Oliver Hoyt

Oliver Corse Hoyt (July 24, 1823 – May 5, 1887) was a member of the Connecticut Senate from 1877 to 1881. He was President Pro Tempore of the Connecticut Senate from 1877 to 1879.

Oliver Corse Hoyt
President Pro Tempore of the Connecticut Senate
In office 1877 – 1879[1]
Preceded by	Ephraim H. Hyde
Succeeded by	Gilbert W. Phillips
Member of the Connecticut Senate from the 12th District
In office 1877 – 1881[2]
Preceded by	Frederick Bruggerhof
Succeeded by	Edwin L. Scofield
Personal details
Born	July 24, 1823[3] Stamford, Connecticut
Died	May 5, 1887 (aged 63)[3] Stamford, Connecticut
Resting place	Woodland Cemetery, Stamford, Connecticut[3]
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Maria Corse ​ ​ (m. 1852; died 1918)​
Children	8
Parents	Joseph Blachley Hoyt Mary Blachley Weed
Occupation	Leather merchant and financier

Early life

Hoyt was born in Stamford, Connecticut on July 24, 1823, the sixth child and son of Joseph Blachley Hoyt (1787–1854) and Mary Blachley Weed (1794–1854), who were married in 1813.[4] His siblings included Joseph Blachley Hoyt (1813–1889), Lyman Hoyt (1815–1891), Mary Catharine Hoyt (1817-1877), William Hoyt (1819–1902),[5] Harvey Hoyt (1821–1893),[6] Sylvester Hoyt (1826–1847), Alvah Hoyt (1829–1853), Emily Maria Hoyt (b. 1831), and Mark Hoyt (1835–1896).[7][4][8]

His maternal grandparents were Eliphalet Weed and Martha (née Hoyt) Weed. His paternal grandparents were Joseph Hoyt (1739–1799) and Sarah (née Weed) Hoyt (c. 17467–1830).[4]

He was educated at the common schools in Stamford.[8]

Career

In 1844, Oliver and his brother William formed the firm W. & O. Hoyt in New York City, later known as the "Hoyt Brothers." The firm was one of the best known leather merchants in the City.[8]

In 1872, he was a presidential elector and cast his vote for Ulysses S. Grant. Hoyt was a trustee of a fund of $250,000 that had was raised by private subscription in 1881 for the benefit of Grant and his family, to insure the General an income for the remainder of his life.[9]

From 1877 to 1881, Hoyt served three terms in the Connecticut Senate representing Connecticut's 12th Senate district as a Republican. From 1877 until 1879, he served as President Pro Tempore of the Senate. In 1878, he was chairman of the Joint Special Committee on Federal Relations.[8]

He was a nominee for Governor of Connecticut.

Later career

After leaving the Senate, he returned to run the Hoyt leather merchant business, which his sons took over after his death.[8][10] He served as Chairman of Wesleyan College.

Personal life

On October 19, 1852, Hoyt was married to Maria Corse (1830–1918), daughter of John Barney Corse of New York City.[4] Together, they were the parents of eight children:

• Edward Clark Hoyt (1853–1925),[11] who married Cordelia Ida Bruggerhof (d. 1932), the daughter of Frederick Bruggerhof[12][13]
• Oliver Corse Hoyt (1856–1859), who died young.[4]
• Alice Maria Hoyt (1858–1860), who died young.[4]
• Theodore Rushmore Hoyt (1861–1923)[14][15]
• Nellie Elinor Hoyt (1864–1865), who died young.[4]
• George Seney Hoyt (1866–1931), who died unmarried.[16]
• Schuyler Colfax Hoyt (1870–1885)[4]
• Walter Stiles Hoyt (1873–1920)[4]

Hoyt was injured when he was thrown from his carriage in Greenwich, Connecticut and broke his collar bone.[17][18] Oliver Hoyt died at his home in Stamford in 1887.[8][19] In his will, he left bequests to the Methodist Episcopal Church, Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, the Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church of New York, Cornell College, Iowa, and the Methodist Episcopal Hospital of Brooklyn, among others. He left $300,000 to his widow and the remainder of his estate was to be divided amongst his children.[20]

Descendants

His grandson, Edward Kenneth Hoyt (1885-1938), who attended the Browning School in New York City and the Lawrenceville School and was a 1908 Yale graduate, who married Maria Augusta Daurer DeWust, the daughter of Francisco S. Daurer and Maria E. Kalhwoda, on June 5, 1926, in Paris.[21]

References

1. "SOTS". Archived from the original on 2017-01-13. Retrieved 2013-05-30.
2. Roll of state officers and members of General Assembly of Connecticut, from 1776 to 1881
3. Find a Grave
4. Hoyt, David Webster (1871). A Genealogical History of the Hoyt, Haight, and Hight Families. author. p. 396. Retrieved 3 May 2017. Mary Blachley Weed Hoyt (1791 - 1854).
5. Times, Special To The New York (24 December 1902). "DEATH LIST OF A DAY.; William Hoyt". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
6. "Obituary 1 -- HOYT". The New York Times. 4 December 1893. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
7. "DEATH LIST OF A DAY.; Mark Hoyt". The New York Times. 31 December 1896. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
8. "WELL KNOWN MERCHANT DEAD.; OLIVER HOYT'S ACCIDENT RESULTS FATALLY--HIS CAREER". The New York Times. 6 May 1887. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
10. "HONORING OLIVER HOYT.; HIS BUSINESS ASSOCIATES TESTIFY TO THEIR APPRECIATION". The New York Times. 8 May 1887. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
11. Times, Special To The New York (29 November 1925). "EDWARD HOYT DIES; LEATHER PIONEER; Former President of Central Company Began His Career as a Tanner. A NATIVE NEW YORKER Served as Director of National Park Bank for 37 Years -- Member of Many Clubs". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
12. Times, Special To The New York (14 June 1932). "MRS. EDWARD C. HOYT". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
13. Burton, Richard; Herndon, Richard (1898). Men of Progress | Biographical Sketches and Portraits of Leaders in Business and Professional Life in and of the State of Connecticut. Boston: New England Magazine. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
14. Wesleyan University Bulletin. Wesleyan University. 1916. p. 53. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
15. "Hoyt Royalty History". hoytroyalty.com. 10 January 2013. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
16. Times, Special To The New York (15 October 1931). "GEORGE S. HOYT-DIES IN STAMFORD HOME; Member of Well-Known Family Had Lived for 65 Years in House of His Birth. HAD TRAVELED WIDELY Fond of Hunting, Polo and Yachting, He Was Noted for His Skill as a Marksman". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
17. "OLIVER HOYT INJURED.; THROWN FROM HIS CARRIAGE NEAR HIS CONNECTICUT HOME". The New York Times. 4 May 1887. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
18. "OLIVER HOYT DOING WELL". The New York Times. 5 May 1887. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
19. "OLIVER HOYT'S FUNERAL.; MANY FRIENDS FROM THIS CITY ATTEND THE SERVICES". The New York Times. 10 May 1887. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
20. "BEQUESTS BY OLIVER HOYT". The New York Times. 19 May 1887. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
21. Obituary Record of Graduates of Yale University Deceased during the Year 1937-1938 (PDF) (Series 35 No. 12 ed.). Yale University. 1 March 1939. Retrieved 3 May 2017.