The Doane Family in America
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DEACON JOHN DOANE AND HIS DESCENDANTS. 1 1 JOHN DOANE came over from England and settled in Ply- mouth. He was the founder of the Doane family in America. Nothing is yet known of his history in England, but the same is true also of the greater number of the Pilgrims who repaired to these New England shores before the middle of the seventeenth century. A record was kept of those emigrants who on leaving England took the oath of loyalty to the English Crown and promised conformity to the Established Church. As a large number desired to avoid this enforced allegiance and to settle in the land of their adoption, free to follow their own religious inclinations, they took no legal depar- ture but sailed away with more or less secrecy and were therefore not enrolled in the official records of the government. Of John Doane's early life, of his parentage, the place of his na- tivity, the family name of his wife, the name of the vessel on which he came nothing whatever has yet been discovered. From the fact that he was one of the principal men in the affairs of the Plymouth Colony, we infer, however, that he was heir to a good birthright, that in some broad field education and friction had developed a man- hood and strength of character that inspired the confidence of his Plymouth associates. John Doane was the first of the name in America and was the pro- genitor of a numerous posterity. Savage's Genealogical Dictionary of New England, Vol. n, p. 55, gives a John Done, aged 16, who embarked at London on the in Truelove Sept., 1635 ; also a Henry Doane of Watertown 1643, and a Richard Doane of Rhode Island in 1672. It has been suggested that John of the Truelove was the son of John Doane of Plymouth. In 1706, John Doane, Jr., of Plymouth (1) : * THE DOANE FAMILY. was about seventy-one years old, according to his own testimony in his will, and therefore was born about 1635, the year the Truelove sailed from London. The year of John Doane's arrival in the Plymouth Colony can be only approximately determined. The Rev. Enoch Pratt, in his His- tory of Eastham, published in 1844, states that he came over in one of the "three first ships," but his authority is not given. It is now certain however that he did not come in the Mayflower, Fortune or Ann, the first three ships to arrive at Plymouth. His name does not appear in the list of Plymouth settlers in 1627, when the lands of the Colony were divided among the members of the community. In the notice of his daughter Abigail's death found on page 21 of this book, it is stated that he "came to Plymouth with his wife in 1630." This notice, printed in a Boston newspaper in 1735, is tolerably good evi- dence as to the time of his arrival in the Plymouth Colony. Mr. Nahum Mitchell, author of the History of Bridgeivater, Mass., in a letter dated Jan. 26, 1849, says : "Mr. John Doane came over to New England about 1629, when history informs us that thirty- five of the Leyden Company, with their families, arrived at Plymouth. He no doubt was one of these and a member of Mr. Robinson's church." While it is not definitely known from what part of the United Kingdom originally came the founder of the Doane family in Amer- ica, there is a tradition that he was from "Wales, west of England." This tradition and the statement in Ormerod's history, that the last Sir John Done of the Cheshire family, during the troubles of the seventeenth century, adopted the cause of parliament and imbibed Presbyterian tenets, lead us to believe that our American ancestor descended from the ancient Dones of Cheshire. The Cheshire family very early spread out into Shropshire and other counties and possibly into Wales, while the name is found on the registers of several of the parish churches of London as early as 1590. John Doane was a prominent man in Plymouth as soon as his ar- rival there about 1630. He was one of the few who bore the title of "Mr." The Pilgrims were very careful to give no titles where they were not due. The late Amos Otis, genealogist of Early Barnstable Families, says In the Plymouth Colony the Governor, deputy governor, the magistrates and assistants, the ministers of the church, school-masters, officers in the militia, men of great wealth or connected with the gentry or nobility were DESCENDANTS OF DEA. JOHN DOANE. 