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Samuel
P. Hoyt was a devoted follower and friend to Joseph Smith back in the days
when Nauvoo, Illinois was home to the Mormon Church. Hoyt, originally from
Chester, New Hampshire, was sent on a mission to Massachusetts before ending
up in Utah in 1851. Hoyt spent a brief time in Fillmore, Utah where he
helped build the never completed Territorial Capitol building. Hoyt left
Fillmore by order of then Mormon Church President, Brigham Young to a town
called Unionville in the Weber Basin. Years later the town would be re-named
in his honor for bringing prosperity and recognition to the small community.
Today, the Samuel P. Hoyt house may seem small compared to the super-sized
Deer Valley homes that loom over Park City, but in 1863, it was most
definitely considered a mansion. Three stories hold thirteen rooms and nine
fireplaces. In the basement Hoyt built a well that current residents say is
still working and is used to this day.
Hoyt
spared no expense in making his home a near work of art. Current residents,
Harold and Martha Donaldson shared stories about the murals of cherubs,
cornucopias and different designs painted by a Norwegian man named Olsen on
many of the walls and ceilings. "Along the stairs they had painted the walls
to look like wood," said Mrs. Donaldson. Unfortunately, due to the settling
effects of the house the plaster that these hand painted murals covered,
fell and were replaced with modern materials.
Rounded, stone archways, elaborate chimneys and fireplaces were designed to
fit with the Gothic looking Georgian style that was popular in the mid 19th
Century.
Adjacent to the house are stone ruins where Hoyt built Summit County’s first
flour/grist mill. The mill provided a valuable resource as well as
employment for the growing community. The mill only survived for four years,
as there was not enough fall in the water flow to provide the power needed
to run the machinery.
Hoyt
persevered however. He started a carding mill, which also closed due to low
power source and he opened a grocery store. Later, Hoyt became most
prosperous in the cattle ranching, mining and farming industries. For a
time, two rooms on the third floor of his private residence housed a school
for the community. Hoyt’s first wife, Emily Smith Hoyt, otherwise known as
"Ma" Hoyt was the teacher. Two of Hoyt’s daughters from his second wife,
Emma Burbridge, lived in the house with ‘Ma’ Hoyt when she became crippled
with rheumatoid arthritis.
In
1866-67 the settlers of the Weber Basin were at odds with the native people
in the area, it was called the Black Hawk War. During this time many of the
residents tore down their log homes and re-built them together in a square
fort-style pattern within the large rock walls that Hoyt had constructed
around his property. The wall was believed to be as high as seven feet in
portions and was topped with the same fine, white, sculptured sandstone that
graced his home.
Martha Donaldson’s parents eventually purchased the home from Hoyt’s two
daughters, Elizabeth "Libby" Stonebreaker and Mary Leeds. The two inherited
the house from Ma Hoyt after they had stayed to care for her when Mr. Hoyt
moved to Marion with his second wife, Emma.
The
Hoyt Mansion is considered to be one of the most elegant 19th
Century homes still standing in Utah today. |
