|
SOME INTERESTING OBSERVATIONS ON THE ORIGIN
OF THE NAME HYATT . . .
1. Extracted from the files of Elizabeth
Hyatt Ogden (USA c1920-30) and copied
into the book "Hiatt-Hiett Genealogy and Family
History" by William Perry Johnson c1951, held In the
Public Library, Denver, Colorado...
"Do (work) and hope"
|
Next to finding my
ancestors, the origin of the
Hyatt name had always held
my interest, and for many months past I had
given this subject my undivided attention.
In the very outset I was thrown into
confusion by the multiplicity of
Hyatt family traditions.
One branch reasoned that we were descended
from the Irish Quakers, I would find the
name in close proximity to the O's and
Mac's.
Another claimed just as
stourly that we were of Welsh families and
therefore I must go to Pembroke, Carmathen
and Glamorganshires for the original name.
A third insisted that our American
ancestors came to America from Holland,
therefore the name was Dutch. A genealogist
in the family remarked that it was singular
that searchers went everywhere except to
England and that that country fairly
bristled with the name. I decided to take
up each separately, follow it as far as I
could and see what came of it.
I began with the Quakers,
and studied them thoroughly both in America
and in Ireland. I found a few of the name
in and around Dublin but not in such
numbers as to place the name prominently in
the list of Irish nomenclature. Next came
the Welsh, and after careful investigation
I found almost nothing outside the three
counties before mentioned, and later I
found that these counties were once strong
Norman strongholds.
In Holland I trailed the
Hayts, Heydts, etc. but not a single
reference to the two-syllabled name of the
large family we know as
Hyatt. I examined
carefully several volumes on German names
and families, which were said to contain
every German names and families, which were
said to contain every German name ever
known but Hyatt was
conspicuously absent.
|
England was all that was left and I
should have entered that field with temerity but for
confidence I placed in the judgement of the genealogist
before mentioned. I might remark that I had run across
Hyatt families in Virginia and a few
in Maryland, who claimed French descent, and this
greatly puzzled me as I could see nothing French about
the name. In my research for Hyatts in
England I found Gloucestershire a mine of information.
I went very thoroughly over records of the County which
included parish records, birth, marriages, burials,
monument inscriptions will books, etc. and lastly deeds
of property, governments, coat-of -arms, crests etc. I
found the name everywhere in all its forms - Hiet,
Hiatt, Hyatt, Hiett, etc, extending
back to a period not far from the Norman Conquest, and
I noticed how closely they had been associated with the
leaders of the invasion, had fought with them, helped
to build and defend their castles and strongholds etc.,
and I began to ask myself how this could have been if
they were of native English origin. My investigations
in Gloucestershire led me into the adjoining county of
Hereford as they were almost one. There I found Hyets,
Hiattes, as Constables of St. Bilarfell's Castle, built
by, or given to William Fitz-Osbern 'the ablest soldier
that had fought at Senlac, the last battle of the
Conqueror, who was rewarded with the Earldom of
Hereford' (1067) (Edwards' Wales page 490. This is not
a mere title, but meant that the government of one or
more shires which he was to protect and defend, and
this castle was in the fort built for the defence of
his earldom from the aggressions of the Welsh, and the
Hiatts were its custodians and warriors. They were also
Lords Wardens of the Forest of Deane which John Leland
describes as follows: .."There hath been a very greate
campe of Menne of Warre on an Hille now cauled Nebly,
overgrown with Wosse about the mydle way betwixt
Wottonunderedge and Dersley but nerer to Wottunderedge.
The Lord Lisle was slayn with an arow by one James
Hiatte, of the Forest of Deane, in Nebley Paroch"..
(Propr to 1309) Bristol and Glouc. Arch. Soc. XIV 259).
What had been a suspicion had now become almost a
conclusion - that the Hyatts were of Norman
origin.
