John DOANE

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Name:
Mr. John Doane was the eldest of the seven first settlers, and undoubtedly next to rank to Gov. Prence. They were the only persons of that band whom the records of that period honor with the prefix of Mister, which in those days was only given to men of means, magistrates and ministers. At what time he arrived at Plymouth, it does not appear. Mr. Pratt, the Eastham historian, was certain he came over in one of the three first ships, his authority he does not state. This, however, is certain: he did not come over in the Mayflower, Fortune or Ann. His name appears as a freeman and tax payer at Plymouth in 1633, and that year is mentioned as being with Mr. Wm. Bradford, Capt. Miles Standish, Mr. John Howland, Mr. John Alden, Mr. Stephen Hopkins and Mr. Wm. Gilson, an assistant of Gov. Edward Winslow; but having been chosen deacon in the church at Plymouth, "at the request of the church and himself, was freed from the office of assistant in the Commonweale," January 2, 1633/4.....

In 1639, he was again allowed "to draw wine" at Plymouth; and appointed, with three others, to assist the governor and council to revise the laws of the Colony, which was the first revision since the settlement of the Pilgrims at Plymouth. In 1640, "Mr. John Doane" was of the Grand Inquest, and a deputy for Plymouth in 1642/43. In November, 1644, he was licensed "to draw wine" at Plymouth, but in January 1644/45, the court agreed to allow James Cole, the keeper of the ordinary or tavern at Plymouth, to take the wine Mr. Doane had on hand. It was evident that Mr. Doane was closing up his business in Plymouth, in view of the removal to Nausett of himself and family. It will thus be seen by these transactions, that Mr. Doane did not go to Eastham to settle in 1643 or 1644, as many of our local historians have stated, but in 1645 (N.S.) as we have heretofore stated, upon authority of the colony records.

Mr. Doane was appointed, march 3td, 1644-5, with others, to take the account of the colonial treasurer under consideration, in order for the annual settlement. In 1649, "Mr John Doane" and his son-in-law, Samuel Hicks, were deputies fro Nausett or Eastham to the Plymouth court. He was also elected in 1650, 1651, 1653 and 1659. In 1663, he was appointed by the Colony court to solemnize marriages, administer oaths to witnesses, etc., in Eastham.

Mr. Doane held other offices in town and colony. Mr. Pratt, and other historical writers, say he was fourteen years selectman, but they are not sustained in their statement by the colony records. The office of selectman was created in 1663. The first notice in the Colony records of those chosen in Eastham was in 1666, next in 1668, and then in 1670. After this date they are noticed regularly for many years. Mr. Doane's name is not among them. Possibly he held the office, but it is cettain he did not hold it that period of time. In 1663, Mr. Doane was seventy-two years of age, and if their statements are correct, Mr. Doane was near eighty-four years of age when he retired from the board.

Rev Mr. Pratt says, Mr. Doane "was forty-nine years old when he came here and lived sixty years afterwards, being one hundred and ten years old when he died, in 1707." Upon what authority he makes the statements we do not know, but it is clearly evident they are unreliable. Mr. Doane, May 18, 1678, declared his age to be "88 or thereabouts," which shows he was born about 1590. Consequently, in 1645, when he came to Eastham, he was not far from fifty-five years of age. Mr. Doane, it is certain, died in 1686, having lived here about forty-one years, and not sixty-four, as Mr. Pratt has it. If Mr. Doane's statement made in 1678 is reliable, at his death in 1686 he was about ninety-six years of age. Tradition, says Mr. Pratt, in 1844 has it, "that he was rocked in a cradle several of his last years."

Family/Spouse: Ann ?. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Abigail married Samuel LOTHROP in 1690 in Eastham, Barnstable Co., Massachusetts. Samuel (son of Rev John LOTHROP and Hannah HOUSE) was born in 1622/3 in Egerton, Kent, England; died on 29 Feb 1700 in Norwich, New London Co., Connecticut. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Excerpt from "Dawes-Gates Ancestral Lines": The name of his first wife, whom he married by or before 1666 and who was the mother of all but one of his children, has not yet been found. He married secondly at Eastham, after July 28, 1682, Hepsibah (Cole) Crispe who is said to have been many years his junior.

Daniel married Hepzibah COLE on 28 Jul 1682 in Eastham, Barnstable Co., Massachusestts. Hepzibah (daughter of Daniel COLE and Ruth CHESTER) was born on 16 Apr 1649 in Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Ephraim married Mercy KNOWLES on 05 Feb 1667. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Ephraim married Mary SMALLEY after 1692. Mary (daughter of John SMALLEY and Ann WALDEN) was born on 11 Dec 1647 in Eastham, Barnstable Co., Massachusetts; died after 07 Dec 1699 in Eastham, Barnstable Co., Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

John married Hannah BANGS on 30 Apr 1662 in Eastham, Barnstable Co., Massachusestts. Hannah (daughter of Edward BANGS and Rebecca HOBART) was born in Plymouth, Massachusetts; died after 1677. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

John married Rebecca PETTEE on 14 Jan 1694. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Lydia married Samuel HICKS on 11 Sep 1645 in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Samuel was born in England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]