Benjamin Hoyt

Resident from 1713 to 1759

Benjamin Hoyt was the original builder of the structure that, over the course of 300 years, would become a tavern, general store, hotel, summer home, and museum. A native of Deerfield, Massachusetts, he was orphaned at the ened of the 1704 Raid on Deerfield during Queen Anne’s War. According to legend, he escaped the fate of his family, who were captured and sent to Canada, by jumping out of a window and hiding in a corn crib.

Benjamin made the journey from Deerfield to Norwalk, Connecticut and lived with relatives. Eventually, he moved to Ridgefield in 1713 when, in his early 20s, he purchased Lott II, one of the original “lotts” of the newly formed town, and began building a home. The building was originally a one-room dwelling with a gable roof, a stone fireplace with a beehive oven, and no basement. In the 1750s, he expanded the property by building around and above the structure, which still exists today.

Benjamin and his wife, Sarah, raised their six children in the home.

At the time of Benjamin’s death in 1759, Lott II was a substantial and impressive farmstead. The property was inherited by his son, David, who opted to sell it to his nephew, Timothy Keeler Jr. (son of David’s sister, Mary, who married Timothy Keeler Sr.).

» Next: Timothy Keeler