Reasoning that if there were
Hyatts in Western and central England,
there must be some representatives in Eastern England
also, I went from Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to
Oxfordshire where I found the name as far back as 1568
in Oxford, Chipping, Norton, Wotten Pyrton etc. Early
in my researches I had on my list as a desirable book
to investigate Cusan's History of Herefordshire and I
decided now was the time to examine it. In the index
Vol. 2 was the name 'Aiete'. I felt instinctively that
I had discovered the goal for which I had been seeking
- the original name of the Hyatts, but
I had yet to prove it to myself. I could clearly see
that the name was of Norman origin and could account
for the loss of the "H" see but felt anxious as to
whether I could corroborate my Hypothesis. Accidentally
I came upon a volume entitled, The Norman people. In
this was a "list of Norman names taken from the London
Directory". Turning to page 292 I found Hyett and
Hyatt. Now sure enough there was the
real name in a list of Norman names taken form the
London Directory. What better proof did I need? And yet
I picked up Narber's British family names., and read
Hyatt - from 'Ayott', a local name in
Herts. Flemish 'Hyart' a proper name. (page 173). Later
I found the name Hyart in what was formerly Flanders,
and still further on in what was at the time Normandy,
'Des Hayettes'. Now remember the 'H' in the French
language is always silent and was not even used in
writing by early Norman families in England, but with
the proclivity of the English to put an 'H' where it
did not belong, it was easy to see how this letter was
restored in due course of time and the name 'aiete' (ai
pronounced I as in aigrette and aisle) became Hyett the
universally English spelling and later on
Hyatt and Hiatt and as unlimited
number of variations.
The earliest spelling of the name with
a 'H' in England as far as my researches here have gone
was in 1552, when --- Hiett, daughter of --- Hiett,
born about 1552, marries (first wife) William Rumney,
of Sickley Worcertershire, England died about 1632,
eat. 80 (Visitation of Worcertershire, 1682. p. 81);
and again when James Hyett was licensed to wed Margaret
Norkett (now Norcutt) December 6, 1580, in
Berkhampstead, Herts' right in the locality of the ide
Aiette.'
The original spelling of the name as I
have shown, up to the Norman Conquest and for 300 years
later, was 'Aiete', but the spelling of names then
depended entirely upon the education and inclination of
whoever wielded the pen, and we find it spelled Aiete,
Ayette, Ayot, Ayotte, Ayoye, Eyete, Aihate, etc. So it
is not surprising to find as many variations after the
'H' was restored.
2. Origin of the Hyatt name, as
compiled by Galen Hiett Swimley (USA 1880-1953)...
"Do (work) and hope"
|
The early
Hyatts, etc., were most
numerous in the region of the
Forest of Dean, in
Gloucestershire. This Forest, from
before the memory of man, was a royal park
or hunting ground, divided into enclosures
called 'hyes', the entrance to each being
called a 'yatt' -- the Gloucestershire
dialect.
I suggest that the name
Hyatt (apparently the
older spelling) was given the founder of
the family from his being appointed 'Warden
of the Yatt' -- stationed at the Hye Yatt
to guard against poachers and trespassers,
etc.' (Sir Francis Adams Hyett, Paineswick
House, Stroud, England -- 1927.)
According to my
information, the ancestor .... was Roger
(de) Ayeatt, one of William the Conqueror's
henchmen (1066), who settled in England
after crossing the English Channel ...'
(from Normandy). (Chauncey A.
Hyatt, 5555 Sheridan Road,
Chicago, Illinois- 1930.)
The letter 'H' being
silent in most French dialects, 'Ayeatt'
may be a Norman French misspelling of the
Saxon 'Hye Yatt'. Thus 'Roger (de) Ayeatt'
would be equivalent to 'Roger of the Hye
Yatt'.
There is a possibility
that the original Norman name may
have been 'D' 'Urberville', as the
Hyatt-Hiatt coat-of-arms
bear the rampant lion of D'Urberville (the
'Lion of England'- which can be borne only
by those of royal descent or with the
king's permission), to which is added the
saw-tooth design (fesse indented) of the D'
Abignys, two apparently connected families.
(See 'D' Aubigny Turberville' in Ency.
Biog.).
Moreover, it is suggestive
that the Crest of Hyett of Painswick is a
castle. (See Tess of the D'Urbervilles, by
Thos. Hardy: ' --- a ramping lion, and over
it a castle', as the D'Urberville Arms.) If
this be correct. He would receive a
'place-name' -- Roger (D'Urberville) de
Ayeatt -- to distinguish him from
D'Urbervilles of London or some other
place, later becoming
'Hyatt', just as Hertburn
de Wessyngton (a place-name) became
Washington.
|
1327 - John atte Hagheyate, co. Soms., I Edward III:
Kirby's Quest for Somerset, in which is contained
the Exchequer Lay Subsidy for I Edward III.
(Somerset Record Society -- 1889. Edited by F.H.
Dickinson, F. S. A.)
1583 - Thomas Hiegat, Co. Middlesex. Reg. Univ.
Oxf. Vol. Ii
(Register of the University of Oxford
Volume I and II- parts I-ii-iii-iv. Edited by A.
Clark - 1887-89.)
1590 - Richard Seyman - Elizabeth Hyegate: marriage
Lic. (London) i-189.
