bottom's Bridge to Seven Pines in advance of the whole army, and Lieutenant Col- onel 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 31, and lost one hundred and twenty-five killed and wounded, and four prisoners. When the battle opened Colonel Hoyt rendered signal service by communicating to General Sumner the exact position 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 Fifty-second, 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 Fifty-sec- ond went into camp at Yorktown, where it oc- cupied the fortifications and drilled in heavy ar- tillery tactics.
In December, 1862, the regiment was detailed to accompany the gunboat "Monitor" on an ex- pedition under sealed orders. The "Monitor" was lost in a storm, and the vessel carrying the Fifty-second regiment put in at Newberne, North Carolina. In the latter part of January, 1863. the regiment was ordered to Port Royal, South Carolina. Later it was engaged in the
f
3
THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.
siege of Fort Wagner, the first serious obstacle to the reduction of Charleston. The operations were laborious and were conducted under a ter- rible fire of the enemy and the more wasting effects of the summer's heat. For forty days the work was pushed. When all was ready, a hundred heavy guns opened upon Fort Wagner, and the troops were held in readiness to assault. Lieutenant Colonel Hoyt was assigned to lead 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 Fifty- second 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 maximum, and newly armed and equipped. Colonel Dodge having resigned, November 5, 1863, Lieutenant Colonel Hoyt was promoted to colonel on January 9, 1864, and Major Conyng- ham was promoted to lieutenant colonel. The regiment remained at Hilton Head, South Caro- lina, 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 3, 1864, Colonel Hoyt commanding the detachment designated to attack Fort Johnston, 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, through ignorance or treachery, whereupon 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. Col- onel 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 im- mediate force. Rushing boldly forward they charged and captured a two-gun battery. The heavy guns of Fort Johnston, two hundred yards beyond, were beginning to open their hoarse
throats, while the intervals were filled with the sharp rattle of musketry. No signs of wavering was seen in the intrepid band led by Colonel Hoyt, as it moved steadily forward. Crossing the parapet of the fort, the men struggled to 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 unsupported. 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 dis- played by Colonel Hoyt and his men extorted the highest praise from friend and foe. Colonel Hoyt, with other Union officers, was sent to Ma- con, Georgia, and subsequently to Charleston. While enroute from Macon to Charleston, he 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 lib- erty they were recaptured by the Confederates by the aid of bloodhounds. Later, Colonel Hoyt and Lieutenant Colonel Conyngham were of the fifty officers who at Charleston were placed in confinement 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 honorable discharged from the military service November 5, 1864, and, returning to Wilkes-Barre soon afterwards, re- sumed the practice of his profession. He was brevetted brigadier-general of volunteers March 13, 1865, for meritorious conduct while in ser- vice.
In 1866 he was elected a director of the Wilkes-Barre public schools, and for several years was a very active and useful member of the board. By an act of the Pennsylvania legis- lature, June 27, 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 the seat August I, and presided at the term of argument court then held. A couple of months later he received the nomination of the Republi-
4
THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.
can party for this office, but at the election in October he was, although running largely ahead of his ticket, defeated by the Democratic candi- date, Gen. E. L. Dana, who took his seat on the bench December 2, 1867, for a ten years term. At that time Luzerne county was strongly Democrat- ic. In May, 1868, General Hoyt was a delegate to the Republican national convention at Chicago which nominated General Grant for president. In March, 1869, he became a candidate for the office of United States collector of internal rev- enue for the twelfth 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 Commissioner De- lano, 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 Wilkes-Barre Home for Friendless Children. Notwithstanding this lib- eral and novel proposition, President Grant named Major Palmer for the office, and sent the nomination to the senate, then in extra session, April 2d. The further history of this contest was narrated by a Washington correspondent of that day as follows :
"Harry (Hoyt), feeling that his honor was in the balance, started for this city. Great was his surprise upon his arrival to find one of the strongest political 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 President and Secre- tary of the Treasury to that end, but the General was master of the situation, and in a masterly way thwarted their every purpose. The day fol- lowing closed with his confirmation. Neverthe-
less, the opposition despaired not yet, but made a great effort in the senate to bring about a re- consideration by resorting to all kinds of politi- cal artifice, but were again doomed to disappoint- ment, 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 Gen- eral 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, evenhanded way, disdaining to resort to artifice or misrepresenta- tion. That he will fill the place so acceptably filled by his able and gentlemanly predecessor, needs no words for 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 (Pennsylvania) committee, he con- ducted the campaign of that and the succeeding year with very great success.
In 1878 General Hoyt was nominated by the Republican party for the office of governor of Pennsylvania. It was at a time of great excite- ment in the state over the question of the resump- tion of specie payments. Many believed that no one could be elected on an unqualified hard-money platform, but General Hoyt, scorning all subter- fuges, sounded the keynote 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 fol- lowing General Hoyt was elected, defeating his competitor, Andrew H. Dill, by a large majority. He was inaugurated with imposing ceremonies at Harrisburg, January 14, 1879, the oath of of- fice being administered to him by Hon. Warren J. Woodward, his former instructor in the law, then a judge of the supreme court of the state. 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 in- cumbency of the office no extraordinary occasion was presented for a display of executive ability,
5
THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.
but his whole administration was a marked and successful one. He filled the position of chief magistrate with energy, ability and independence.
