Title: Loy Family Scrapbooks
Inclusive Dates: circa 1774-1929

Creator:

• Loy Family

Call Number: Green Bay Micro 27; Micro 827

Quantity: 1 reel of microfilm (35mm)

Repository:

Housed at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Archives and Area Research Center; owned by the Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

UW-Green Bay Cofrin Library / Green Bay Area Research Ctr. (Map)

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

Abstract:

Scrapbooks compiled by Peter Schell Loy, De Pere, Wisconsin, including genealogy of the Loy family and the related Arndt, Baird, Davis, Drescher, Ferguson, Hannon, Hoffman, Kurtz, Mortimer, and Stuart families, and of General William Dickenson, one of the founders of De Pere; family correspondence; photographs and portraits, including photographs of De Pere; clippings on De Pere history; a history of Loysburg, Pennsylvania; postcards of Phoenix, Arizona; Bedford and Loysburg, Pennsylvania; and Appleton and Green Bay, Wisconsin; and correspondence of F. L. Wager concerning his trip by covered wagon to the Montana goldfields with other residents of De Pere.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-micr0827

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Martin Loy I, the first member of the Loy family in America, was born circa 1752 in Baden, Germany and arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, circa 1774. In 1782 he married Margaretta Hoffman with whom he had four children-Martin II, Christina, Catherine, and David. In circa 1795, Martin Loy I moved to a community in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, which became known as Loysburg. There he operated a farm, flour mill, and a store. Martin Loy II of Loysburg married Elizabeth Ferguson who had twelve children. One of them, David M. Loy, married Ann Rebecca Schell in 1842 and was the father of Peter Schell Loy, the compiler of the Loy family papers. David M. Loy worked as a farmer, miller, store operator, boatman, and captain in the Pennsylvania militia before moving to De Pere, Wisconsin, in 1847 where, as a contractor, he built a dam and locks on the Fox River.

Peter Schell Loy was born in Somerset, Somerset County, Pennsylvania on November 11, 1846, and moved with his parents, David M. and Ann Rebecca Loy, to De Pere, Wisconsin, in 1847. He married Emily Hayes Arndt in 1869 and had three children-Charlotte, Mary, and Annah. Throughout his life, Peter was involved in numerous business ventures including stencil cutting; operating river boats; investing in timber land in Wisconsin, gold mines in Oregon, oil wells and almond orchards in California; and contracting for road construction projects. After living in De Pere for about fifty years, Peter moved to Los Angeles and shortly thereafter to Alhambra, California where he worked as a contractor and collected material related to his family's genealogy.

The Loy family papers consist primarily of genealogical records that document the history of the descendants of Martin Loy I. The emphasis of the collection is on family branches most directly related to Peter Schell Loy including those of Margaretta Hoffman, wife of Martin Loy I; Elizabeth Ferguson, wife of Martin Loy II; Annie Mortimer Ferguson, mother of Elizabeth Ferguson; Emily Hayes Arndt, wife of Peter Schell Loy; Jacob Edward Drescher, husband of Charlotte Watson Loy; Charles Hannon, husband of Annah Loy; and V.S. Baird, husband of Mary Wilcox Loy. Other family lines included are those of Elizabeth Loy Davis, Edward T. Kurtz, and William Maxwell Stuart. The papers are not strictly limited to the Loy family genealogy; they also include material on the family of General William Dickenson because of that family's long association with the Loys in De Pere and because General Dickenson was considered to be the founder of De Pere. There is also a small amount of material related to the experiences of De Pere residents who joined the California gold rush in the early 1850s.

The papers include typed copies of family correspondence; correspondence with libraries, archives, and government offices related to Peter S. Loy's genealogical research; photographs of family members and the city of De Pere; plat maps showing the location of Peter S. Loy's land holdings; newspaper clippings; postal cards; and notes by Peter S. Loy. All of the material is contained in scrapbooks comprising three volumes and the entire collection has been retained in its original order.

Acquisition Information

Originals loaned for copying by the Neville Public Museum in Green Bay, Wis., 1980.

Processing Information

Processed by William Cunningham, September, 1980.

Reel   1	Volume 1 Scope and Content Note: Includes post cards of Bedford and Loysburg, Pennsylvania; an early history of Loysburg; genealogical data concerning Martin Loy I, Margaretta Hoffman, Martin Loy II, John and Elizabeth Loy Davis, Edward T. Kurtz, David M. Loy, and General William Dickenson; portraits and photographs of family members; correspondence between Martin Loy II and his son, David M. Loy, and between David and his wife, Rebecca; correspondence and notes of Peter S. Loy related to his genealogical research.
Reel   1	Volume 2 Scope and Content Note: Genealogical material related to the Ferguson, Mortimer, Drescher, Baird, Hannan, and Stewart families; correspondence between Ellwood Loy and his father, David M. Loy, and between Ellwood's brother, Peter S. Loy; family correspondence between Peter S. Loy, his wife, and daughters, Charlotte and Annah; correspondence of Peter S. Loy from his grandchildren and from F.E. Wager who describes his covered wagon trip to the Montana gold fields with other residents of De Pere; photographs of Peter S. Loy, his brother, Ellwood, his wife, daughters, grandchildren, and his home in De Pere, Wisconsin and Alhambra, California; notes by Peter S. Loy concerning his contracting work and investments.
Reel   1	Volume 3 Scope and Content Note: Includes family correspondence of Peter Schell, David Loy, Ann Rebecca Loy, Peter S. Loy, and Charlotte Watson Loy; photographs of Peter S. Loy, his home in De Pere, the city of De Pere, and family grave sites; post cards of Green Bay and Appleton, Wisconsin, Bedford, Pennsylvania, and Phoenix, Arizona; newspaper clippings concerning the history of De Pere; papers related to investments of Peter S. Loy; and lists of books and other materials donated by Peter S. Loy to various libraries and to the State Historical Society of Wisconsin.