(1520-1828 - Allegations for
Marriage Licenses issued by the Bishop of London.
Edited by Geo. J. Armygate.)
1608 - Buried-Elizabeth Hyeat, servant to Mr.
Moore: St. Dionis Backchurch, p. 210.
(Pub. Of the
Harleian Soc. - St. Dionis Backchurch, London
(1538-1754). Edited by J. Lemuel Chester.)
1630 - (buried?) - a child of John Hiyates: St.
Antholin (London), p. 64.
(Pub. of the Harlein Soc.
- St. Antholin, Budge Row (1538-1754));
(also St. Antholin,
Watling Street, edited by J. Lemuel Chester and Geo. J. Armytage.)
1651-2 - Married-William Hyott and Anne Hatchman :
St. Dionis Backchurch, p. 28.
1718 - Married - John Hiott and Isabella Barnes: St
. Peter, Cornhill, ii. 72. (Pub. of the Harlein
Soc. - St. Peter, Cornhill.
(1538-1774 - 2 vols.).
Edited by G. W. G. Leveson Gower.)
1751 - Married-Edwards Hyatt and
Martha Fuller: St. Michael, Cornhill, ii. 72. (Pub.
of the Harlein Soc.-St. Peter, Cornhill.
(1546-1754). Edited by J. Lemuel Chester.)
In the same register spelt Hyatt
in 1652 and Hyet in 1653. London, MDB (Co. Glou.).
Maryport (Co. Cumb.) (Highett) 1; (Co. Oxford).
(MDB-refers to Modern Domeday Book. 1873.).
The foregoing accounts of the origin
of the name Hiatt, though differing slightly, agree on
most points. There can be no doubt but what out Hiatt
ancestors have resided in England from the time of
William the Conqueror down to the 17th and 18th
centuries when they came to America. It is highly
probable that the original home of the family was in
Normandy. Since the English lineage of John Hiett,
Quaker, from England to Pennsylvania 1699, has not been
traced, further data on English Hiatts will be omitted
from this volume. Since our John Hiett has no proven
claim to any of the English coats-of-arms, they, too,
shall be shown for illustration only.
3. Origin of the name, various edited extracts from
"Hiatt-Hiett Genealogy and Family History" by William
Perry Johnson (USA 1879-1964), held In the Public
Library, Denver, Colorado. First published and
distributed by the Jesse Hiatt family association in
1951...
"Do (work) and hope"
|
From the beginning,
libraries were searched for HIATT data. In
my quest for genealogical data I visited
some of the largest libraries in the United
States, including those in Indianapolis,
Indiana; Chicago, Illinois; Detroit,
Michigan; :Cincinnati, Ohio; Louisville,
Kentucky; Topeka, Kansas; Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania; New York, New York;
Washington, D.C.; Baltimore, Maryland,;
Richmond, Virginia; Raleigh, North
Carolina; Jacksonville, Florida; Salt Lake
City, Utah; Los Angeles,
California.
Among the Hiatts and Hiatt
descendants recorded are many whose lives
are known to have been especially
interesting, outstand ing or unusual.
Stories of colonial and pioneer life. There
are tales of Indian massacres, the
Revolutionary and Civil Wars, pioneering
experiences in many of the states, ect. One
descendant was a marker for George
Washington at the time he was a surveyor in
Fredrick Co., Va., and owned land surveyed
by him. Another was a guide for Gen.
Nathaniel Greene at the time of the Battle
of Guilford courthouse –1781. Three became
members of the congress of the United
States a century and a half ago. One was
with Lee at the time his surrender. Another
marched with Sherman “ to the sea”. One was
in attendance at Ford’s theatre in
Washington D. C., the night president
Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. Another
married a descendant of Pocahontas. An
early settler in Iowa was the originator of
the Delicious Apple. Three or four have
been honored in Who’s Who. And so on and
on. (The Hiatt - Hiett family presents a
good cross-section of stalwart American
citizenry, of the kind that has been for
generations –and will continue to be – the
backbone of this great land of
ours.)
THE family of Hiatt (many
and varied spellings) was well established
in America by 1790, according to the first
Federal census taken in that year.
