Oliver Hoyt (July 24, 1823 – May 5, 1887) was a member of the

Connecticut Senate The Connecticut State Senate is the upper house of the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The state senate comprises 36 members, each representing a district with around 99,280 inhabitants. Sena ...

from 1877 to 1881. He was

President Pro Tempore A president pro tempore or speaker pro tempore is a constitutionally recognized officer of a legislative body who presides over the chamber in the absence of the normal presiding officer. The phrase ''pro tempore'' is Latin "for the time being". ...

of the Connecticut Senate from 1877 to 1879.

Early life

Hoyt was born in

Stamford, Connecticut Stamford () is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut, outside of Manhattan. It is Connecticut's second-most populous city, behind Bridgeport. With a population of 135,470, Stamford passed Hartford and New Haven in population as of the 2020 ...

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. His siblings included Joseph Blachley Hoyt (1813–1889), Lyman Hoyt (1815–1891), Mary Catharine Hoyt (1817-1877), William Hoyt (1819–1902), Harvey Hoyt (1821–1893), Sylvester Hoyt (1826–1847), Alvah Hoyt (1829–1853), Emily Maria Hoyt (b. 1831), and Mark Hoyt (1835–1896). His maternal grandparents were Eliphalet Weed and Martha (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Hoyt) Weed. His paternal grandparents were Joseph Hoyt (1739–1799) and Sarah (

Weed) Hoyt (c. 17467–1830). He was educated at the common schools in Stamford.

Career

In 1844, Oliver and his brother William formed the firm W. & O. Hoyt in

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, later known as the "Hoyt Brothers." The firm was one of the best known leather merchants in the City. In 1872, he was a

presidential elector The United States Electoral College is the group of presidential electors required by the Constitution to form every four years for the sole purpose of appointing the president and vice president. Each state and the District of Columbia appo ...

and cast his vote for

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...

. 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. From 1877 to 1881, Hoyt served three terms in the

representing Connecticut's 12th Senate district as a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

. From 1877 until 1879, he served as

of the Senate. In 1878, he was chairman of the Joint Special Committee on Federal Relations. He was a nominee for

Governor of Connecticut The governor of Connecticut is the head of government of Connecticut, and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws, and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Connecticu ...

Later career

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

Wesleyan College Wesleyan College is a private, liberal arts women's college in Macon, Georgia. Founded in 1836, Wesleyan was the first college in the world chartered to grant degrees to women. History The school was chartered on December 23, 1836, as the Geo ...

Personal life

On October 19, 1852, Hoyt was married to Maria Corse (1830–1918), daughter of John Barney Corse of New York City. Together, they were the parents of eight children: * Edward Clark Hoyt (1853–1925), who married Cordelia Ida Bruggerhof (d. 1932), the daughter of Frederick Bruggerhof * Oliver Corse Hoyt (1856–1859), who died young. * Alice Maria Hoyt (1858–1860), who died young. * Theodore Rushmore Hoyt (1861–1923) * Nellie Elinor Hoyt (1864–1865), who died young. * George Seney Hoyt (1866–1931), who died unmarried. * Schuyler Colfax Hoyt (1870–1885) * Walter Stiles Hoyt (1873–1920) Hoyt was injured when he was thrown from his carriage in

Greenwich, Connecticut Greenwich (, ) is a New England town, town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the town had a total population of 63,518. The largest town on Connecticut's Gold Coast (Conne ...

and broke his collar bone. Oliver Hoyt died at his home in Stamford in 1887. In his will, he left bequests to the

Methodist Episcopal Church The Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from its founding in 1784 until 1939. It was also the first religious denomination in the US to organize itself on a national basis. In ...

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Epis ...

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, the Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church of New York,

Cornell College Cornell College is a private college in Mount Vernon, Iowa. Originally the Iowa Conference Seminary, the school was founded in 1853 by George Bryant Bowman. Four years later, in 1857, the name was changed to Cornell College, in honor of iron ty ...

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

, and the

Methodist Episcopal Hospital NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital is located in Park Slope in Brooklyn, New York, between 7th and 8th Avenues, on 6th Street. The academic hospital has 591 beds (including bassinets) and provides services to some 42,000 inpatients ...

of Brooklyn, among others. He left $300,000 to his widow and the remainder of his estate was to be divided amongst his children.

Descendants

His grandson, Edward Kenneth Hoyt (1885-1938), who attended the

Browning School The Browning School is an independent school for boys in New York City. It was founded in 1888 by John A. Browning. It offers instruction in grades kindergarten through 12th grade. The school is a member of the New York Interschool consortium. ...

in New York City and the

Lawrenceville School The Lawrenceville School is a coeducational preparatory school for boarding and day students located in the Lawrenceville section of Lawrence Township, in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. Lawrenceville is a member of the Eight Schoo ...

and was a 1908

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

graduate, who married Maria Augusta Daurer DeWust, the daughter of Francisco S. Daurer and Maria E. Kalhwoda, on June 5, 1926, in Paris.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hoyt, Oliver 1823 births 1887 deaths Republican Party Connecticut state senators Leathermaking Politicians from Stamford, Connecticut Presidents pro tempore of the Connecticut Senate 1872 United States presidential electors 19th-century American politicians