MS031.001T: Civil War letters of John Keais Hoyt, 1859-1862

MS031.001T: Civil War letters of John Keais Hoyt, 1859-1862

Author: Hoyt, John Keais

Year: 1862

John Keais Hoyt (1840-1910), a North Carolina native, was living and working as a bookkeeper in Mobile, AL when the Civil War broke out. He became a member of the Mobile Rifles Militia, subsequently Company K of the Third Alabama Regiment of Volunteers; he was appointed captain of his company in May, 1862. His was the first regiment from the deep south to be deployed to Virginia in May, 1861. His younger brother, James Henry Hoyt, was also a member of the Mobile Rifles. During the war, Hoyt wrote letters to his sister Clara, older brother Edmund, and to his mother. These letters were transcribed by Booth Malone in 2012, who notes that the transcriptions contain minor changes to spelling and punctuation for clarity. Letters donated by Susan P. Posey, great granddaughter of John Keais Hoyt. 1. Letter to sister Clara, Dec. 19, 1859, written from Mobile. 1.1. Incomplete letter written to sister Clara, about Jan. 11, 1861. 2. Letter to Clara, April 27, 1861, written from Montgomery, AL. 2.1. Letter written to Clara, May 7, 1861, written from Lynchburg, VA. Page 5 was written vertically across p. 1; p. 6 was written across p. 2. 3. Letter to mother, March 8, 1862, written from Camp Hard