1790-when the three largest cities in the
United States were :
New York City, with a population of
33,131;
Philadelphia, with a population of
28,522;
Boston, with a population of 18,320.
|
Census records show that in 1790 there
were over 100 Heads of Families, with the average size
of a Hiatt family being 5.9. There were over 500 other
members, making a grand total of between 600 to 700
Hiatts in America in 1790, including men, women, and
children. The total population of the United States in
1790, excluding slaves, was 5,231,533., or about
540,000 Heads of Families. Thus, approximately one
family in every 500 was a Hiatt family. However, during
the War of 1812, when the British burned the national
capitol, the 1790 census records for Delaware, Georgia,
Kentucky, New Jersey, and Tennessee, and Virginia were
destroyed. A "1790 Census' has since been compiled for
Virginia from 1782-87 Tax Lists (if extant) for
Georgia, New Jersey, and Tennessee have not been
searched for Hiatts, but there may have been a few of
the name there at that time. The 1790 census lists 17
different spellings, as follows:
Hyatt, Hiat, Hiatt, Hiet, Hiett,
Highat, Highet, Hiot, Hiott, Huyet,
Hyat, Hyet, Hyett, Hyette, Hyetts,
Hyot, and Hyott. 12 families are listed for
Connecticut, 3 in Delaware, 3 in Kentucky, 10 in
Maryland, 28 in New York, 32 in North Carolina, 4 in
Pennsylvania, 7 in South Carolina, and 12 in Virginia.
It is interesting to note that there was not even one
Hiatt in any of the following New England States in
1790: Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode
Island, and Vermont.
As the foregoing data shows, there
were at least 112 Hiatt families in the United States
in 1790, scattered over 9 of the 17 states then
existing. The Hiatts can be divided, rougly, into four
large groups:
1. Descendants of Thomas Hyatt ,
England to America 1629-39, who settled first at
Dorchester, Massachusetts, and later at Stamford,
Connecticut, and are, for the most part, those
Hiatts living 1790 in New York and Connecticut.
2. Descendants of Charles Hyatt of
Maryland, who settled there the latter half of the
17th century, and who are the Hiatts of Maryland
and Pennsylvania in 1790.
3. Descendants of John Hiett, Quaker, England to
Pennsylvania 1699, who are found in 1790 in
Virginia and North Carolina.
4. Descendants of others of the name who settled in
the American colonies at various times and places.
The descendants of John Hiet, Quaker,
comprised approximately one fourth of all the Hiatts in
America in 1790. Today, however, it is estimated that
one Hiatt (or Hiett) out of every two descends from
John Hiett, Quaker. There are today in the United
States 18 hamlets, villages, towns, and cities named
after the Hiatt or Hyatt (various
spellings) family: (Those marked with an asterisk (*)
are named for descendants of John Hiett, Quaker -
editor.)
Alabama, Hyatt, Marshall County,
mail Horton, population: 45.
Indiana, Hyatt, Daviess County,
mail Washington, population: 10.
* Iowa, Hiattsville, Appanoose County, mail
Moravia, population: 2.
* Kansas, Hiatt, Leavenworth County, mail
Leavenworth. Hiattville, Bourbon County,
population: 75.
Kentucky, Hiatt, Rockcastle County, mail Brodhead,
population:24. Hyattsville,
Garrard County, mail Lancaster, population:20.
Louisiana, Hyatt, Beauregard
County, mail Fields.
Maryland, Huyett, Washington County, mail
Hagerstown, population: 100.
Hyattstown, Montgomery County,
population: 103. Hyattsville,
Prince Georges County, population: 6,575.
New York, Hyatt, St. Lawrence
County, mail Gouvenuer.
* Ohio, Hiett, Brown County, mail Ripley.
Hyatts
(Hyattville), Delaware County,
mail Powell, population: 200.
South Carolina, Hyatts, Richland
County, mail Columbia, population:220.
Tennessee, Hyatt, Polk County,
mail Copperhill, population: 20.
Texas, Hyatt, Tyler County, mail
Warren, population :50.
Wyoming, Hyattville, Big Horn
County, population:120.
By 1800 the descendants of John Hiett,
Quaker, who had settled 1699 in Pennsylvania, were
living in Virginia and North Carolina and were one of
the largest of American Quaker families. Soon after
1800 most of them removed to Ohio and Indiana, and
today are found in nearly all of the forty-eight
states. From six members in 1830 the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints has grown to a membership
of more than a million. There are now more than one
thousand present-day (1950's) descendants of John
Hiett, Quaker, members of this denomination.
The foregoing accounts of the origin
of the name Hiatt, though differing slightly, agree on
most points. There can be no doubt but what out Hiatt
ancestors have resided in England from the time of
William the Conqueror down to the 17th and 18th
centuries when they came to America. It is highly
probable that the original home of the family was in
Normandy. Since the English lineage of John Hiett,
Quaker, from England to Pennsylvania 1699, has not been
traced, further data on English Hiatts will be omitted
from this volume. Since our John Hiett has no proven
claim to any of the English coats-of-arms, they, too,
shall be shown for illustration only.
