Los Angeles County, CA, Biographies

This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives 
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm

 
ALBERT H. HOYT 
 
is one of the California pioneers of 1849, and for more than thirty‑five years 
has been a resident of Los Angeles County, closely identified with its marvelous 
growth and prosperity. He is a native of New York, dating his birth in Orange 
County, in 1830. His father, Rev. Albert Hoyt, of the Episcopal Church, was also 
born in New York, and was a descendant of an old family in Connecticut. His 
mother, whose maiden name was Gertrude Lawrence, was from one of the prominent 
families of New York. Mr. Hoyt's father died in 1831, leaving him to the care of 
his mother, by whom he was reared and educated. He finished his studies at 
Rutger's College in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He then engaged in teaching. The 
California gold fever of 1848 and 1849 swept over the country and claimed
him as a victim. In February, 1849, he embarked on board the bark Clarisa 
Perkins, for the Golden State. He was one of a company of 120 men who had 
chartered that vessel for a voyage around Cape Horn to San Francisco. The vessel 
left New York Harbor February 6, 1849, and it was not until September 16 that 
they entered the Golden Gate of San Francisco Harbor. Soon after his arrival in 
that city, Mr. Hoyt sought his fortunes in the mines on the American River, 
where he remained for about six months. Not meeting with the desired success or 
reaping a rich harvest from his labors, he returned to Sacramento, and then 
located in Solano County, where he engaged in farming, continuing there until 
1853. In the latter year his mother, coming from the East, joined him at 
Benicia, and they came to Los Angeles at once. He located in the San Gabriel 
Valley at El Monte, in 1854, and she remained in Los Angeles, teaching. There he 
purchased seventy-three acres of land lying just south of the village. In 
addition to conducting agricultural pursuits upon his farm he also engaged as a 
teacher in the school at El Monte, and in the year 1855 taught in Los Angeles. 
In 1856 his sister, who was also a teacher, joined her mother in Los Angeles, 
and for many years they were prominently identified with the schools of that 
city. His mother died in Los Angeles in 1863. As Mr. Hoyt cleared his land and 
brought his acres under cultivation, he abandoned his calling as a teacher and 
devoted himself to agricultural pursuits. Excepting about two acres, comprising 
a family orchard, he has devoted his land to hay, grain and stock. Alfalfa is 
grown without irrigation, yielding six or seven crops each year, and averaging 
ten tons per acre per annum. Mr. Hoyt has some fine specimens of Guernsey 
cattle. The subject of this sketch is well and favorably known throughout the 
San Gabriel Valley and other sections of the county. He was one of those men 
who, in the earlier days, identified themselves with the best elements and 
enterprises of the section, strongly supporting the establishment and 
maintenance of schools, etc. He has a large circle of friends and acquaintances 
by whom he is respected and esteemed. Politically he is an Independent. During 
the dark days of the Rebellion he was a strong Union man, and a supporter of the 
Republican administration. Mr. Hoyt is unmarried, a hale and hearty man of 
nearly sixty years. He makes books his companions and solace when not engaged in 
the active pursuits of life. In connection with the life-history of this 
pioneer, it may not be out of place to state that El Monte was the first 
American settlement in Los Angeles County.
 
An Illustrated History of Los Angeles County, California �  Chicago, The Lewis 
Publishing Company, 1889   Page 507
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler