John Monier Hoar, 1891-1970

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Birth: 23 November 1891, Lawrence, Nassau County, New York

Death: 8 February 1970, Bremerton, Kitsap County, Washington

Relatives in Seabeck Cemetery: Evelyn Hoar née Pederson

American Revolutionary War Patriots*: Unknown

John Monier Hoar, who was often known as “Johnny,” was born in 1891 in Lawrence, Nassau County, New York. His father, James “Judge” Hoar, was listed as a miner in the 1875 New York census. By 1900, James had divorced and was living in Seabeck, Washington, with his children, John and Hattie, along with his mother, Elizabeth. John thus spent part of his youth in Washington State.

During World War I, John registered for the draft and was recorded as single. In 1918, he applied for a marriage license with Cecilia Sorley, completing an affidavit for the application. His sister Hattie and her husband, Horace Sutherland, served as witnesses. That marriage ended in divorce around 1930.

On May 12, 1931, John married Evelyn Pederson in Kitsap County, Washington. The marriage was performed by a Justice of the Peace in Port Orchard. Shortly after their marriage, John lived for several years in Valdez, Alaska, before returning to Washington. Newspaper accounts indicate the couple resided in Alaska for at least four years and possibly longer.

Around 1939, John and a business partner, Mark Lyman of Nevada, formed the Puget Sound Peat Moss Company. Contemporary newspaper coverage predicted strong prospects for the enterprise, describing it as a new industry for Kitsap County. The business was based on John’s discovery of a large peat moss bog surrounding Lake Tahuya. According to Kitsap County History (the “green Kitsap History book”), John Hoar shipped as many as 10,000 bales of peat moss in a single year and at one point employed fifteen men. Despite this early success, the business struggled due to competition from lower-priced Canadian peat moss, as well as damage caused by an earthquake that misaligned machinery and a heavy snowfall that collapsed the building.

John Hoar died in 1970 from lung cancer at the Bremerton Convalescent Center. His obituary noted that he had lived at 213 Newberry Hill Road since 1958. He was cremated, with services held locally. The late historian Fred Just recalled that John often bragged that “he was the only male Hoar in the county,” a remark that reflects both his personality and his sense of local identity.