The following are the research results
(c1950) of Miss Isabel Grubb, of Seskin, Carrick on
Suir, Co. Tipperary, Ireland:
Rachel Hiett of Dublin daughter of Mathew and
Margar et Hiett from London married Samuel Fuller
in Dublin 1705-4-26 (4th mo-June)
Joseph Hiett son of Matthew and Margaret married
Jane Royce from Kilmore, Co. Armagh, in Dublin
1713-3-26 (3rd mo-may)
Thomas Hiett (parents unknown) married Elizabeth
Miller at Timahoe 1725-2mo (April)
Jane Hiett widow of Joseph married Robert Scott of
Dublin 1726-3 (May)-17
James Hiett Dublin sons of Joseph married Elizabeth
Chaunders of Cloncourse at Monadrehid 1733-7
(Sept)-27
George born 1714-1(March)-27 son of Joseph and Jane
James born 1715-11 (Jan 1716)-26 son of Joseph and
Jane
Matthew? 1707 husband of Margaret buried 1701-9
(Nov)-20
George died 1716-6 (Aug)-20 son of Joseph and Jane
Joseph died 1724-5 (July)-27 husband of Jane
There appears to be no connection
between the Hietts of Dublin, Ireland, and our John
Hiett, immigrant to Pennsylvania c1699. The only clue
we have as to the English home of our earliest known
ancestor, the immigrant John Hiett, is found in Joseph
Besse's A Collection of the Sufferings of the People
Called Quakers. These records mention a John
Hyott, of Shipton-Mallett, who was taken
prisoner in Somersetshire in 1683, at a time when the
Quakers were most severely persecuted for their
religious beliefs. No further record of this John Hyott
has been found; the Quaker records of Somersetshire
contain no mention of the name Hiatt in any of its
birth, marriage, or death records. It is possible that
this John Hyott of Shipton-Mallett is
identical with our John Hiett who appears in
Pennsylvania around 1699. (This was suggested by
Gilbert Cope, 1840-1928, the noted Quaker Historian and
Genealogist of Pennsylvania.) There are, among the
Quaker Hiatts, traditions that their ancestors came
from England, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Holland,
France, and Germany. However, all evidence found to
date points to England as the ancestral home of the
Hiatts. The varying traditions can be accounted for by
the fact that later generations of the family in
America have intermarried with families who trace their
lineage to the other European countries. By far the
most universal tradition to be found among the Quaker
Hiatts is one something like this: "Our ancestors were
Quakers who came from England to Pennsylvania with
William Penn." Some even make mention of John Hiatt as
the immigrant ancestor. Following are some of the
outstanding traditions:
It has been a tradition handed down through the
more than two hundred years of our family history
that my great-great-grandfather, Christopher Hiatt,
Sr., was a son of one of three Hiatts who came over
with William Penn. (William Edwin Hiatt)
...it has been a tradition with our people that the
father of William (Hiatt) was John, the emigrant
ancestor...as was the idea that they first came
with William Penn... (Edna G. Bender)
My dear late Father, Elijah Coffin, had left in a
book of North Carolina Families he had carefully
compiled, a record that John Hiatt was father of
George Hiatt who married Martha Wakefield... (Mary
Coffin Johnson)
Her (Mary Coffin Johnson's) mother was Naomi Hiatt
who married Elijah Coffin, a banker, born Guilford
(Co.), North Carolina. Searched the records at
Guilford in 1860. Mary Coffin Johnson says our
Hiatt ancestor was John, who came with William
Penn. Elijah Coffin says John van Hiatt is said to
have come from England in 1690, with William Penn.
I do not believe there was ever a van to our name.
(Effie Hiatt van Tuyl)
He (Curtis Hiatt) tells me his grandfather (meaning
immigrant ancestor, who was actually his
great-great-great-grandfather -- although this
refers to his great-great-great-grandfather, George
Hiatt, who was a son of the immigrant John Hiatt -
ed.) came from England; that he had two brothers,
John and William, and when they came to America his
grandfather settled in Virginia while one brother
went to the eastern States and ours went to North
Carolina. This Curtis Hiatt was 85 years old on
April 25th 1900. (Mrs. W. C. Applegate)
My father, Joseph Hiatt, handed down to me that we
were descendants of three brothers Hiatt that came
from England with William Penn account of religious
oppression, they being Quakers, as are all the
Hiatts I have known. (William Temple Hiatt)
The sire of your great-grandfather, and of mine...
