The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1912-09-23
GOVERNOR WIDOW
CALLED BY DEATH
Mrs. Elizabeth o. s. Hoyt, Philos.
opher, Author, and Poet, Dies
at Age Of Eighty-four.
ACCEPTED NO RELIGION

Mrs. Elizabeth Orpha Sampson Hoyt,
widow Of former Cow John Wesley
Hoyt. chairman of the National Univer-
sity Committee Of 100, one OF the organ
izers Of the Mount Vernon Ladies' As
ISOLATION. authoress of note. and an
authority on mental philosophy. yester-
day succumbed to a stroke of paralysis
al the home Of her son, Kepley Hoyt,
illi Fcssenden Place. Wisconsin Avenue
Park.
Member Of a class in mental phiIoso-
ply by special permission at the age of
ten years, Mrs. Hoyt was also an author
ity on the classics. At the age Of twelve
she undertook the private study of
Greek by freight, and as a result her
eyesight was impaired to such an extent
that II was imperfect for the rest Of her
life. When young woman she taught
mental philosophy. French, and mathe-
matics at Worthington (Ohio) Female
Seminary.
Mrs. Hoyt was born at Athens. Ohio.
the daughter of John and Marcia Samp-
son. December 7. 1s2s
On November 2s. 1884. at Cincinnati.
she married DR.. John w. Hoyt. at that
time professor OF chemistry and medical
jurisprudence In the Cincinnati College
Of Medicine and in the Eclectic Medical
Institute Of Cincinnati.
Wrote ChiIdren's Poems.
Mrs. Hoyt. in early life. contributed
many children's poems to newspapers
and magazines, especially to the Allan
tic Monthly. under the editorship Of Mr..
Horace Scudder, and who considered
| some of her poems so inimitable as to
be capable of illustration, at that time.
by but one artist in America.
Mrs. Hoyt was one OF the organizers
and charter members OF the original
Mount Vernon Ladies' Association. and
was always an active sympathizer with
patriotic enterprises generally.
Uniting with her philosophic tenden-
cies the utmost practicality In domes-
tic affairs. and Notwithstanding lifelong
physical weakness and further impair
nent of her sight by cataracts. Mrs.
Hoyt was yet able, with Incidental as
sistance from friends. TO gain wide IA
miliarity with ancient and modern lit
erature. and wrote a number Of papers.
either published or read before institu-
tions of learning, among the more i'm
portant Of which were THE Horticul-
tural Establishment of School-house
Grounds. The Revolutionary Move
ment Among Women" "A New Theory
OF the immaculate Conception" An
Attempt to Find the Absolute by a
Philosophic Method THE Place OF the
Brownings in English Literature" and
An Exposition of Schiller's Ballad The
Diver"
From 1857 to 1890 Mrs. Hoyt delivered
the lectures on logic and psychology at
the University OF Wyoming. during the
presidency of her husband
In 1880. Mrs. Hoyt. after an exhaustive
examination. received the degree of doc
tor of philosophy from the University of
Denver. reading as her thesis on that oc-
casion a paper entitled. An ANALYSIS of
a Present State OF Mind" the same being
a radical examination of consciousness.
Member of No Church.
Mrs Hcyt was a member Of the Society
for Philosophical Inquiry Of Washington.
In philosophy she was a natural realist.
She never belonged TO any church be-
cause she could not accept any OF the
creeds. She had. however, an abiding
faith in the spirituality Of the universe.
in a personal God and in personal i'm
mortality through the endless develop-
ment Of the soul as associated with some
form OF organism.
Several years ago Mrs. Hoyt wrote be-
tween one and two hundred short poems
of an historical. romantic. political, So
Geological and philosophical character,
some Of which were published in the
Springfield Republican. The Peacemaker
and other periodicals.
Mrs. Hoyt lost one son. Zanoni, in in
fancy. She is survived by her son, Kep-
Ter Hoyt. an accountant in the Treasury
Department. his wife, and two grand
children. John Mitchell. aged seven, and
Mary Evelyn. aged four.
Funeral services will be held at p. M
Tuesday. September "a. 1912. at her late
residence. The interment. at Glenwood
Cemetery, will be private