[ TIMOTHY HOYT HOME PAGE ] 
The HISTORY of the TIMOTHY HOYT (3341) FAMILIES 
CT-NY-PA-MI-WA-FL-CA, to my Father, Paul M Hoyt.
Written By John E Hoyt, 
Family Historian and Genealogist, 
"a legacy for your family"

(08-09-05 Updated Version, * edited) 
WELCOME TO THE HISTORY OF 319 CLARK STREET HOME, CLINTON, MICHIGAN - 1825-1969

Other Format views (.rft) and (.pdf) 

1947	2002	

This is an Historical Account of the 319 Clark Street address, in Village of Clinton, Michigan.
A copy of the Abstract is held by myself, and can be researched, by mailing to my home address given below, 
or by E-mail. This home is one of the Oldest in Clinton Michigan, as well as, the County of Lenawee.
In 1825, The United States gave a patent of land amounting to 240 Acres to John Tyrell, located South along 
"The Great Salk-Indian Trail", the Stage Coach Road, now known as U.S. 12, between Chicago, IL & Detroit,
Michigan. Whereupon, the Eagle Tavern, known as the Clinton Inn was located in this Village, then known as 
"Oak Openings, Clinton was named after Governor DeWitt Clinton. The Clinton Inn is now in Greenfield Village,
purchased by Henry Ford and moved to Greenfield Village where is open for public display, as the Eagle Tavern.
In 1835, John Tyrell sold for $4,500.00, the same said 240 Acres to John T. Clark, the fore bearer of Clark
Street, with the exception for a tail race East of the present Raisin River for powering the water generator grist mill,
which, since, 1838, known Mill of Snow & Keys, now known as the Atlas Milling Company, or Atlas Feed and
Grain Co. and is still in operation, doing same business as Grist-Flour Milling and is one (7th), of the Oldest
Business's still operating the Original Business.
In 1844, John Tyrell sold to 9 Mui's, a house & land parcel, which is still the current parcel, that included 
the tail race, In which this property is now known as, Water Works Park.
It is at this point in time, between 1825 & 1844, that the current right front side of the home was erected, as a 
small salt box. So far, it has been ascertained by Lenawee County Records, tax records, & biographical histories,
that the 2 front rooms on the right was built in or around 1836. The Wall Map on the Lenawee County Historical
Societies wall in 1975, showed a black square in the parcel shown on Clark Street in this 1845 Edition Plat Map. 
The Dining Room (Front Entry Room), was the Parlor, and the bedroom to right of entryway, was the Kitchen, 
and went only ? of current depth of home. A very old stairway went up E to W, in 1800's, it was changed from N. to S. 
from the Parlor, when the new 1870's expansion to the East was built. the earlier stairway came up into the right side of homes 
roof in Attic, as the old bedrooms. And a stairways went down E to W into the cellar. In the cellar (Basement), you will notice 
large hand hued beams from 8 inches to 10 inches in diameter, & up to 16 ft in length. And a couple of round log cross 
beams into the middle-south side of the cellar. The main floor joist are circular cut, while the main house beams are hand hewn
The cellar was used as a Fruit & Meat storage. And surrounded by hand cut 
or whole Michigan stones 30 inches to 36 inches in thickness, and came from the cleared land around home, upon a knoll 
that probably overlooked a wetlands, which became farmland. As you move into the Front Entry Parlor to Dining
Room and right Bedroom, you will notice that the corners do not meet at a 90 degree angle, they have been jutted 
out by the Huge 10 inch - 14 inch hand hued beams that go through to the attic. Upstairs in the Right or West wing of the 
Attic, you will notice a chimney, and the large hand hued Oak beams, joining with large cross beams, and then you
will notice that the home is made up of 4 inch beams about every 2 feet, all around this part of the home. That is why 
this home has withstood Tornado like winds in 1965, on Easter Sunday, a disaster in nearby homes and nearby 
cities, especially, a top, of a knoll from the river bottom land. You can also notice the Oak beams tied to the 
adjacent beams by wooden pegs of an inch plus, in width, driven into corner trusses.
The Second addition of the 319 Clark Street home, consisted of addition to the East, or left and back side 
of Home, where the present kitchen, bathroom, backroom, now stand. The present kitchen, was the Kitchen, with
what the present bathroom to left was the Parlor part, as no bathroom existed in the mid-1850's, on. The back-
room was used by the tenets, (Thrasher eating Room), or hired help, and there was a pass through hole and shelf, 
for food prepared in the Kitchen Parlor into, and through, the South wall where the Utilities (Washer-Dryer), were 
in the 1960's. This hole is also shown in the backroom North wall. The Sub-Roofing is made up of approximately,
24 inch- 30 inch x ? - 1 inch wood slats. The backroom had a Chimney in the center, and a ceiling, as my parents found old
button hole shoes and some old tools, in that part of backroom attic, that may have been bedrooms for the farm
tenets. You can notice some of the early window, hand made glass panes with the cut off circle on many of them, if
these windows are still intact, it used to fun to make faces in them, out to others outside, playing as children.

