Representative women of New England/Katherine L. Hoyle

by Mary H. Graves

KATHERINE L. HOYLE

KATHERINE LAWRENCE HOYLE, for many years one of the best known and most highly respected women of Maiden, was born in Medford, Mass., January 10, 1825, daughter of Captain Martin and Eliza (Withington) Burrage.

Her paternal ancestry has been traced back to Robert Burrage, of Seething, Norfolk County, England, whose will was proved in the Bishop's Court at Norfolk, May 13, 1559, his death having occurred in that year. His wife's given name was Rose. Mrs. Hoyle's line of descent is through his son Richard, the date of whose birth is not known, but who resided in Norton Subcourse, Norfolk County, England. Thomas Burrage, born February 28, 1581, son of Richard, married Frances Dey, August 19, 1606. He died March 2, 1632-3.

John¹ Burrage, son of Thomas and his wife Frances, was baptized in Norton Subcourse, April 10, 1616. He was the founder of this branch of the family in America. Coming to Massachusetts and settling in Charles town, his name being on the records in 1637, he took the freeman's oath May 18, 1642. About 1639 he married his first wife, Mary, whose maitlen surname is not known. His second wife was Joanna Stowers. He died October 19, 1685.

William^ Burrage, the elder of the two sons of John' who survived their father, was born June 10, 1657. In the county records between the years 1677 and 1690 he is called "a mariner." His name appears in a list prepared by Constable Greenwood for the use of the assessors of taxes in Boston in 1674, and also in a list of inhabitants of Boston in 1695. He died in 1720.

John^ Burrage, born in Boston, February 11, 1693, son of William and his wife Sarah, died January 24, 1765. He married first, October 9, 171S, Lydia Ward, who tlied in 1724. He married January 17, 1725, Sarah Smith. He was a farmer and lived in Newton, Mass. William' Burrage, son of John' and Lydia (Ward) Burrage, married December 13, 1744, Hannah Osland. He moved to Concord, Mass., about 1756, and died in October, 1763. John* Burrage, born August 29, 1755, married May 10, 1781, Lois Barthrick, of Lunenburg. He died July 2, 1822.

Captain Martin" Burrage, son of John'^ and his wife Lois, was born July 27, 1793. He became a prominent citizen of Medford, active in town affairs, and was Captain of the crack militia company of the town. In this capacity he had the honor of escorting General La- fayette in his last visit to this country and of being personally complimented by him on the fine military bearing of the company. His sword is preserved in the family as a valuable souvenir. His first wife, Eliza Withington, was a woman of sterling qualities. Her father established the old bakery that is still standing in Medford and is probably th(> oldest in New England. After her death Captain Burrage married for his second wife, May 12, 1840, Hannah Pratt.

Katherine Lawrence Burrage was educated in the public schools of Medford, and became a teacher. When she was sixteen years old, her parents sold their Medford farm and bought one in Maiden, where the family lived for many years. Here, long after, her father died when in his eighty-sixth year. At the age of twenty-five Miss Burrage was married to Charles Frederick Syffernian, a manufacturer of carriage and upholstery trimmings in Maiden, with a store on Otis Street, Boston. Of this union there were four children, two of whom did not survive the period of infancy. The others, William and Frederick, liveil but to reach the thresh- old of a promising manhood, the former dying at the age of eighteen and the latter at nine- teen. Their memory is preserved in a gift of eight thousand dollars left by Mrs. Hoyle to the Maiden Public Library for the purchase of books for the use of the young people of the city. Mr. Syffernian flied in 1876, and after some three years of comparative seclusion his widow married for her second husband Josiah Talbot, a lumber dealer of Maklen, a member of the firm of Talbot Brothers. He died in 1881. In 1882 Mrs. Talbot married Royal Teele of Medford. Mr. Teele died in February, 1892, and on November 23, 1892, his widow became the wife of Irving Julius Hoyle, a native of Thompson, Conn. Mr. Hoyle was born in 1850, son of Moses and Caroline (Joslin) Hoyle. Through his mother, a daughter of Jesse and Sibyl (Bates) Joslin an<l grand-daughter of Jolui Bates and his wife, Chloe Fuller, Mr. Hoyle is a descendant of Isaac AUerton, one of the "Mayflower" Pilgrims, ns thus shown- Mary^ Allerton, daughter of Isaac,' married Elder Thomas^ Cushman. Their son Thomas' married Abigail Fuller, and was the father of Samuel" Cushman, who married F'ear Corser. Mary* Cushman, tlaughter of Sanuiel,* married Noah Fuller, ami was the mother of Chloe" P'uller, wife of John Bates and great-grandmother of Mr. Hoyle. One of Mr. Hoyle's ancestors on the paternal side was Chad Brown, founder of the Rhode Island family for whom lirown L^niversity was named.

Mr. and Mrs. Hoyle enjoyed some ten years of happy home life, which was terminated by her death on December 20, 1902, as the result of pneumonia. She left no children.

Mrs. Hoyle was a woman of philanthropic nature and broad sympathies, which found characteristic expression, through her ample means, in various benefactions and charitable works. To lend a helping hand to every worthy cause, not grudging either money or personal service, to extend to the poor and unfortunate both helpful advice and pecuniary aid, to do all that lay in her power to make the world better and brighter—this was the self-imposed mission which she nobly fulfilled. She was an incorporator and one of the trustees of the Maiden Hospital; one of the original incorporators in Maiden of the Y. M. C. A.; and a trustee and at the time of her death one of the board of managers of the Home for Aged People in Maiden. To each of these institutions she made generous bequests — one thousand dollars to the hospital, two thousand dollars to the Y. M. C. A., and a .similar amount to the Home for Aged People. She also left three hundred dollars to the city of Medford to maintain perpetually a drinking fountain, erected by her at the corner of Spring and Salem Streets, also the same amount to the city of Maiden for the permanent care of a drinking fountain previously erected by her in Judson Square, Maiden. She left the cities of Medford and Maiden several similar amounts for the care of her lot in Salem Street Cemetery; Maiden, the care of her father's lot in Oak Grove Cemetery, Medford, and for the care of the lot of her former husband, Mr. Teele, in Medford. To the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals she left two thousand dollars. Wilbraham Academy received from her the gift of one thousand dollars. Her memory is perpetuated in the Centre Methodist Church of Malilen by her gift of a silver communion service. The residue of her fortune, excepting some private bequests, was left to Mr. Hoyle.

Mrs. Hoyle was a constant attendant at the First Congregational Church, the pastor of which, the Rev. H. H. French, officiated a4 her funeral, assisted by the pastor of the Centre Methodist Church, the Rev. Mr. Hughes. A womanly woman and a practical Christian, she left behind a fragrant memory of her life and character that shall long endure.