| Notes |
- Hoyt initially studied the printing trade in the office of his brothers,Charles and John, in Mansfield, Ohio, while in school. In 1848, afterturning 21, he was able to indulge a long-held dream to visitless-traveled parts of the country. Finding his way to Des Moines, Iowa,he quickly decided to make it his home. He soon entered public service asa school fund commissioner. His demonstrated business skills in this roleearned him appointment to the position of deputy postmaster, which heheld until 1849, when he was named postmaster of Des Moines, servinguntil 1853. As postmaster, he built the city's first dedicated postoffice building, moving the postal operation out of a barracks building.
In 1849, Hoyt was admitted to the bar, becoming one of the city's mostprominent attornies and a clerk of the district court.
He established the bank of Hoyt Sherman and Company, building areputation for character and integrity which earned it considerablesuccess, particularly in the trust of the company's banknotes, animportant factor in the era before the issue of any official federalcurrency other than coin. In 1858, a new state constitution allowed theestablishment of the State Bank of Iowa with authority to issue note.Hoyt was appointed cashier of the Des Moines branch and one of the StateBank's directors, merging Hoyt Sherman and Company into the new bank.
With the outbreak of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincolncommissioned Hoyt a major and named him a paymaster in the Army. He heldthe post for three years, without discrepancy of even a penny.
After the war, he served in the Iowa legislature in 1866. In 1867, he wasan organizer of the Equitable Life Insurance Company of Iowa, servingfirst as actuary, then secretary, and in Janaury of 1874 beginning afourteen-year tenure as president.
Actively committed to the development and betterment of his home town,Hoyt was a founder of the Des Moines Water Company in 1871, and 1876, wasa founder and president of the Iowa Industrial Exposition Company whichsought to establish a museum for arts and industries of the state.Several years after his death, Hoyt's own spacious home, left vacant,began its evolution into the current Hoyt Sherman Place, a majorperforming arts center and museum.
--source: "History of Des Moines and Polk County", Johnson Brigham.
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General Sherman's Brother Ill
DES MOINES, Jan. 7.--Major Hoyt Sherman, of this city, and brother of thelate General W. T. Sherman, is seriously ill of pneumonia.
[Philadelphia Inquirer (PA), 8 January 1904]
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MAJOR HOYT SHERMAN DEAD
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Brother of General W. T. and of John Sherman.
Des Moines, Ia., Jan. 25--Major Hoyt Sherman, brother of General W. T.Sherman and of Secretary John Sherman, died at his home here today.
Major Sherman was one of the oldest residents of Des Moines, and theSherman home on Woodland avenue is one of the finest in the city. He hadbeen in poor health for several years.
[Omaha World Herald (NE), 26 January 1904]
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** A photo of Hoyt is available at my website. **
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Old Dead Relatives
1827 - 1904 (76 years)
