 He had a difficult childhood, as his mother died when he was nine years old.He graduated at the Boston Latin School and, after being engaged in the cattle business in Colorado for a time, took up newspaper work, first with the St. Albans (Vt.) "Advertiser", and later becoming musical and dramatic critic of the "Boston Post".Beginning in 1883, Hoyt turned playwright and wrote a series of 20 farcical comedies (roughly one per year until his death) and a comic opera.