Jesse Hoyt (June 28, 1792 – March 17, 1867) was an American lawyer and politician from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

Early life

Hoyt was born in

New Canaan New Canaan () is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 20,622 according to the 2020 census. The town is part of the Western Connecticut Planning Region. About an hour from New York City by train, the town ...

Fairfield County, Connecticut Fairfield County is a County (United States), county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is the List of counties in Connecticut, most populous county in the state and was also its fastest-growing from 2010 to 2020. ...

on June 28, 1792. He was the second son and third born of nine total children of Goold Hoyt, a merchant and broker, and Sarah (

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

Reid) Hoyt. His paternal grandparents were Justus Hoyt, a shoemaker and farmer who served one campaign in the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...

, and Elizabeth Hoyt and his maternal grandfather was Timothy Reed.

Career

He moved to

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. Albany is the oldes ...

, and became a merchant but failed. Then, he studied law with

Martin Van Buren Martin Van Buren ( ; ; December 5, 1782 – July 24, 1862) was the eighth president of the United States, serving from 1837 to 1841. A primary founder of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as Attorney General o ...

, was admitted to the bar in 1819, and commenced practice in partnership with Van Buren and

Benjamin F. Butler Benjamin Franklin Butler (November 5, 1818 – January 11, 1893) was an American major general of the Union Army, politician, lawyer, and businessman from Massachusetts. Born in New Hampshire and raised in Lowell, Massachusetts, Butler was a ...

Hudson, New York Hudson is a Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in and the county seat of Columbia County, New York, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, it had a population of 5,894. On the east side of the Hudson River, f ...

. Soon after, Hoyt removed to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, and continued the practice of law there, specializing in

Chancery Chancery may refer to: Offices and administration * Court of Chancery, the chief court of equity in England and Wales until 1873 ** Equity (law), also called chancery, the body of jurisprudence originating in the Court of Chancery ** Courts of e ...

cases. He was a member from New York County of the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Ass ...

in 1823. Hoyt was part of the

Bucktails The Bucktails (1818–1826) were the faction of the Democratic-Republican Party in the US state of New York opposed to Governor DeWitt Clinton. It was influenced by the Tammany Society. The name derives from a Tammany insignia, a deer's tail wo ...

faction of the

Democratic-Republican Party The Democratic-Republican Party (also referred to by historians as the Republican Party or the Jeffersonian Republican Party), was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early 1790s. It championed li ...

. In 1838, Hoyt was appointed by President Van Buren as

Collector of the Port of New York The Collector of Customs at the Port of New York, most often referred to as Collector of the Port of New York, was a federal officer who was in charge of the collection of import duties on foreign goods that entered the United States by ship at ...

to replace

Samuel Swartwout Samuel Swartwout (November 17, 1783 – November 21, 1856) was an American soldier, merchant, speculator, and politician. He is best known for his role in the Swartwout-Hoyt scandal, in which he was alleged to have embezzled $1,222,705.09 ...

who had been Collector since 1829. Soon after Hoyt's taking office, Swartwout was accused of embezzlement, but in February 1841, Van Buren was forced to remove Hoyt by appointing

John J. Morgan John Jordan Morgan (1770 – July 29, 1849) was an American politician from New York (state), New York. From 1821 to 1825, and again briefly from late 1834 to early 1835, he served in the United States House of Representatives , U.S. House ...

as Collector, after Hoyt had also been accused of embezzlement. The episode became known as the Swartwout-Hoyt scandal. Afterwards, Hoyt resumed the practice of law.

Personal life

On April 3, 1828, he married Cornelia Emeline Thurston (1803–1852). She was the daughter of Robert Jenkins Thurston and Abigail (née Bogert) Thurston. Together, they were the parents of six children: * Cornelia Thurston Hoyt (1829–1888). * Louis Thurston Hoyt (1834–1901), who married Marie Antoinette Bogert (1839–1879). After her death, he married Frances Mary Jones (1839–1930). * William Henry Hoyt. * Emily Adele Hoyt (1838–1889), who married Francis Adams De Wint (1834–1866). * Robert Sands Hoyt (1840–1879). * Ella Carroll Hoyt, who married J. de Wint Whittemore. Hoyt died in New York City on March 17, 1867.

References

;Notes ;Sources

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hoyt, Jesse 1792 births 1867 deaths New York (state) Jacksonians New York (state) Democratic-Republicans Collectors of the Port of New York Members of the New York State Assembly Politicians from New York City People from Hudson, New York People from New Canaan, Connecticut Lawyers from New York City 19th-century members of the New York State Legislature