Robert C. Hoard (''c.'' 1787 – May 10, 1867) was an American

smelter Smelting is a process of applying heat and a chemical reducing agent to an ore to extract a desired base metal product. It is a form of extractive metallurgy that is used to obtain many metals such as iron, copper, silver, tin, lead and zin ...

, attorney, and politician from Mineral Point,

Wisconsin Territory The Territory of Wisconsin was an organized and incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 3, 1836, until May 29, 1848, when an eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Wisconsin. Belm ...

who served in the legislature of the Territory and held other local offices, including that of

militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

during the

Black Hawk War The Black Hawk War was a conflict between the United States and Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans led by Black Hawk (Sauk leader), Black Hawk, a Sauk people, Sauk leader. The war erupted after Black Hawk and a group of ...

In Wisconsin

Hoard settled in Mineral Point in 1828 (he would live there the rest of his life), and with his partner John Long was the first to build a smelting furnace in the area, two miles east of "the Point." In 1831, Hoard built a smelting furnace in Kendall.

Black Hawk War

During the

, Hoard was the Iowa County militia commander of the

stockade A stockade is an enclosure of palisades and tall walls, made of logs placed side by side vertically, with the tops sharpened as a defensive wall. Etymology ''Stockade'' is derived from the French word ''estocade''. The French word was derived f ...

Fort Defiance, about five miles southeast of Mineral Point. Hoard and the 65 militiamen under him were called into service May 21, 1832, and mustered out August 20, 1832.

Public office

In April 1831, Hoard was a member of the first organized Iowa County

county board A county board is a common form of county legislature, particular of counties in the United States. Related forms of county government include: * Board of Supervisors — a form of county legislature in some U.S. states * County commission, ...

meeting, representing the Pecatonica

electoral precinct A precinct or voting district (U.S. terms), polling district (UK term) or polling division (Canadian term), constituency(Indian term)is a subdivision of an electoral district, typically a contiguous area within which all electors go to a single ...

. In 1835, those parts of

Michigan Territory The Territory of Michigan was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from June 30, 1805, until January 26, 1837, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Michigan. Detroit ...

who were not set to become part of the new State of

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

were invited to elect members to a seventh and last Michigan Territorial Council (the so-called "Rump Council"). Hoard was elected from Iowa County, but resigned almost as quickly as his election was certified (elected October 5, resigned October 9), and thus was one of the four (out of thirteen) who did not attend the "Rump Council" when it met (briefly) in January of 1836. In 1837 and 1838, Hoard was appointed twice as a commissioner to lay out territorial highways which were to pass through Mineral Point. In April of 1838, after the creation of

and the separation of other areas into new counties, the remainder of Iowa County held its first county board meeting, and Hoard was one of the three members of what was now called the county's board of commissioners. In 1840-1841, he was serving as attorney for Iowa County.

Death

Hoard died May 10, 1867, at his home in Mineral Point, "aged about 80 years" and was buried in the Old City Cemetery."Died. Hoard". ''Mineral Point Tribune'' May 15, 1867
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoard, Robert C. 1780s births 1867 deaths Date of birth uncertain Members of the Michigan Territorial Legislature