The Third addition, as early as, 1872, the Grandest part of the home, was built, and that is the East and Tallest part of the Home, 
where the 11ft high ceiling main Parlor room, & to the South, an 11ft ceiling Master bedroom would become. They added a French 
double door entry from the Front Entry or old Parlor room to the new addition. And a new stairway was added to the new bedrooms 
above the Main Parlor and Master bedroom.
^ Account from the "Lenawee County Biographies Album of 1888", Edward Muir, lives in one of the most 
elegant homes in the Clinton area. As you can note, in the addition, the basement shows 3 in and 10 in beams for 
the floor joists, to hold up all the weight of the walls therein the new addition.. The roof edging shows the Greek
Revival of the times, with straight boards pointing into the middle of home at each corner. The 2 Grand Bay 
Windows were also added at this time. Note of Interest, of the Muir children's printing & writing on the new East 
part & North Attic wall, shows their names dated as 1872.
The Maple trees, in the front yard, were planted in the Muir's time of possession of the home. A number of 
them have died and are gone now, especially on the West end of the frontal property to the Street. A large Huge
Elm used to cool the Summer heat into the West side of the home where the North bedroom and Kitchen parlor was. 
This was cut down after many scary days of these large branches threatened to come into the home in the 1960's.
After that, the Kitchen was the hottest part of the home in the evening, and the whole house seem to be warmer 
after that "BIG Ole’ TREE", was cut down. It was approximately 250 years old, as told by when we children, 
had counted all the rings, it had Dutch Elm disease, as most of the Elm's in Clinton, preceded to get in the 
1950-60's. The tree was right off the West cement porch's SW corner. This cement porch also had a well cistern,
that my father soon filled in when he started having children around the yard. The East & South of home backyard,
became sort of a dump from the early days of farming the surrounding land, as was evidence by us children 
digging up old bottles, cans, silverware on the hillside, from sliding down the hill in sleds in winter, we scoured 
and dug up the hillside, at times. On many occasions, the owners just used to pitched out near the home, their 
trash, especially if you have a hill to throw off of, as there was not such as a thing called, trash pickup in the 
1800's or early to mid 1900's. Also, when we were small, (1950's), before the curbing was put in, and we 
had a dirt side road to our yard, we had a Horse Stone, (a stone in which the rider has a step to stand on, 
when dis-mounting his horse), that we sat on, while waiting or playing out in front of the home. Paved curbing 
came in the 1970's. The back rear Garage was built, I suppose, in the early 1915 to 1930's when one could 
store a purchased vehicle, an old gravel driveway existed in the 1950-60's, until it was overgrown by grass, 
as my folks never used it to store a vehicle, after the 1960's. 
My Father, Paul M. Hoyt, bought this property and moved when my Mother, Charlotte Pauline (Mericle) 
Hoyt, was pregnant with us twins (John & Donald Hoyt), on April 5, 1947, for the amount of $ 5,750.00, with 
a sum of $500.00 deposit down, from his old address as shown on buyers purchase of 6131 Appleline Drive,
Dearborn, Michigan. They moved on May 8th, 1947, just 40 days before we twins were born.WOW!! 
Paul came back to work for his father, My grandfather, Hugh P. Hoyt, at the Atlas Milling Co., just down 
the River Road about 200 yards. After my Mother's death, preceded by My father, the 319 Clark Street 
address was sold in 1979 for $45,000.00, nearly, a 750% profit, in 32 years.
Dad had a green thumb, we even had peach trees for a few years that bore fruit, and many other fruits, such as, 
3 kinds of grapes, gooseberry bush, barlett & winter pear tree, mulberry tree, 2 apple trees, plum tree, and cherry trees, 
and he planed the whole bottom flat, with vegatables and watermelons, mushmelons for us to eat, it sure beat the 
prices at the grocery store, and helped my parents budget.