In 1883 and 1884 he was one of the vice-presi- dents or the National Prison Association of the United States, of which the Hon. R. B. Hayes, former president of the United States, was presi- dent. This association was reorganized in 1883, and from that time to the present has been doing valuable work. It has been the direct cause of improvements in several of the larger prisons of the land, and, by the moral force exerted through its conferences and publications, has done much towards mitigating the abuses in the southern prisons, the atrocities in the "convict camps," and the outrageous methods which prevailed in many of our northern jails. A very important feature of its work is with reference to discharged convicts or ex-prisoners. How utterly and com- pletely desolate, solitary and forlorn the man is who has been released from prison and means to reform, God and the man himself alone know ; his old comrades will have nothing to do with him ; he can have no companionship with honest men until he has proved himself worthy of it. He is an object of suspicion and he knows that he is. Honest labor refuses him a place because of his disgrace and shame. If it is an inclement sea- son, he must meet the bitterest cold with a crushed soul; the very chill of his body and his hunger have a tendency to drive him back to his old life, which is always invitingly open to him. If ever a man needs help, he needs it. The Prison Association has every facility for helping such men, and it does help hundreds of them every year.
In 1884 Governor Hoyt became a member of the Board of Public .Charities of Pennsylvania, and held the office for a number of years. The National Conference of Charities. and Correction is an organization that deals with the treatment of the delinquent, dependent and defective classes, and studies the causes and remedies of crime, pauperism and dependency. From its beginning in 1874 it has never endeavored to carry out any policy, but has relied for its influence solely upon free discussion of these problems and the publica-
tion of its discussions. It has exercised a large in- fluence in the promotion of important reforms in the treatment and care of the insane, the care of dependent and defective children, juvenile ref- ormation and prison reform. Upon the occasion of its twelfth annual meeting at Washington, D. C., in June, 1885, Governor Hoyt read a lengthy paper which received the closest attention and drew forth the most favorable comments of the conference.
During his gubernatorial term Governor Hoyt received, in 1881, the degree of LL. D. from the University of Pennsylvania, and in 1882 the same degree was conferred upon him by Lafayette Col- lege. From the latter college he had also re- ceived in 1865 the degree of A. M., ad eundem.
Upon his retirement from office in January, 1883, Governor Hoyt took up his residence in Philadelphia, where he opened a law office and resumed his work. He soon enjoyed a lucrative and extensive practice, and was also general man- ager and chief attorney for Pennsylvania of the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States. In 1890 he returned to Wilkes-Barre, where he continued in the practice of his profes- sion until prostrated by ill health.
Governor Hoyt was often called upon to de- liver addresses before literary, scientific and other bodies in Pennsylvania and elsewhere. In June, 1866, there was a reunion at Stamford, Connecti- cut, of the members of the Hoyt family, five hun- dred and twenty-seven of them being present. One of the most pleasing of the addresses de- livered was that by General Hoyt. November IO, 1879, Governor Hoyt read before the His- torical Society of Pennsylvania and a large num- ber of invited guests, a paper entitled "Brief of a Title in the Seventeen Townships in the County of Luzerne: a Syllabus of the Controversy be- tween Connecticut and Pennsylvania." In Sep- tember, 1880, the Second General Council of the Presbyterian Alliance assembled in Philadelphia, and there were present delegates from nearly all the reformed churches throughout the world which adhere to Presbyterian forms and doc- trines. Many of these delegates were men of great ability and reputation as scholars and
6
THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.
teachers. Governor Hoyt, as chief executive of the commonwealth within the borders of which the council had assembled, delivered an address of welcome which attracted very considerable attention, and applause from those who heard it or read it. "Without doubt," says Gen. Henry W. Palmer, "his discussion upon that oc- casion was both unexpected and astonishing. The grave and reverend members, versed in all the doctrine and dogma of the Presbyterian Church, were amazed at the learning of the speaker in his treatment of abstruse theological questions which are outside the investigation of laymen and only understood by those bred and educated in the schools of the church. No one who heard him doubted the intellectual force of the lawyer who could stand before the wisest men of that church, which is celebrated for the dialectic skill of its preachers, and speak to them of the doctrines which, since the days of Calvin and Knox, have furnished food for complex and learned discussions. It was an illustration of the many-sided character of Governor Hoyt's men- tal cultivation, and of the great intellect now gone out into the great unexplored and unknown mystery beyond the grave.
The corner-stone of the new armory of the First Regiment of Infantry, National Guard of Pennsylvania, was laid in Philadelphia with Ma- sonic ceremonies, April 19, 1882, and Governor Hoyt delivered the oration on the occasion. The one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the or- ganization of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, Free and Accepted Masons, was celebrated with great eclat in Philadelphia on St. John the Bap- tist's Day, June 24, 1882. The grand lodge, ac- companied by seventy-six subordinate lodges, paraded through the principal streets of Phila- delphia to the Academy of Music, where an ap- propriate program of ceremonies was carried out, the chief feature of which were addresses by prominent members of the craft. Governor Hoyt delivered an address on "Masonry and its Rela- tions to the Outer World." At the commence- ment exercises of Williams College, Massachu- setts, in July, 1883, Governor Hoyt delivered an eloquent address on "The duties which men of
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.