Born about 1625 in England [uncertain]

Descendants

Died before 1652 in Fairfield County, Colony of Connecticut [uncertain]

Profile managers: Puritan Great Migration Project WikiTree [send private message] and Cynthia B [send private message]

Unknown (Unknown) Hoyt migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1620-1640). Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Biography

Origin

This profile represents the first wife of Walter Hoyt, early immigrant to Connecticut. Her first name and maiden names are unknown, and we do not know her parents.^[1] She is assumed to have been born in England, as were most of the early immigrants to Massachusetts and Connecticut.

The birth date is an estimate, based on her approximate marriage date.

Marriage and Children

She married by about 1642 (eldest child born c. 1642) to Walter Hoyt.^[1] She must have died by about 1652 when Walter married, as his second, to Rhoda (Tinker) Hobbs Taylor.^[1]

Children of Walter Hoyt and his first wife (name unknown):

1. Elizabeth Hoyt, m. at Norwalk, Samuel St. John in 1663.^[2] This may have caused the confusion of his first wife's name.
2. John Hoyt, b. at Windsor 13 July 1644^[2]
3. Thomas Hoyt,* d by 11 Feb 1695/6 (not incl. in Walter's will)^[3]
4. Hannah Hoyt, m. at Norwalk, 20 Oct. 1664, Judah Gregory^[2]
5. Child of "Hoyt", d. at Windsor 1647^[2]

*Thomas is not included by Jacobus, but Prindle identifies evidence for him.

Research Notes

Question: Is the first wife of William Hoyt actually Elizabeth St. John?

The first wife of William Hoyt is often said to be Elizabeth St. John (aka Sension), a sister of Mathias Sension Sr.^[4][5] Note that this relationship is not accepted by Anderson in his Great Migration series or Jacobus in his Families of Old Fairfield.^[6][7]

So what is the evidence:

• The will of Mathias Sension Sr. gives "unto my dearly beloved brother and sister Hoyt, 20 shillings as a token of my love."
• Walter Hoite was a witness to the this will by Mathias Sension Sr.
• On 3 January 1670/1, the town of Norwalk voted that Mathias Sension Jr. "is to take up his proportion of six acres to the hundred upon Elie's Neck next to his uncle Hoite."
• Walter Hoyt and Mathias Sension Sr. moved to Norwalk together and settled on adjoining property.

So, if Mathias Sension Sr called Walter Hoyt his "dearly beloved brother," and Mathias Sension jr was given land next to "uncle Hoite," is the best solution that Walter Hoyt must have married a sister of Mathias Sension Sr? It turns out there are problems with this and better solutions.

Problems and solution:

Though Mathias Sension and Walter Hoyt were clearly related somehow the relationship is not clearly stated or proven. It is just as possible that Mathias and Walter had married sisters, as the terms uncle and brother would have this meaning in the 17th century.

The English origins of Mathias Sension have been identified and published.^[8][9] He was the son of Christopher Sension of St. Olave Silver Street parish in London. The parish records at St. Olave Silver Street and the will of Christopher Sension show that he had four surviving sons and no surviving daughters. Mathias Sension had no sisters who could have been the wife of Walter Hoyt.

The relationship is explained by the fact that they did marry sisters.^[10] The second wife of Walter Hoyt has been identified as Rhoda Tinker, while the wife of Mathias Sension was Mary Tinker. They are both daughters of Robert Tinker and Mary Merwin.

Sources

Footnotes and citations:

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Anderson, Robert Charles, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, vol. 2: G - O, (Boston: NEHGS, 1995): pages 1027-1032, biography of Simon Hoyt. AmericanAncestors.org link
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3} Jacobus, Donald Lines. History and Genealogy of the Families of Old Fairfield.' vol. 1part 3. (1930): page 295.
3. ↑ Prindle, Paul W., (Oct 1991) "Thomas, Son of Walter Hoyt, of Windsor and Norwalk, Conn." The American Genealogist. AmericanAncestors.org NEHGS (Vol 66, Pages 217-18).
4. ↑ E.g. Knapp, Alfred Averill. The Ancestral Lines of Mary Lenore Knapp. (Peoria, 1947): page 106. HathiTrust.org link.
5. ↑ E.G. Hickok, Charles Nelson. The Hickok Genealogy: Descendants of William Hickoks of Farmington, Connecticut. (Rutlan, Vt., 1938): pages 350-351. Ancestry.com link
6. ↑ Anderson, Robert Charles, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, vol. 2: G - O, (Boston: NEHGS, 1995): pages 1027-1032, biography of Simon Hoyt. AmericanAncestors.org link
7. ↑ Jacobus, Donald Lines. History and Genealogy of the Families of Old Fairfield.' vol. 1part 3. (1930): page 295 HathiTrust.org link
8. ↑ The American Genealogist, vol. 53 (1977): page 241-243. "Two Contemporaries Named Mathias Sension," by Robert Leigh Ward. AmericanAncestors.org link
9. ↑ New England Historical and Genealogical Register, vol. 167 no. 2. (April 2013): pages 85-95. "Origins of Mathias and Nicholas Sension Determined," by Jerome Lafayette Santken. AmericanAncestors.org link
10. ↑ New England Historical and Genealogical Register, vol. 149 no. 4 (October 1995): pages 401-432. "The English Ancestry of of the Merwin and Tinker Families of New England, " by Dougas Richardson. AmericanAncestors.org link

Source list:

• Anderson, Robert Charles. Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, volume VI, R–S. (Boston: NEHGS, 2009): pages 228-234, biography of Matthew Sension. AmericanAncestors.org link

• Anderson, Robert Charles, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, vol. 2: G - O, (Boston: NEHGS, 1995): pages 1027-1032, biography of Simon Hoyt. AmericanAncestors.org link

• The American Genealogist, vol. 53 (1977): page 241-243. "Two Contemporaries Named Mathias Sension," by Robert Leigh Ward. AmericanAncestors.org link

• Hall, Edwin. "The Ancient Historical Records of Norwalk, Connecticut. (Norwalk, 1847): page 23. HathiTrust.org link.

• Hickok, Charles Nelson. The Hickok Genealogy: Descendants of William Hickoks of Farmington, Connecticut. (Rutland, Vt., 1938): pages 350-351. Ancestry.com link

• Hoyt, David Webster. A Genealogical History of the Hoyt, Haight, and Hight Families... (Providence, 1871): pages 292-296.Archive.org link Caution: Contains some errors.

• Jacobus, Donald Lines. History and Genealogy of the Families of Old Fairfield. vol. 1part 3. (1930): page 295 HathiTrust.org link

• Knapp, Alfred Averill. The Ancestral Lines of Mary Lenore Knapp. (Peoria, 1947): page 106. HathiTrust.org link.

• New England Historical and Genealogical Register, vol. 149 no. 4 (October 1995): pages 401-432. "The English Ancestry of of the Merwin and Tinker Families of New England," by Dougas Richardson. AmericanAncestors.org link

• New England Historical and Genealogical Register, vol. 167 no. 2. (April 2013): pages 85-95. "Origins of Mathias and Nicholas Sension Determined," by Jerome Lafayette Santken. AmericanAncestors.org link

• Sinclair, Doug, (1998-2005) "Walter Hoyt."

More Genealogy Tools