FRED HOYT

On the roll of the farmers of Mission township, Brown county, appears the name of Fred Hoyt, who was also classified among the honored pioneers, dating his residence here from 1858 -- a very early period in the development of this section of the state. He was a lad of only five years at the time of his arrival. His birth occurred in Lagrange, Maine, in 1853. His father, Daniel Hoyt, now deceased, was one of the early settlers of Brown county. His birth occurred in Sandwich, New Hampshire, May 6, 1813, his parents being Solomon and Sarah (Rogers) Hoyt, who had a family of seven children. The parents were of good old English stock and early taught their son habits of industry and honesty. Having arrived at years of maturity, he was married, in Penobscot county, Maine, to Miss Maria Osgood, who was born, reared and educated in the Pine Tree state. In 1857 he removed with his family to Wisconsin, where they remained for a year, coming to Brown county, Kansas, in 1858. They located on section 14, Mission township, where they resided for many years. Afterward the father and two of his sons purchased the southeast quarter of section 13, and the northeast quarter of section 24, Mission township, constituting a valuable property of three hundred and twenty acres. The parents both died on the old home farm, the mother in 1895, at the age of eighty-one years, the father in 1897, at the age of eighty-four years. In politics he was a Republican, and both he and his wife were reared in the Quaker faith. They had a family of five children, namely: Elmer, who has been a resident of Dickerson county, Kansas, since 1889; Fred, the subject of this review; Almira, who became the wife of B. F. McCoy, and died in 1881; and two who died in childhood.

Fred Hoyt was reared amidst the wild scenes of frontier life in Brown county. He pursued his education here in the public schools, and from the time of early planting in the spring until crops were harvested in the autumn assisted in the work of field and meadow. In April, 1883, in Hiawatha, Kansas, he was united in marriage to Miss Martha Kinder, who was born and reared in Illinois and was a daughter of Alexander Kinder, who joined the Union army during the civil war and died in the service. Mr. and Mrs. Hoyt now have one child, Delfern, who was born October 7, 1890.

The home of the family is a modern and tasteful residence which was erected in 1884, and stands on a fine farm of two hundred acres, the greater part of which is under a high state of cultivation, the well tilled fields yielding to the owner a golden tribute for the care and labor bestowed upon them. He also keeps on hand a high grade of short-horn cattle, horses and hogs, and his stock-raising interests add materially to his income. His business affairs are well managed and have brought him a creditable success. He takes an active interest in politics and keeps well informed concerning the issues of the day, votes with the Republican party, yet has never sought or desired office. Socially he is connected with the Modern Woodmen of America. He is deservedly popular among a wide circle of friends and acquaintances and deserves mention among the honored early settlers of the county.