Charles Hoya is significant in the history of Nacogdoches for being the most trusted land surveyor of his time in East Texas and as a cofounder of the Stone Fort National Bank. To view or print a brochure about Charles Hoya and sites associated with him, please click this link Charles Hoya Brochure or for more information, please continue reading.
Charles Hoya
Joseph Theodore von der Hoya came to Nacogdoches from Damme, Germany, with his three brothers in 1836.[1] The 1860 United States Census recorded Joseph Hoya as a merchant, though his profession when he first arrived in Nacogdoches is uncertain.[2] In 1837, Joseph met and married Ida Heeder, whose family had previously moved to Henderson, Texas from Damme. Between 1869-1870 (the actual year is debated) Joseph Hoya bought the Sterne house from the widow of Adolphus Sterne.[3] The Hoyas had nine children.[4] The fifth child was Charles Hoya, born in 1848. Charles attended classes at Nacogdoches University on Washington Square.
University Building in Washington Square
The Land Business
After leaving school, Charles began working for Captain A.A. Nelson, the county surveyor, where he learned "all there was to know about that profession, which he pursued the remainder of his life. It is said he resurveyed every original survey in the county."[5] Charles became so trusted in the community that, according to F.I. Tucker, Charles and his assistant George Meisenheimer were the only surveyors that the residents of the large Mora and Chireno land grants would trust. Anyone else who tried to survey the land were removed at gun point, even the state's Land Commissioners.[6] Hoya also handled both the legal and financial aspects of deeds and change of ownership transactions. Hoya understood the importance of the paperwork and transactions that he handled so he built the first fireproof building in Nacogdoches in 1898. The Charles Hoya Land Office was constructed entirely out of brick, cement, and steel, and the basement had a steel safe where he kept his gold.
As the financial part of his business grew, he and several others organized the Stone Fort National Bank in 1903. Hoya was the bank's first president but resigned so that he would not have to be involved in all day-to-day dealings as well as keeping up his own surveying business, but he stayed on the board of directors. Fritz, Charles's brother, was a very successful merchant whose emporium was located across the street from the Charles Hoya Land Office in the Hoya Building.
Charles Hoya Land Office
Charles Hoya Land Office Historical Markers
Family
On January 26, 1887, Charles married Fannie Meisenheimer and the two lived in the yard house to the rear of the Sterne-Hoya house.[7] In 1889, Charles and Fannie's Victorian style home, located across the street from his parent's home, was completed and the couple moved in.[8] The 1900 U.S. Census recorded the couple with two daughters, Clara and Jennie.[9] When Clara and Jennie grew up and married, Charles commissioned Diedrich Rulfs to build the two girls adjacent homes on Logansport Street. Clara married J. Roy Gray who worked in the abstract office and who eventually took over after Charles's death. Jennie married L. Blum Mast who worked at the Stone Fort Bank and later became an officer.
For more information about Charles Hoya's home please visit the following links:
Charles Hoya Home in the Nacogdoches Historic Sites Survey - 210 South Lanana
1906 Sanborn Map
1922 Sanborn Map- lists home on Bois D'Arc
Charles and Fannie Hoya Home
A Family of Givers
Charles Hoya passed away in 1926. He was remembered as a generous man not only by his family but also by the community. "He was compassionate to the survivors of those breadwinners whose notes he held at their death. There are no known cases where he foreclosed on any such mortgage."[10] His daughters, Jennie and Clara, carried on his tradition of generosity by gifting the Sterne-Hoya house to the city of Nacogdoches in 1958 for use as a library and museum. "None of the Hoyas ever sought recognition for the many charitable deeds they performed for Nacogdoches's needy families in providing housing, food, clothing, and educational benefits including both tuition and financial support though college."[11]
Sterne-Hoya House Museum
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Joseph Von Der Hoya Land Grant from the Grand Duchey of Oldenburg Germany
Paperwork for Hoya land on the square of Nacogdoches
Charles Hoya's gravestone can be found in the area south of the main drive, near the back of the section. His marker is made of limestone and is a thick square tablet with a pyramidal top, set on a base. This stone serves as a marker for both Charles and his wife Fannie. Charles's name is abbreviated to Chas., as it is on the Charles Hoya Land Office. To locate Hoya's grave in Oak Grove Cemetery, visit http://preserveamerica.sfasu.edu/OakGrove/ and enter his name into the search criteria.
Charles and Fannie Hoya Gravemarker at Oak Grove Cemetery
Images
- Charles Hoya Photograph, Charles Hoya Land Office Dedication Scrapbook, pg. 3, East Texas Research Center, Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, Texas, http://digital.sfasu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/Stern-Hoya/id/170.
- University Building in Washington Square, Nacogodoches, Texas
- Hoya Land Office, 120 East Pilar Street, Nacogdoches, Texas
- Charles Hoya Land Office Historical Markers, Located at E. Pilar Street and S. Pecan Street
- Charles and Fannie Hoya House, S. Lanana Street, Nacogdoches, Texas
- Sterne-Hoya House Museum, S. Lanana Street, Nacogdoches, Texas
- Jospeh Von Der Hoya Land Grant from the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg, Germany, J Roy Gray Collection 1830-1881, A/152, Box 1, Folder 8, East Texas Research Center, Stephen F. Austin State Univeristy, Nacogdoches, Texas
- Paperwork for Hoya land on the square of Nacogdoches, J Roy Gray Collection 1830-1881, A/152, Box 1, Folder 8, East Texas Research Center, Stephen F. Austin State Univeristy, Nacogdoches, Texas
- Charles and Fannie Hoya Gravestone at Oak Grove Cemetery, Nacogdoches, Texas
References