6 entitled to be called Blister and their wives 3Iistress; this rule was rigidly enforced in earlier Colonial times, and in all lists of names it was almost the universal custom to commence with those who stood highest in rank and to follow that order to the end. John Doaue must have been known to the Pilgrims previous to his coming to Plymouth. There are strong suggestions that he was in partnership with Ml John Atwood who was of London until 1635. The Done family are found in London at this period and in former generations there were not a few John Dones. He was a strong man. His associates and the offices he was bidden to undertake by the Governor, the Court and by the suffrages of his townsmen, show him to have been a man of superior quality. A larger knowledge of his ancestry and of his previous career will confirm, we have no doubt, this estimate we make of him. This knowledge will be a source of delight and inspiration to his numerous descendants. The following verbatim et literatim extracts are from the several vol- umes of the Records of the Colony of New Plymouth in New England, edited by Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, M.D. and printed by the Common- wealth of Massachusetts in 1855. These extracts comprise all references of importance to John Doane found in the Colony records. The notes are information and explanations drawn from various sources, some of which sources are noted. In many cases we suppose there are reasons for debate, but this has not been entered upon. The purpose of these extracts and notes is to show the career in Plymouth of Deacon John Doane, not to show a man above his fellows, but a strong man among strong men. The names of the Freemen of the Incorporacon of Plymouth in New Eugland. An: 1633 Edward Wynslow Gov r Capt. Myles Standish William Bradford John Howland Cowncell. John Alden John Done Stephen Hopkins William Gilson — Ply. Col. Rec. Vol. i, p. 3. m [Jan. 1, 1632-33] Likewise Mr. W Bradford, Capt. Myles Standish, John Howland, John Alden, John Done, Stephen Hopkins — 4 THE DOANE FAMILY. & William Gilson were chosen for the Councill the same yeare at the same Court who held & received the oath. — Ply. Col. Rec. Vol. i, p. 5. [June 10, 1632] Thomas Brian the serv 1 of Samuell Eedy was 1 brought before the Gov " & Mr. Will. Bradford, Mr. John Done, Stephen Hopkins & Will. Gilson, Assistants, because the said Thomas had runne away & absented himselfe five daies from his master's service, and being lost in the woods & found by an Indian, was forced to returne : and for this his offence was privately whipped before the Gov r & Councell afore-menconed. — Ply. Col. Rec. Vol. i, p. 7. According to an order in Court held the 2nd of January [1632-33] in the seaventh yeare of the raigne of our soveraigne lord Charles 1 by the Grace of God, King of Eng , Scott, France & Irel, defender of the faith &c. the p sons heare under-menconed were rated for pub- like use by the Gove. Mr. Will. Bradford, Capt. Myles Standish, Joh Alden, Joh Howland, John Done, Stephen Hopkins, Will. Gil- son, Sam Fuller Senior, John Genny, (Jenny) Godbert Godbertson & Jonathan Brewster to be brought in by each p'son, as they are heere under written, rated in corne at m s p. bushell, at or before the last of November next ensuing, to such place as shall be heere after pa- pointed to receive the same. And for default heereof the value to be doubled accordingly l & leavied by the public officer for y end. Edward Winslow Govr — 9 DESCENDANTS OF DEA. JOHN DOANE. 5 London : and his services were sold by Mr. Atwood for a period of five years. This lease of Harris' service was transferred by John Done in April, 1633 to Henry llowland for £14 sterling. [July 1, 1633] That Capt. Myles Standish, John Done, Stephen Hopkins, Joshuah Prat, Edward Bangs, Jonathan Brewster & Rob Heeks devide the medow grownd in the bay equally according to the proporcon of shares formerly devided to the purchasers at or before the last of Aug. next ensuing.— Ply. Col. Rec. Vol. i, p. 14. [Oct. 28, 1633] At this Court John Done presented an inventory of the goods and chattels of Martha Harding deceased, who in be- half of her son was allowed the administracon of the said Martha. —Ply. Col. Rec. Vol. i, p. 18. Note. The widow Martha Harding was taxed in Plymouth in 1632, and was living there in March, 1633. It has been suggested that she was a sister of Mr. John Doane. Martha Harding's inventory was presented Oct. 28, 1633. It states that she died without will, leaving a son in the custody of Mr. John Done, in behalf of whom Mr. Done is allowed to administer.