Wm. HOY, sons Joel Beers & Charles H.? - CT, NY, OH, & MI 1800-1850
I am looking for information on the HOY family of Fairfield County, Connecticut. The 1800 US census shows a William Hoy in Huntington, age 26 to 44, possibly with a son and two daughters under the age of 10. This may be the same William Hoy shown in the 1820 census of Danbury, age 45+, with a son under 10 (Joel B?), one age 10 to 15 (Charles H?), and a wife also age 45+.
My ggg-grandfather was Charles H. Hoy, born about 1803, and believed to have married Mary Ann Banks in Redding during 1822. Their children appear to be George W. (my gg-grandfather born 1823), Adelia A. (b. 1828), William H. (b. abt 1830), Emily A. (b. Abt 1835), and two yet unidentified girls. According to my gg-grandfather's obituary, his family moved to New York about 1831, where they stayed for one year, then to Toledo, Ohio where they stayed for "some time", then arrived in Washtenaw County, Michigan about 1835. There, Charles "HOEY" remarried the widowed Mrs. Nancy Conklin in 1843, and had a daughter Mary born about 1844. Charles and his family were not found in the 1850 census, but it appears he may have settled just south of the Washtenaw County line in neighboring Lenawee County, on the Ohio border. By 1860, Nancy had been married and widowed again. She was living in Lenawee County at the time, with daughter Mary Hoy, who may have married a year later in Washtenaw County.
I believe Charles H. Hoy's brother may have been Joel Beers Hoy born about 1805. Both lived in Newtown during the early 1820's when they married. Joel married Sally Stratton in 1825. Joel had two daughters who died a day apart in 1837, aged 9 and 12. I do not know their names as yet. As with Charles, Joel had a son named William H. Hoy born about 1830. William first married Clara Sherman of Danbury in 1852, but she died just 12 months later and was buried in Danbury. William then married Delia Glover, but it does not appear they had children, or at least any that survived long enough to be shown in any census. Joel Beers Hoy died in Newtown during 1861.
Until recently, I figured the elder William Hoy had probably died in Connecticut. However, a transcription posted on line of the 1830 US census shows a William H. Hoey in Lenawee County, Michigan Territory. This William H. Hoey was age 50-60 (consistent with the ages given in 1800 and 1820), but his wife was only 30-40. There were a number of younger children in the household, as well as some teenagers. Perhaps this William married a widow with children, then had some additional children of their own. I haven't found any records in Lenawee County yet, but I'm still working on it. Could that have drawn Charles H. to the area in 1835? The 1840 census of Washtenaw County shows a Mary Hoy age 40 to 50 with a son age 10-15 living not too far from Charles H. Hoy. It seems possible that this was Charles' widowed step-mother. If William did have other children, they may have scattered across parts of Ohio or Michigan. They may have even done as my great-grandfather Fred and his brothers had done - moved to Nebraska during the 1870's. He and his brothers later moved back east to Illinois.
Of Charles H. Hoy's children, Adelia died unmarried in 1853. Both George and William H. had sons named Clarence, while their sister Emily (married Charles Bostedor) had a son named Charles and a daughter Clara. Both William and Emily died young. For some reason, there seemed to be a lot of Clarence's and Clara's in the family for several generations. William's son Clarence married, had two daughters in Michigan, and moved to Huntsville, Alabama, where he died in 1930.
For the most part, the occupation of the Hoy family appears to be that of carpentry. Perhaps a coincidence, but Joel Beers, a Revolutionary War soldier from Danbury, was court martialed for "cutting boards not his own for his own purposes". Perhaps he was a carpenter as well. I do not know if there is a family connection between Joel Beers and the Hoy family, but it remains a possibility. There also seems to be a possible connection to the Hawley family of Connecticut, as a few members of the Hawley family were enumerated with various Hoy families, as well as wed by a Justice of the Peace named Hawley.
Any information or leads would be appreciated. I do have some additional information not listed here, and will gladly share. Thank you!