Mr. Hoyt has figured more or less prominently in Davenport for a number of years, particularly at the time early in the eighties when he was a member of the city council, and labored — with final success — to secure for the city a paid fire department. His record at that time was considered by the citizens a good one, and shortly afterward they placed him on the Republican ticket as a candidate for mayor, but his very pronounced views in favor of high license caused his defeat and gave the election to the late Mayor Ernst Claussen. Mr. Hoyt lacked , however, but thirteen votes of election and his record was one to be proud of, especially since the sentiment in Davenport has always been strong in opposition to high license.
He was born in Bernardston, Franklin County, Massachusetts, June 20, 1829, being the son of Theodore Bernard Hoyt and Sophia (Whipple) Hoyt, both deceased. His parents were of English descent and were born in this country. Mr. Hoyt attended the district schools as a boy and then graduated at Goodale Academy of Bernardston, an institution which has since been merged into the Powers Institute. After his graduation from the academy in 1814, and when he was fifteen years of age, he began an apprenticeship to a cabinet maker in Brattleboro, Vermont, and remained for almost three years in that employ. From this he drifted into the manufacture of organs, going into Jones & Burdette's factory in Brattleboro, where he first engaged in making melodeons. This concern was the famous Estey Organ Company in embryo, for the latter had its origin in this factory. Mr. Hoyt was peculiarly successful in the work in which he was then engaged, and became very valuable to his employers. From the manufacture of melodeons the work progressed to the manufacture of aeolians, and later, at the suggestion of Mr. Hoyt, piano-cased melodeons were manufactured and placed upon the market. This latter was the starting point of the Estey Organ Company. The firm changed from time to time, but Mr. Hoyt remained with it through its various changes until 1861. He assisted in the construction of the first organ which bore the name that has since become a household word.
In 1861, feeling that his health was not as good as it should be, and believing that in the western part of the country he would be able to recuperate to better advantage than in the East, he made arrangements to come to Davenport. His choice of a location was natural enough, because he had been west a couple of times, and on the occasion of his trips up and down the Mississippi river he had taken a fancy to Davenport. He brought with him from the East a large stock of carriages and buggies. He had no intention of remaining here permanently; it was his idea at that time that a year's sojourn here would enable him to recover his health to such an extent that he might return east and take up his business in Brattleboro. Although not a member of the firm in the latter city, he was a valuable assistant and displayed no small degree of inventive genius.
He was in Detroit when Fort Sumter was fired upon, and would have returned to his home for the purpose of enlisting in the army but for the fact that he had on the road a large stock of vehicles, and there was nothing left for him to do but to continue the plans previously laid out. He, therefore, opened up a repository in this city. During that fall the Emerson Piano Company and the Estey Organ Company found their business very dull and shipped a carload of pianos and a carload of organs to Mr. Hoyt without saying anything about the matter to the latter until the consignment had been started on the road. Mr. lloyt was in despair when he discovered what the companies had done, but circumstances were such that in the course of a year or so he was able to dispose of the stock to some advantage. During 1861 and 1862 he sold the most of his carriages and buggies and made an effort to work up a trade in pianos and organs. At this time Adjutant-General N. B. Baker of Iowa, ex-Governor of New Hampshire, having his head quarters in this city, approached Mr. Hoyt with the proposition that the latter engage in the purchase of horses for the United States Government.
Mr. Hoyt saw an opportunity to promote his business interests and, therefore, took advantage of the proposition. He traded his carriages and buggies and his pianos and organs for horses, and turned the horses over to the Government, receiving therefor Govern ment vouchers. Finally, when he had sold out his complete stock of vehicles, he continued in the piano and organ business, and has been more than ordinarily successful.
As previously stated, Mr. Hoyt has not been a public character in the community, in the broad sense in which that term is usually used, but while advancing his business interests he has never lost sight of the interests of the city. He has always been willing and ready to undertake anything which would benefit Davenport. His vigorous fight to secure a paid fire department in this city will not be forgotten in a great many years. He was elected to the city council from the Fourth Ward because of his natural ability, and also because of the fact that he had expressed himself very forcibly upon the inability of the volunteer fire department to take care of property in case of a conflagration. At the first meeting after his election he laid the matter before the council and found that he was the only one who favored the abolishment of the volunteer and the establishment of the paid department. It took him a long time to persuade any of his fellow members to his way of thinking. However, he finally secured several sympathizers, and at the same time secured very general censure throughout certain portions of the city, because of the fact that a slight increase in tax would be necessary to maintain the department which he was so anxious to establish. He continued his efforts in behalf of his proposition, however, in spite of all criticism, and finally succeeded in winning over to his side of the case enough of the aldermen to pass proper resolutions for the appointment of committees, whose duty it should be to establish a paid department and purchase hose carriages and other apparatus. It was a memorable contest, and during its course Mr. Hoyt was sneered at, and even threatened, but he never wavered from his purpose. Although meeting with a storm of opposition at first, he was very soon afterward complimented by almost every Property values increased almost immediately, and insurance rates were decreased just as quickly. The citizens were not slow to see the advantage which a paid department would naturally be to them, and their criticism was turned into commendation.
Mr. Hoyt was placed on the Republican ticket for mayor in 1883, with the result already stated. It is a noteworthy fact that he never canvassed any of the wards in the city, and took very little interest in the progress of the campaign - not because he was uninterested in the city, but because he did not feel that he could sacrifice his business interests.
He was one of the organizers of the Advance Club, which in the years gone by accomplished a great deal for the good of the city. He is a member of the Business Men's Association, which was the natural outgrowth of the Advance Club. He is a Master Mason, a Royal Arch Mason, a Knight Templar and a Shriner. He is a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and helped to organize the Iowa Legion of Honor, being one of the charter members and first officers. On January 1, 1851, Mr. Hoyt was married in Brattleboro, Vermont, to Miss Harriet V. Willard, a native of Dummerston, Vermont. Mrs. Eloyt is of English descent; her parents were Captain Benjamin F. and Lydia (Bennett) Willard.
BIOGRAPHIES