Hoyt, Theodore

HOYT, ALEXANDER, FORREST, CONWAY

Posted By: Volunteer Transcriber
Date: 2/14/2003 at 20:05:59

Source: "The 1901 Biographical Record of Clinton Co., Iowa, Illustrated" published: Chicago : S. J. Clarke Pub. Co., 1901.

THEODORE HOYT.

Theodore Hoyt, who for almost a third of a century has been a resident of Camanche, and has been actively connected with the building interests in this part of Clinton county, also has a splendid record as a patriotic and valiant citizen, who at the time of the Civil war fought for the defense of the Union and aided in its preservation.

Mr. Hoyt is a native of New York City, born December 13, 1827, being the second in order of birth in a family of four sons and one daughter, whose parents were Henry and Eliza (Alexander) Hoyt, also natives of the metropolis of the country. The father was a tanner by trade and followed that pursuit in New York, but after his removal to Ohio, in 1836, he engaged in farming in Washington county until his life’s labors were ended in death, in 1864. His wife passed away several years previous.

The second in order of birth in his father’s family, Theodore Hoyt, spent the first nine years of his life in the east, and then accompanied his father to Ohio, where he was reared and educated, assisting in the cultivation of the home farm. Having arrived at years of maturity he was married on the 17th of August, 1858, in Ohio, to Miss Anna Forrest, a daughter of Martin and Eleanor (Conway) Forrest, the former a native of Ohio, and the latter of New York. Her father was an engineer and millwright, and died in 1881, his remains being interred in the Buckeye state, while his wife passed away in Ohio in 1887, and lies buried there. They were the parents of seven children, of whom one died in infancy, while six attained adult age and five are yet living.

When a young man, in Ohio, Mr. Hoyt learned the carpenter’s trade, becoming an excellent workman, and he followed that pursuit until after the inauguration of the Civil war, when, on the 7th of July, 1861, he responded to the country’s call for aid, enlisting among the boys in blue of Company A, Thirty-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, at Marietta, Ohio. He was a loyal and brave soldier, and remained at the front until honorably discharged at Chattanooga, in October, 1863. He participated in a number of important engagements, including the battles of Bull Run, South Mountain, Antietam, Chattanooga, and others of less note.

Returning to Ohio, Mr. Hoyt there continued to engage in farming until 1869, when he resolved to try his fortune in Iowa, and accordingly came, with his family, to Camanche, where he has since made his home, his business interests being along the line of his trade. Socially he is a Mason, belonging to Camanche Lodge, No. 60, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of which he is now serving as secretary. In politics he is an earnest Republican, and has filled the position of township trustee. His wife belongs to the Baptist church. They are people of the highest respectability, esteemed by all who know them for their sterling worth, and in Camanche they are regarded as valued citizens among a wide acquaintance.