William Fisher Hoyt

Mr William Fisher Hoyt was born in Wadsworth, Medina, Ohio on 24 January 1869.

He was the son of Charles E. Hoyt (1835-1915), a carpenter and joiner, and Helen Maria Fisher (b. 1841), natives of Connecticut and New York respectively. He had three brothers: Gordon C. (b. 1863-1943), Charles S. (1865-1918) and Carlos H. (1874-1916),

He first appears on the 1870 census as a one-year-old infant living with his family in Wadsworth. The family were still present in Medina by the time of the 1880 census but later moved to Cleveland, Ohio. The 1900 census shows William residing in that city, unmarried and still living with his parents and being described as a commercial traveller. By the time of the 1910 census he was a resident of Manhattan and was the senior partner of, and buyer for, Houghton, Lee & Hoyt, a position that would make him a frequent traveller across the Atlantic. He had been the captain of the Lakeside Bicycle Club and was also connected with the Lozier Bicycle Company and with the Sterling & Welch, Co.

By April 1912 Mr Hoyt had been in Europe on one of his many business trips and for the return to the USA purchased first class accommodation aboard Titanic (ticket number 17600 which cost £30, 13s, 11d). He joined the ship at Cherbourg.

On the night of the sinking Mr Hoyt was among those who remained aboard during the ship's final throes. Fifth Officer Harold Lowe returned to the scene of the wreck in lifeboat 14 to look for survivors and heard a moan coming from the water. The lifeboat's occupants came across a man buoyed up by his life preserver and bleeding from his nose and mouth. A heavily built man, the occupants it lifeboat 14 had a struggle to pull him aboard. Lowe reported: "After we got him in the boat we took his collar off so as to give him more chance to breathe, but unfortunately, he died. He was too far gone when we picked him up."

He was buried at sea by sailors from the Carpathia on 16 April and had been identified by the contents of his pockets: cards and papers and a watch and chain of atypical workmanship. The cards included a membership card in the New York Athletic Club and an identification card issued by the Fidelity and Casualty Company of New York. His brother travelled to Washington, DC to ask crew members if they knew anything about his brother, initially without success.

His parents had been living in Santa Monica, California for a number of years by the time of his death. His father died there in 1915 and his mother in 1917.

William is remembered on his brother's headstone in Woodlawn Cemetery, Santa Monica, California, Block 4, plot 190.