Post Civil War Life to 1889
Starting a Family
Samuel Hoyt completed his Civil War service on June 28, 1864 after serving nearly the entire duration of the war. His 1912 Declaration for Pension describes him as having blue eyes, light skin, light hair, and standing 6 feet tall. Sam miraculously left service unwounded in spite of likely participating in many of the major battles of the Civil War, including Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Gettysburg. He most likely helped repel the Southern assault on Little Round Top at Gettysburg.
After his Civil War service, Sam Hoyt returned to Pennsylvania and to his wife, Angeline. Quickly, a young family began to grow. Ultimately, Sam and Angeline Hoyt would have five children in 16 years. Their first child, Charles W. was born in Pennsylvania in 1866, followed by Hallie in 1867, and Blanche in 1869. The 1870 United States Federal Census documents show the Hoyt family living in Pittsfield, Warren, Pennsylvania and prove that the first three Hoyt children were all born in Pennsylvania.
Move to New York
The family moved to New York sometime before 1874 where their son, Glen Jay Hoyt, was born. 1875 New York Census records show the family residing in Carroll, Chautauqua, New York in 1875. Carroll, New York had a population of 1,548 people in 1870.
Gone to Kansas
Sometime between June 1, 1875 and July 1877, the Hoyt family moved to Kansas, where their youngest child, Theresa was born in July of 1877. The 1880 US Federal Census data, places the Hoyt family in Clay Center, Clay County Kansas. Samuel Hoyt is listed as a farmer, while Angelina is listed as engaged in housekeeping. Their oldest son, Charles W. is listed as working on the farm, and all of the other children except for 2-year-old Theresa are listed as being in school at this time. All of the family members are literate, and no one in the family is blind, deaf, idiotic, insane, or disabled, per the 1880 US Federal Census.
During this time period, railroad promotions boasted the bountiful land and opportunities that awaited in Kansas. As a result of railroad lands for sale, the population of Kansas nearly tripled in the 1870s, growing from 350,000 to nearly a million.
Loss of a Child
In 1885, the Kansas State Census data shows the Hoyt family living in Exeter, Clay, Kansas as of March 1st. It is at this point that Glen Jay Hoyt no longer appears in Census data. In addition, the 1900 US Census shows that Angeline Hoyt had five children and had four surviving children. Therefore, Glen Jay Hoyt must have died at some point between 1880 and 1885, dying before reaching the age of 11.
According to Samuel Hoyt’s 1912 Declaration for Pension, the family lived in Kansas until 1889. After farming in Kansas for 14 years, the Hoyt family decided to move to Grants Pass, Oregon.
No documents have been discovered which show with any degree of certainty why the Hoyt family chose to move from Kansas to Oregon. However, it is known that Kansas suffered a series of droughts in the late 1880s and corn prices in Kansas hit bottom in 1889. In addition, at this particular time, farmers in the Midwest were struggling with high prices to ship their goods via the railroad, leading to extreme financial hardship for many Midwest farmers.
