DIY History | Transcribe | Campus Culture | Adelia M. Hoyt memoir and photographs

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UNFOLDING YEARS                3

its swinging mirror on top.  One of my earliest recollections is climbing on a chair to survey myself in this glass.  I must have been about five years old for what I distinctly recall seeing was a very little girl with big solemn blue eyes, fair skin with light brown hair which could be made to curl with very little help.  I do not think I was specially anxious to see myself but I was proud of the red merino dress which I wore, the goods for which had been a gift from my grandpa Hoyt.  It had narrow ruffles at the neck and around the wrists, and narrow black velvet ribbon about the bottom of the skirt and the belt.  I still have the picture of me taken in this dress and everyone who sees it can still trace the resemblance, even after all the changes of these many, long years.
My grandparents were born in Connecticut and later moved to central New York where both my parents were born.  When my father was fourteen, the family moved to Janesville, Wisconsin, going by way of the newly built Erie Canal.  My grandfather Hoyt was a contractor and building, and as a young man my father learned the carpenter's trade working with his father; but he was not strong and craved an education.  He attended the Academy in Beloit, Wisconsin, and spent one year in a commercial school in Boston.  Returning to Janesville, he took a position as bookkeeper with a large grocery firm.  The confinement proved detrimental to his health and a tendency to lung trouble developed.  His physician advised outdoor occupation; he gave up bookkeeping and again went to work with his father as a carpenter.  His health improved but he was rejected for military service, hence he had no part in the Civil War which was now on.
In the meantime, my mother's people had moved to New York where she was born.  Her mother died at her birth; she was reared by an aunt who gave her all the privileges of training and education common to those in moderate circumstances in those days, plus a term or two at a young ladies' finishing school.  She was married young to John DeGroff and they set up housekeeping near Auburn, N.Y.  After three daughters were born to them, John sickened and died of typhoid

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UNFOLDING YEARS 3 its swinging mirror on top. One of my earliest recollections is climbing on a chair to survey myself in this glass. I must have been about five years old for what I distinctly recall seeing was a very little girl with big solemn blue eyes, fair skin with light brown hair which could be made to curl with very little help. I do not think I was specially anxious to see myself but I was proud of the red merino dress which I wore, the goods for which had been a gift from my grandpa Hoyt. It had narrow ruffles at the neck and around the wrists, and narrow black velvet ribbon about the bottom of the skirt and the belt. I still have the picture of me taken in this dress and everyone who sees it can still trace the resemblance, even after all the changes of these many, long years. My grandparents were born in Connecticut and later moved to central New York where both my parents were born. When my father was fourteen, the family moved to Janesville, Wisconsin, going by way of the newly built Erie Canal. My grandfather Hoyt was a contractor and building, and as a young man my father learned the carpenter's trade working with his father; but he was not strong and craved an education. He attended the Academy in Beloit, Wisconsin, and spent one year in a commercial school in Boston. Returning to Janesville, he took a position as bookkeeper with a large grocery firm. The confinement proved detrimental to his health and a tendency to lung trouble developed. His physician advised outdoor occupation; he gave up bookkeeping and again went to work with his father as a carpenter. His health improved but he was rejected for military service, hence he had no part in the Civil War which was now on. In the meantime, my mother's people had moved to New York where she was born. Her mother died at her birth; she was reared by an aunt who gave her all the privileges of training and education common to those in moderate circumstances in those days, plus a term or two at a young ladies' finishing school. She was married young to John DeGroff and they set up housekeeping near Auburn, N.Y. After three daughters were born to them, John sickened and died of typhoid