Hoisington, Frederick Reed Jr.

Frederick Reed Hoisington. Jr.

Early Life

Frederick Reed Hoisington Jr. was born on October 15, 1898, in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Frederick Reed Hoisington and Julia May Folwell. His early life was marked by frequent moves, with the family residing in Illinois, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania before ultimately settling in Rye, New York, where they became established members of the community. He grew up as part of a large family, including several siblings, in a household connected to the broader social and economic networks of the New York metropolitan area.

By the time of the First World War, Hoisington was living in Rye and had come of age within a well-established family environment, reflecting both mobility and eventual rootedness in Westchester County.

World War I Service

Hoisington entered military service on April 9, 1917, when he enlisted in the United States Naval Reserve Force at New York City at the age of eighteen. He began his service at the Naval Training Camp, Pelham Bay Park, one of the Navy’s principal wartime training centers, where he was initially rated as a Seaman Second Class.

He was later transferred to the Naval Training Camp in Charleston, South Carolina, where he continued his training and advanced through the ratings of Quartermaster Third Class and Quartermaster Second Class. Quartermasters were responsible for navigation, steering, and maintaining a vessel’s course, assisting officers in the safe and accurate operation of ships.

Hoisington’s service remained within the United States, and there is no record of overseas deployment or assignment to a specific vessel. His duties were part of the Navy’s training and readiness system, which ensured that personnel were prepared for operational service as the Navy expanded during the war. He was released to inactive duty on December 16, 1918.

Life After Service

Following his naval service, Hoisington returned to civilian life and married Elizabeth Cate Abercrombie on June 12, 1923, in Brooklyn, New York. Together they raised four children: Elizabeth Cate Libess Hoisington, Lucy May Hoisington, Frederick Reed Hoisington III, and Edith N. Hoisington. His family life spanned several communities, including Rye, Brooklyn, Greenwich, and Montclair, before he later relocated to Fayetteville, North Carolina.

Throughout his life, he remained connected to both his family and the communities in which he lived, reflecting a pattern of mobility common among professional families in the twentieth century.

Frederick Reed Hoisington Jr. died on September 9, 1985, in Fayetteville, North Carolina, at the age of eighty-six. At the time of his death, he was survived by his children and extended family. He was buried in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.