Washburn County WIGenWeb Project

People Histories

Stephen S. Hoar
(27 Oct. 1848 - 15 Jul 1927¹)

-As transcribed from the "COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF THE UPPER LAKES REGION"

by J. H. Beers & Co., Chicago, IL, 1905

pages 262 - 263

Stephen S. Hoar, a well known citizen of Shell Lake, was born in Albert County, New Brunswick, Oct. 27, 1848. His parents were George and Isabella (Stiles) Hoar, both natives of Albert County.

In 1763 there came from Devonshire, England, three brothers, James, John and Ebenezer Hoar, who settled in Massachusetts. They traced their lineage back to Herman Hoar, an officer of Richard Coeur de Lion, who was knighted for gallant service at the battle of Essex. A hotel in London has been kept by successive generations of the Hoar family for five hundred years, each proprietor bearing the name of John Hoar.

Stephen S. Hoar is descended from Eben Hoar, who was a Loyalist and went to Nova Scotia from new England about the beginning of the Revolution. His grandson, James L. Hoar, was the father of George Hoar, both of whom were lumbermen. George Hoar came to Shell Lake about 1892, and died there July 4, 1894, in his seventy-fifth year. He had been an earnest and active member of the M. E. Church. His wife, Isabella (Stiles) Hoar, died in 1867, when forty-eight years of age. Her father, Stephen Stiles, was born in Canada, whither his parents had come from the North of Ireland; he was a sea captain, and lived to be sixty-seven years old, dying in Albert County, New Brunswick. Our subject's brother Frank commanded the "Lizzie R," which went down during the great gale of August, 1873, on Georgia Shoals, near New York, none of the crew ever being heard from.

On reaching his majority Stephen S. Hoar engaged in lumbering and shipbuilding at alma, New Brunswick, where he also carried on a general store. For a number of years he was successful, but owing to the loss, in the Bay of Fundy, of a vessel and cargo which he owned, and to other disasters, he lost his property. In July, 1886, he came to Shell Lake and entered the employ of the Shell Lake Lumber Co., spending five years in the store of that firm, meantime opening a livery stable, which he still carries on. He has built two stables in the village, and his present barn, built in 1892, is a commodious building with a stone basement. He keeps from twenty to twenty-five horses, and has an excellent custom. For a number of years he has also dealt in ice, and now supplies the whole village. All of his business is conducted honorably and with judgment, and he is highly respected by his friends and associates.

Mr. Hoar married (first) June 4, 1873, Susan Wright, daughter of Robert and Susan Wright, of Albert County, New Brunswick. She was a member of the Methodist Church, and died in 1884, at the age of thirty-one, leaving four children, viz.: Frank, now an attorney at Shell Lake, a graduate of Wisconsin University; Albert, in business with his father; Belle, Mrs. W. B. Kinzie, of Shell Lake; and Blair, editor and proprietor of the Shell Lake Watchman. In February, 1885, Mr. Hoar married (second) Marilla Strong, who was born in Albert County, daughter of David Strong. She died at Shell Lake in 1889, leaving two sons, Harry and David, both at school. Mr. Hoar married (third) in January, 1893, Martha Devereaux, daughter of Walter Devereaux, of St. John, New Brunswick, and to this marriage were born five children: Milton, Stephen, Walter, John and Robert, the last named dying when two and a half years old. Mrs. Martha (Devereaux) Hoar is a communicant of the Episcopal Church. Mr. Hoar is a member of the I. O. F. [sic]. In politics a Republican, he has been for two years a member of the town board, and since 1899 deputy sheriff of Washburn county.

1 - Editorial Note - Stephen S. Hoar's death date was derived from the Washburn Co. Register of Deeds Death Index. The death record is on file at the Register of Deeds Office in Shell Lake, in Volume 8, page 309. His burial location is in the Shell Lake Memorial Cemetery (1847 - 1927). His second wife, Marilla, is also buried in this cemetery (death date of 08 Mar 1890 on stone, aged 41y). His third wife, Martha H., is buried in this cemetery as well (1858 - 1945) along with his children, Frank E. (06 Apr 1874 - 27 Apr 1905); Albert W. (1875 - 1955); Harry (1885 - 1975); Milton Devereux (28 Nov 1893 - 13 Aug 1953); Stephen S. (1896 - 1945); Walter G. (20 Aug 1898 - 24 Jan 1979); John E. (1901 - 1974); and Robert (no dates).