was in English Quaker, (John), with his brother
Jesse, came to America with William Penn, on Penn's
second voyage, and assisted in the measurement of a
second purchase of land which Penn made of the
aborigines. (James M. Hiatt)
I once noted in a work in the Boston Public Library
a statement as to the Hiatt family as having once
been numerous in certain counties in England. My
understanding is that they became Friends or
Quakers in Fox's time and came over to Pennsylvania
with Penn, or shortly after Penn's settlement; that
in the course of years they moved from Pennsylvania
by successive stages through Maryland, Virginia and
into North Carolina and that after the slavery
question came to be agitated most of them moved
northwest to Ohio and Indiana and from there
westward. (William A. Hiatt)
Going back four generations, we find John Hiatt,
who was born in England, and emigrated to America,
first settling in Pennsylvania. He was a member of
the sect of Quakers, as have been his direct
descendants.
Three Hyatt brothers came from
England in colonial days. One returned to England
one year later. One brother moved on inland. One
lived in Guilford County, North Carolina, where my
grandfather William Hyatt was born
in 1775. (Mrs. O. D. Silverthorne)
My grandfather (Elias Hiatt) died in Oct. 1913.
Shortly before he passed away, he told me his
people came from England in time of William Penn.
It seems they could not pay their debts-- many
people were in the same circumstances, at that
time--were thrown into prison and Penn's offer to
bring them to Pa. Was a God-given opportunity, and
it was gratefully accepted. (Jesse E. Hiatt)
The foregoing data come from widely
scattered descendants of the three sons of John Hiett,
immigrant. They speak for themselves. Other traditions
will a ppear throughout the volume, as well as further
comment on those given above. It is significant that of
all the many and varied traditions in the Hiatt family,
the one regarding John Hiatt, Quaker, from England to
Pennsylvania with Penn -- in addition to being the most
prevalent -- is the only one substantiated by
documentary evidence. Penn's second voyage to
Pennsylvania was in the fall of 1699, and our John
Hiett seems to have arrived at about the same time, for
it was early the following year that he purchased three
hundred acres of land in Bucks Co., Pennsylvania in,
for the godly sum of three hundred and fifty pounds,
current silver money...
4. Origin of the Hyatt/Hoyt name,
as compiled by David Webster Hoyt (USA
1833-1921)...
"Do (work) and hope"
|
The name of Hoyt is not
found in any treatise on surnames which we
have consulted; consequently we are left to
ascertain its signification and origin from
other sources. In Webster's Unabridged
Dictionary is found the following : "Hoit,
V. i. [Icel. haula.l To leap ; to caper.
Beaum. 8f Fl." It is undoubtedly one of
those old English words which are now
entirely obsolete, except as they exist in
the form of surnames. The original ancestor
of the Hoyt family must have been noted for
his agility, and hence the name belongs to
that class which had their origin in
personal peculiarities. The name implies,
either that the one who first bore it was
accustomed to jump and move quickly, or
that he excelled in leaping and feats of
agility. The Hoyt family in general seem to
have inherited something of the physical
ability of their progenitor. Many of those
bearing the name have been noted for their
strength, and feats in running, wrestling,
and lifting, while nearly all those of whom
the author has gained any information have
been strong and athletic. Some branches
have been distinguished for great size and
stature, as well as strength.
We have seen the name
spelled in many different ways ; as, Hoyt,
Hoit, Hoyle, Hoite, Hoytt, Hoitt, Hoyet,
Hoyett, Hoyette, Hoyghtr, Hoight, Hight,
Hite, Hyatt, Hayte, Haite,
Hayt, Haight, and Hayls.. In the earlier
periods of this country's history, there
seemed to be no settled orthography for
proper names, especially surnames, and each
clerk and recorder spelt as he pleased.
Sometimes individuals even wrote their own
names differently at different times, and
some evidently did not know the proper
method of spelling them. Whether all those
whose names have been spelled in either of
the last eight ways above mentioned are
descended from the Hoyts, we cannot say.
Hight and Hayt now form two names distinct
from Hoyt. All the Hight families of whom,
the writer has any knowledge originated in
New Hampshire and Maine, and spelled their
name Hoyt, or Hoit, originally. Hight was
adopted about the middle of the last
century, and owes its origin to a corrupt
pronunciation. It is now (1921) mostly
confined to the state of Maine.
|
In regard to the name of Hayt, Haite,
&c, we have no certain information; but from the
fact that it is often written for Hoyt on the early
records of Connecticut, it seems very probable that the
Hayts of that State are a branch of the Hoyt race. We
occasionally find Hayt for Hoyt on the early records of
Amesbury, Mass. It is said that a member of the Hoit
family made inquiry in England, in the early part of
the present century, concerning his ancestry, and was
informed that they were originally from
Germany, where the name was spelled Haight,
but that, when they settled in England, it was changed
to Hoit. It has also been said that there were families
in the state of New York who spelt the name Haight, but
pronounced it like Hoit.
