SHEBOYGAN HISTORY

Alanson X. Hyatt, Page 592

ALANSON X. HYATT is very well known to the citizens of Sheboygan County, where he cast his lot in 1857.  For many years past he has been engaged in carrying on his valuable farm on section 10, Lima Township.  A native of the Empire State, he was born April 16, 1832, and is a son of James D. and Minerva (Mead) Hyatt, the former born in the same State, in 1803.  The father was a farmer by occupation, and a man of pronounced ability.  He spent most of his life in Putnam County, N. Y., owning a farm opposite the city of West Point, and only sixty miles distant from New York.  He died in 1865, as the result of an accident.  he was of Scotch descent on the paternal side.  His father was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, for which service he received a pension.  The mother of our subject was also a native of New York, was born about 1811, and died in 1859.  Both she and her husband were devoted members of the Baptist Church, in which the latter was for many years a Deacon.

    Until reaching the age of twenty-five years, Alanson Hyatt resided in the house where he was born.  He received his early education in the common schools, and attended the Arcadian High School in Carmel, N. Y.  Though his advantages were not of the best, he has been a persevering student, and has often deprived himself of rest to peruse his books.  he was one of fourteen children, and was obliged to work industriously on the home farm.

    Of the brothers and sisters of our subject, Major, who was a farmer, and engaged in the dairy business, died in New York.  Annie E., who now resides at Junction City, Kan., is the widow of Dr. D. K. Mabie, formerly of this county.  Alva is a successful dairyman of Carmel, N. Y.  Russel is a well-to-do farmer, living near Hingham, Wis.  Moseman is a farmer and extensive sheep-raiser of the Empire State, and his twin sister, Sarah J., who resides in Sheboygan County, is the wife of F. E. Hopkins.  Chauncey W. was educated in Putnam County, N. Y., and carries on a paper at Fremont, Neb., called The Flail.  This he has edited for fourteen years, it being a Republican organ.  He was one of the boys who wore the blue and went to the front as a private; but was afterwards promoted to be First Lieutenant.  Frederick W., who lives in High Point, Ill., is a contractor and builder.  He was also in the service, and received a sunstroke while with Sherman on his march to the sea.  Emma A. is the wife of A. G. Ames, a farmer of Mondovi, Wis., who was an ambulance driver during his service in the late war.  Charlotte A. is the wife of Orson Persons, of Boise City, Mont., where he is superintendent of an experimental farm, and is prominent in agricultural interests.  John W. resides in Fremont, Neb., and was formerly a farmer, but is now engaged in merchandising.  He served from the beginning to the close of the war.  Catherine E. is a widow, and lives in Hastings, Neb., where she is engaged as a teacher of vocal and instrumental music.  Her husband was a soldier of the late war.  One of the family died in infancy.  A peculiar fact concerning the children is that each of them was born in a year divisible by two, or their births occurred about two years apart, the eldest in 1824, and the youngest in 1850.  Another singular thing is that seven of the number had blue eyes, and seven dark eyes.

    In the hour of his country's need, Mr. Hyatt left his home, wife and little girl of three and a-half years, and enlisted in Company H, Thirty-first Wisconsin Volunteers, in September, 1862.  Under command of Col. Messmore, he was sent to Camp Utley, and was there until the following March.  Next, he was sent with a squad of men to Madison on detached duty, and was kept at headquarters for a long time.  He was detailed on hospital duty, and was faithful to his trust until the close of the war.  The reason he was placed in this service was his poor health.  During his absence his little daughter died.

    On the 23d of March, 1859, Mr. Hyatt married Miss Angeline LaClaire, of French extraction.  She was born in Wauwatosa, Wis., January 17, 1843.  By this marriage was born a son and two daughters.  Chauncey Summer and Addie M. are deceased, while the younger, Cora M., is the wife of Nicholas Eby, a mason of Sheboygan.  They have a little son and daughter, Leslie Hyatt and Mabel M.  Mr. Hyatt was called upon to mourn the death of his wife July 4, 1887.  She had been an invalid for twenty-one and a-half years, and a great sufferer.  She was a Christian lady, and perfectly resigned.

    The second marriage of Mr. Hyatt was with Miss Laura E., daughter of Charles F. and Elizabeth C. (Ruple) Graves.  The former was born in Vermont, September 9, 1822, and died in 1874.  He was a soldier in the late war, and for about three months was held a captive in Libby Prison and on Belle Isle.  In politics, he was a true-blue Republican.  The mother was born in Ohio, October 26, 1829, and has made her home since 1857 in Lyndon Township, this county.  They were among the early pioneers of the county, and after their arrival located near Cascade.  Mrs. Hyatt was born January 27, 1858, and grew to womanhood in this county.  She is a lady of pleasing address, received a good High-School education in Plymouth, and was a teacher for a year and a-half in Nebraska.  She has become the mother of a son, Chauncey A., a bright little fellow of three years.

    In 1857 Mr. Hyatt came to Wisconsin, having been engaged in teaching at the time his parents came West.  He is a pioneer teacher, and taught four and a-half years before leaving the Empire State.  for a year and a-half he taught the "Maine Settlement school," which had an enrollment of one hundred and ten pupils, and a daily attendance of nine-three.  On reaching his majority, Mr. Hyatt had $14 with which to embark in the business of life.  He now owns two hundred and eight and one-half acres of arable land, lying three miles from Sheboygan Falls, and his home is a comfortable and commodious one.  The farm is considered one of the best in the township, and the owner is numbered among the leading agriculturists of the county.  He has seen many hardships, but is a man of wonderful fortitude and patience, who deserves the prosperity which he has achieved.

    Among the facile and versatile writers to the county papers, as well as others, our subject has long been numbered.  His articles have appeared in the Wisconsin Farmer, Hoard's Dairyman, Breeders' Gazette, and the New York Tribune.  He is a man who has taken an active part in the interests of the dairies of the county, and has often spoken before different assemblies of the State and county.  In politics, he is a logical and ardent supporter of the Republican party, prior to the birth of which he was a Whig.  He is firm in his convictions, is sound in his opinions on national politics, and has been outspoken at all times.  For fourteen years he was Assessor, and made a record of which he may well be proud.  He has also been a member of the School Board, and is a true friend to the cause of education.  He is a member of Richardson Post No. 12, G. A. R., of Sheboygan Falls.  He has steadfastly declined to fill township offices, and also the nomination for the Assembly, with which his friends would have honored him.