1905 History of Crawford County Kansas

Hon. Ebenezer B. Hoyt, business man and capitalist of Pittsburg, Kansas, is one of the best known men of southeastern Kansas and Crawford county. He is a pioneer, in fact, and the picture which he could easily call to mind, of the country as he saw it thirty-five years ago, and over which his early business operations were carried on, would present a most remarkable contrast to the scene of prosperity, commercial activity and industrial development which just such aggressive and enterprising men as Mr. Hoyt have brought about to the fulness of material realization. He came to this county fresh from college, and, with the vast ranges lying invitingly before him, was soon engaged in the cattle business, from which he branched out into mercantile pursuits, and his interests expanded in a degree corresponding to the other wonderful development of the country, until for a number of years he has stood in the forefront of the successful business men of Crawford county. He has also proved himself a citizen of unusual public spirit and fitness for the responsibilities laid upon him, and in all public matters affecting the welfare of city, county or state has made his influence felt for betterment and on the side of morality and justice.

Mr. Hoyt was born in Adams county, Illinois, a son of Ebenezer B. and Mary J. (Reynolds) Hoyt, the former a native of Ridgefield, Connecticut, and the latter of Orange county, New York, where she lived till almost grown, and then moved to New York city, where father was a resident for almost fifty years. Mr. Hoyt's parents were married in New York city, and they then came west to Adams county, Illinois, in 1843, where they passed the remainder of their lives.

Mr. Hoyt received a good education in the public schools, and continued his studies in Knox College, at Galesburg, Illinois, until 1868. In that year he came to Kansas and bought a ranch in the southeast corner of Crawford county, where he began the cattle business. At that time Pittsburg, with its great industries resulting from the later development of its coal mining, was not in existence, and cattle had a free range over the entire country. This industry of Mr. Hoyt's flourished, but with the subsequent settling up of the county he went into the mercantile business and the lumber business at the present town of Opolis, which he and Joseph L. Davis founded. He has continued his business enterprises in Opolis ever since, but for the past four years has made his home in Pittsburg, from which point he directs his business. During all this time he has been extensively engaged in farming in the vicinity of Opolis, and his financial, commercial and industrial interests in Crawford county are probably as varied and extensive as those of any other man. At the present time he is vice president of the First State Bank of Pittsburg.

Mr. Hoyt during his career in this county has been more or less interested in politics from the standpoint of good citizenship. In 1875 he was elected to represent his county in the state legislature, and was the youngest member of the house at the time. His most notable part as a legislator was as chairman of the special committee which was appointed to revise and codify the school laws of the state.

Mr. Hoyt married Miss Melissa Embree, a native of Monroe county, Missouri. They have one daughter, Miss Eva Blanche, who is a student in Christian College, Columbia, Missouri.