The manner of spelling the name in
England, at the present day, is Hoyte, though we are
informed that it is written Hoyt on an ancient family
record of the little known Curry Rivell,
Somerset, branch. The e was sometimes added on
old records in this country, though it is found Hoite
quite as frequently as Hoyte. The four most common ways
of spelling the name in this country, at the present
time, are Hoyt, Hoit, Hyatt and Hoitt.
The latter originated in Northwood, N. Hampshire., near
the close of the last century, and has been adopted by
very few individuals except those descended from the
Northwood branch. Hoit came into use in New Hampshire
near the middle of the last century, and is now mostly
confined to the families of that State. These two
spellings are now chiefly, if not wholly, found among
the descendants of John Hoyt, of Salisbury and
Amesbury; but Hoyt is preferable, for the following
reasons :
1. It is the manner in which it is almost always
written on the ancient records of Essex and Old
Norfolk Counties,
on the Amesbury and Salisbury "town records", and
on the records of both the Amesbury churches,
though the
records of the Salisbury churches sometimes have it
Hoit after 1700.
2. The members of the family in that region have
spelt their own names Hoyt, in signing deeds,
&c., from the first
settlement of the country to the present time.
3. The general custom of some branches of the
family in this country and in England, as well as
of the majority of
the Amesbury branch, is to use y in preference to
i.
4. Hoyt is a better looking word than Hoit.
Although the verb appears to have been spelled
hoit, yet that would not
necessarily control the orthography of the proper
name derived from it.
The proper pronunciation, and that
which is most common at the present time, in this
country, and in England also, so far as we have
ascertained, is to give the diphthong oy, or oi, its
usual sound, as in boy, toy, voice. This sound of our
language is, however, sometimes vulgarly contracted
into the long sound of i, as in the words hoist, boil,
spoil, join, point, oil, poison. In the same manner
Hoit has sometimes been mispronounced, and has thus
given rise to the name Hight or
Hyatt.
The part of England from which the
Hoyts of this country emigrated has not been
ascertained. It is possible they may have come
from Somersetshire as there was an ancient
family bearing the name in that county. In the
Supplement to Burke's Dictionary of the Landed Gentry
we find : "The Rev. John-Hawkes Mules, b. in 1754,
vicar of Ilminster, co. Somerset, m. in 1781, Sarah,
dau. of John Hoyte, Esq." On the list of subscribers
for Collinson's History of Somerset, published in 1791,
are "John Hoyte, esq. William Hoyte, esq.;
Curry-Rivel". The only person bearing the name in that
region at the present time (1921), is Miss Katharine
Hoyte,-grand-daughter of William Hoyte, -who still
resides on the old homestead at Curry Rivell. In the
London Directory for 1855, we find Robert Hoyte, and
two persons bearing the name of William Hoyte.
Of course, there is a tradition in the
Hoyt family, as in almost every other, that there were
"three brothers came over from England" but there are
also traditions which speak of "two brothers" and "four
brothers". There is no proof, however, that any such
relationship existed between the progenitors of the
different families of Hoyts in this country.
Simon Hoyt was the first member of the
Hoyt family who emigrated to New England. We have not
been able to ascertain the time or manner of his
arrival; but, in Drake's History of Boston (p. 57), we
find "Simon Hoyte" on the "List of the names of such as
are known to have been in Salem and about the north
side of trie Massachusetts Bay, before and in the year
1629". The name of "Simon Hoytt" appears on the first
list of "such as tooke the Oath of Freemen" in
Massachusetts, 18 May, 1631, although it is not among
"The Names of such as desire to be made Freemen" 19
Oct., 1630. We find "Symon Hoite" mentioned on the
Dorchester records in 1633. On the 8th of October, in
the same year, "Symon Hoyte" was chosen one of that
town's committee to "see to" fences "for the East
feilde". In the History of Dorchester lately published
(p. 57) we find : "Simon Hoyt in Dorchester early,
probably 1630. Removed to Windsor and was an Elder or
Deacon there".
5. JOHN HIEGHT & MARY SMITH, Quaker Immigrants
OF 1699, Ancestors of JOHN HIETT, JR.
Introduction by Michael H Charles (USA, NY,
Living)...
