Born in Vermont in 1804, Lyman Hoyt moved to Jefferson County in 1834, where he owned land and operated several manufacturing businesses. He was active in the Neil’s Creek Anti-Slavery Society and in forming the Liberty Party for the abolition of slavery, and he and his family supported Eleutherian College. Hoyt condemned the Fugitive Slave Law and took part in helping fugitives escaping through Jefferson County. He died in 1857. The Underground Railroad was a widespread network of diverse people in the nineteenth century who aided slaves escaping to freedom from the southern U.S.