(c) Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield MA. All rights reserved.
Contact us for information about using this image.

label levels:

In 1798, a dog license law was passed in Massachusetts stating that each dog owner should pay a yearly tax and be responsible for giving the dog a collar. The collar was to have on it the name and town of the owner. Mr. Hoyt wrote a formal letter of gentle protest stating that he was the "true sole & lawfull Owner of a small spotted dog (of the cur breed) commonly known ...as Bug Hoyt" and that he would follow the law by giving the dog a brass collar with the right label. Elihu Hoyt went on to serve in the legislature in 1803, and served there 27 years. He was born and brought up in the Old Indian House in Deerfield.

top of page