"Do (work) and hope"
|
The object of this article
is to examine several known
Hyatt families in England
as possible origins for John
Hyatt, Sr. 1699
Pennsylvania immigrant. In the course of
research, many mentions of the
Hiatt-Hiett-Hyatt name
have been found from fairly early times. As
I will show, the vast majority of these
people were from a close geographic area in
England and with the use of an ordinance
survey map, even the smallest towns have
been located.
One of the earliest
mention of the Hyatt name
comes from Winchester, England records when
in the year 1388 under the reign of Richard
II, a John Hyett was appointed incumbent of
the bury of Lanhamlack, Breconshire, Wales.
This was during the Norman Period and may
well indicate that the
Hyatt’s were of Norman
Origin or at least had strong Norman
ties.
An excellent dissertation
concerning the possible Norman ties is
found in the Hiatt-Hiett Genealogy and
Family History by William Perry Johnson
(edited extracts in the first article on
this page).
The next mention found
takes place on 10 March 1461 when a James
Hyett was appointed Constable of St.
Brival’s Castle by Edward IV. To be
appointed to such a position, would
indicate at least lesser nobility. St.
Brival’s was a royal hunting lodge and the
remains are still shown on the map in
Gloucestershire near the Welsh border on
the edge of the Forest of Dean. The
following year James Hyett was given a
manor in Staffordshire by Edward IV,
probably for some service to the King or
the country.
Interestingly enough,
the Forest of Dean had
been mentioned in many histories as the
area from which John Hyatt
originally came. It is this point that my
investigation started. The Forest of Dean
lies wholly in the County of Gloucester and
encompasses 27,000 acres along the River
Severn. Most of the people in this area
have been foresters for many generation and
reasonably prosperous.
|
In 1682-3, a Visitation was made to
the County of Glourcester by Fenwick, an English Herald
for the purpose of ascertaining the lineage's and coats
of arms used by prominent families of the area. The
main purpose of this procedure throughout England was
for taxation. Major towns around the Forest of Dean
were visited with very interesting results. At a city
somewhat north of the forest, Westbury-on-Severn, the
descendants of a John Hyett who died in 1642 at the age
of 70 were found. The genealogy given encompassed 4
generations to a John Hiett, age approximately 26 years
old at the time of the visitation in 1682-3. Searching
the parish records of Westbury, we find John Hiett son
of Jeremy Hiett and Ann christened 23 Jan 1649. The
visitation chart shows that John was the son of
Jeremiah and Ann Nash Hiett of Westbury. Going back one
more generation to Jeremiah’s father who is shown by
the visitation to be Jeremiah who died in 1658 at age
56 we find in the parish records a Jeremiah born in
1602. This latter Jeremiah had a brother Joseph shown
in the visitation, both as sons of John Hyett of
Westbury upon Severn and his wife Joyce, daughter and
heir of Giles Dobbins of Manestow Co., Hereford. The
parish records show a Joseph Hyet son of John Hyet
christened 22 Jan 1614. John Hyett of Westbury upon
Severn is listed as having died at age 70 in 1642.
Parish records show a John Hyatt son
of Thomas Hyett Christened at Westbury on Severn, 30
Dec. 1572. The chart shows the arm recorded to this
early John Hyatt to be very similar to
those used by Hiett families in this country.
They are as follows:
Arms: Argent a lion rampant sable a chief indented
of the last a mullet on a crescent for difference.
Crest: A lion’s jamb sable erased gules in the paw
a bombshell fired proper
As the arms were differenced by a
crescent, this tells us that John was the eldest son
and that Thomas Hyett must have originally been granted
these arms. It is therefore likely that the grant was
made during the reign of Elizabeth I, a very Protestant
monarch.
The following records are found in the
parish of Ministerworth, Gloucesterhire, a town less
than 10 miles from Westbury on Severn and north of the
Forest of Dean:
John Hyett and Mary Harris married 23 Oct. 1684
John son of John and Mary Hyett christened 17 April
1687
William son of John and Mary Hyett christened 15
Sept. 1689
Joseph son of John and Mary Hyett christened 12
April 1690
Abigale daughter of John and Mary Hyett christened
10 Jan 1691
Esther daughter of John and Mary Hyett christened
17 Jan 1694
Certainly, we can infer that this is the John
Hyett listed in the visitation as he is shown as single
in 1682/3. At least two of the children found, John and
William are named the same as the children of our
immigrant John Hyett and his wife’s first name Mary is
the same. It is also believed that some of John’s
children were born in England well before he
emigrated.
|
