Matthew Watson “Watt” Hoyle

Birth  NOV 1866 • Smithfield, Jefferson, Ohio, 

Death: Oct 3 1941 Ohio

Father, Joseph, mother, Phoebe, He had four brothers and three sisters.  In 1893, Watt Hoyle, one of the owners of the Old Abe Mine, built a two-story Victorian brick home for his fiancée. However, when the young lady came to live with him, she got to White Oaks, saw how rugged it was and said she wouldn’t be staying there with him. She left and he never saw her again.

Many rumors spread that Hoyle was sending off for a mail order bride. And she came to White Oaks, to quickly leave him, and this started his downward spiral. With his heart broken and his dreams of a life with a family in White Oaks dashed Watt never finished the interior of the home. With it’s stately gables and sharply-pitcher roof the unfinished mansion soon became known as “Hoyle’s folly.” Many legends and folklore about the Mansion’s devastated owner would swirl around the town of White Oaks. Some would say that Hoyle threw himself into the North side of The Old Abe mine and died down in the mine shaft. Some say he packed up his things and left in the middle of the night never to be heard from again. The truth is that Mathew “Watt” Hoyle (also called Andy) would live a few more years in his mansion with his older brother Will and Will’s wife. Hoyle later sold the home and moved to Denver where he lived out the rest of his life. The Clipping above shows that rumors must have been widespread through White Oaks, for him to actually post a statement in the Leader. 

*This home is still standing in White Oaks as of 2009 and is one of the most recognized and historical buildings in that part of New Mexico. It is as huge as it ever was and overlooks the tiny town of White Oaks. It is quite spectacular.  

See All 58 newspaper clippings on Hoyle

Census Timeline

• 1870: Mathew Watson Hoyle age 4 born 1866 Mother phoebe Watson Hoyle, Father Joseph
• 1880: still at home in Ohio with family age 14 
• 1890: To be determined
• 1900: Living in White Oaks with his brothers family William his wife Louise C and their daughter Ida K 
• 1910:  Jefferson County Colorado Matthew Hoyle is listed as a border at the Cedar Lodge Sanitarium
• 1920: Shows him as The Boarding House operator for a large boarding house located at 267 to 269 West 72nd Street Manhattan New York 
• 1930:  Finds him in Mount Vernon New York still with his wife Sarah he is 64 she is 60 and they’re boarding house managers at that time

Timeline

• • Oct 10, 1891 Mathew Hoyle purchases the Whiteman Store for $4,000
  • Jan 21, 1892:Mathew Hoyle started contract to build the Hoyle House.
  • March 24, 1892:The Hoyle House construction begins.
  • March 24, 1892:Old Ab e Mine Incoporates.
  • August 4, 1892:Stone and brick walls erected on Hoyles House.
  • Dec 12, 1892:Hoyle purchases 20-Stamp Mill for Old Abe.
  • Dec 16, 1892:Construction on the Mill will commence in a few days.
  • Dec 22, 1892:Hoyles new residence will be completed soon
  • Oct 19, 1893:Hoyle throws House party
  • Nov 9, 1893:Hoyle goes looking for the pump
  • Nov 28 1904 Complaint filed against Hewitt, Watson, Hoyle, and Fergusson
  • June 12, 1908  EXCHANGE BANK OF CARRIZOZO TAKES PROPERTY
  • 1908:Denver, Colorado, City Directory
  • 1911:Denver, Colorado, City Directory, 1911
  • 1911:Hoyles listed address in 1911
  • April 26, 1916: Marries Sarah Belle dengey In Boulder Colorado he is 50 years old she is 46. 
  • Oct 3 1941: Matthew Hoyle Dies.

Newspaper Clippings

• 58 Newspaper Listings

Lincoln County Ownership

See Interactive Map  Ownership

Ancestry.com

• LISTED 

Find A Grave

• NOT LISTED

1930: Finds him in Mount Vernon New York still with his wife Sarah he is 64 she is 60 and they’re boarding house managers at that time

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The images below are from the newspaper of delinquent taxes on Mr. Hole’s  properties

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1900 census for Matthew Hoyle