Other Stories & Facts surrounding 319 Clark Street;: 
You could add that our back yard was used as a baseball & football stadium. Many of us kids and even, 
Wm. (Butch) Hoelzer-CHS 1968, (Bonnie's brother-CHS 1965), whom pitched for the Cincinnatti Reds, got his 
first experiences playing in the field, below the back of the house, as well, as the school's ballfields. It was our goal 
to hit the ball over the bushes and even the house, but a few times we hit the windows of the house, and my Father, 
was too happy about that. We would use our bikes to go around the neighborhood, to get the guys together, to play 
ball, baseball and football, as well as, big yard games, red light green light, dodge ball, at the Hoyt's house. When 
Winter came, it was another occassion to get the neighboehhod and far neighboehood families or children together
to slide on Hoyt's Hill. We kids would sometimes crash into each other, when some children sliding down one hill 
at a 90 degree from the other hill would collide, a few cuts and bruises, but no broken bones appeared. It was just a 
lot of fun to have a play yard, that so many chikdren and friends used to come to enjoy their days. The other slick hill, 
specially, if iced over, or not plwed yet, was the Light Plant Road, that was our back-up long slide run, as sometrimes 
we used to slide into the Light Plant facility if the gate was open, and in the Summer, the Road-Hill was used as a straight
Race Track for home go-carts. The Hill across the Light Plant Road, in Water Works Park, was short and steep, but we 
managed to slide down on cardboard pieces, as well as, boxes to have a short thrill. 
A creek formerly traveled from 200 ft East, & 200 ft South of the home, which was covered up in the 
early 1960s and a drain placed below ground and ran to the Tail Race of the Mill, approximately 100 yds. down the
Water Works Park land, near the old tennis courts. A dam was built early on and covered up with the drainage 
pipe, just South on the East line of the property approx. 100 ft South, where us children in the 1950's played 
and came home wet several times. The old Blacksmith of Clinton, Michigan lived in a small Hut and bailed us 
out of the Creek and Dam several times. His name was Bill Peepers, and the city granted him small parcel of 
land that was adjacent to the South line of the property and ran to the Village Power Road, then South to the 
Creek or about 60 ft. Old Bill Peepers had an inside of the hill cellar, that was close to the South Line of the 
319 Clark Property, and us children used to spend hours down there with him, watching him get the fruit from 
the side cellar door, and give us a treat and then he'd tell us old stories of Clinton, and when he was a Blacksmith 
. He had a small business of Sharpening Tools, etc. Soon afterwards, the City covered up the Dam and Creek, then, 
after we were gone from Clinton to Colleges. Old Bill died of a Heart Attack.next to the East side of the 319 Clark Street Property, 
His residence was more like a Garage, but a home. Bill Peeper's would fry us fried potatoes and onions. 
He would give use tomatoes and corn from his garden. Dad always would give him a bottle of whisky for Christmas. 
I remember the day he tried to get brother Jim out of the creek and ole' Bill fell in. And one night when we were still small, 
we were awakened by Fireman that were putting out the flames in the home of, Old Charlie Crosby (?) *, he passed on, 
from smoke inhalation due to him falling asleep with a cigar. 
A North Clinton, neighborhood friend, *Eugene Hahn, when we were about 10- years old, fell off of the rope that my dad had a 
swing built for us children, but we had grand ideas, we would swing off the garage roof, and Eugene couldn't hang on, 
and fell to the ground. Doc George Wilson, came over and set his arm. His scream upon resetting, could be heard 
through the neighborhood.
As a child whom slept upstairs and saw the train come down the track with the Huge White Beam showing into the 
bedroom, I, on many occasions, had a dream that the train was coming into the home. The other dream & sometimes 
even a daydream, was that when I went to the kitchen window that looked out to the West and to the dark park, and land 
below house, I quite frequently, had dreams and nightmares from the aliens would come look through the window, when 
they had landed in the 'Garden Spot", below the house. Of course, that was in the 1950s and when all the first "Flying 
Saucer Movies" came out at the movie theater downtown, and us children would run our little feet home as fast as we 
could. I also was fearful of the dreaded Nuclear Holocaust, that loomed near us, (WWII bombing plant was in Ypsilanti, 
20 miles away), and that was supposed to be on the "Drop The Bomb" as a military target, many 105's screamed 
over head when we were in the Clinton Elementary School, as we children, used to watch them overhead from the 
football field, during the cold war in 50's & 60's. many of us kids imagined a Mushroom Cloud sprouting upward, then 
have to embrace for the "Winds to blow us into Dust!" Of course, that was then, and the R.R. Tracks are gone now.
-----------------------------------------
The home has since been renovated, a large above ground pool installed in the below grounds, and was 
recently held For Sale in Summer 2002.
The New Owners (2004), have been in contact,.with me; 
They will be completely restoring the old home to it's Grander Days.
They are Bill & Tamara Click, Bill’s business is:
Model Construction, Inc.
319 Clark St.
Clinton, MI 49236	Click & Associates
Historic Restoration Consultants
319 Clark St.
Clinton, MI 49236	

`Thank You for your interest, written by John E Hoyt, formerly of 319 Clark Street 1947-1979
Family Historian and Genealogist
Website: http://www.simonhoyt.com 
E-mail: jeh49341@chartermi.com

JOHN E HOYT
3725 Hessler Ct, NE
Rockford, MI 49341
 
Applied for  Copyright © 2002 John E Hoyt October 2, 2002          Click here to  see Copyright Information.