Ephraim Doane

Ephraim Doane (say 1642–1699/1700), son of Deacon John Doane

Mary Knowles (b. say 1644), daughter of Richard Knowles and Ruth Bower

Ephraim, the son of John Doane, was born say 1642. [1] He died between 7 December 1699 and 5 March 1699/1700. He married first Mary Knowles on 5 February 1667/8 in Eastham. [1][VRE] He married second Mary (Smalley) Snow after 1692. [1] Mary, the daughter of John and Ann (Warden) Smalley and widow of John Snow, was born on 11 December 1647 in Barnstable and died in 1703 in Eastham. [3]

Mary, the daughter of Richard Knowles and Ruth Bower, was born in Plymouth and died in Eastham. [4] She was born say 1644.

There is an Eastham book of residents and their horses and cattle running at large. In it is an entry for "Mary Knowles otherwise now called Ephraim Doane" who had a reddish yearling mare. [4]

On 3 March 1662/3 Ephraim Doane, Thomas Ridman, [Ephraim's future brother-in-law] John Knowles, and John Wilson were fined 25 shillings each for selling liquer to the Indians on Cape Cod. Ephraim and John were bound pending investigation into the death of Josiah, sachem at Eastham. The matter was later dropped. [4]

Ephraim's father left him 20 acres of upland and four acres of meadow at little Billingsgate in his will of 18 May 1678. [5]

Ephraim Doane of Eastham made his will on 7 December 1699. He left his wife Mary his moveable estate and half his real estate for her life. After (and the rest?) was to be divided equally between his children by his former wife and her children by her former husband John Snow. Inventory was taken on Ephraim's estate on 5 March 1699/1700. It amounted on £129-19-11, with real estate not included, and there were debts of £24-09-04. His widow Mary made oath to it on 19 April 1700. Ephraim's will was probated and administration was granted to his widow Mary the same day. [5]

Children of Ephraim Doane and Mary Knowles: Births, recorded in Eastham [2] and also listed in Hamlin [6]

i. Patience Doane was born on 28 January 1668.

ii. Aphiah Doane was born on 18 July 1670.

iii. Hezekiah Doane was born the last week in August 1672. He married first, Hannah ___, probably his step-sister Hannah Snow, the daughter of John Snow and Mary Smalley. [7] He married second Mary (Smith) Freeman. [7] Mary was the widow of Thomas Freeman. [7] He married third Sarah (Elkins?) (Mayo) Knowles. [7] Sarah is said to be the daughter of Thomas Elkins. [7] She was the widow of James Mayo, the son of John and Hannah (Lecraft) Mayo, and Deacon Edward Knowles. [7]

iv. Thomas Doane was born on 4 September 1674. He died on 8 May 1756 in Chatham. [8] He married Patience Mulford. [8] Patience, the daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth (Barns) Mulford, was born on 17 August 1674 in Eastham and died on 8 May 1756 in Chatham. [8]

v. Ebenezer Doane was born in April 1676.

vi. Nehemiah Doane was born in August 1670[!]. [6, 1680] He died in February 1674[! 1684?].

vii. Patience Doane was born the last week in April 1682. She married Joshua Cook.

viii. Ruhama Doane was born on 30 April 1684.

References:

1. "The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620–1633, Volumes I-III," digitized book, AmericanAncestors.org, originally published as: Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, 3 volumes (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995), 562.

2. "Eastham and Orleans, Mass., Vital Records," The Mayflower Descendant 6: 13.

3. Mrs. Charles L. Alden, "Snow Genealogy," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 48 (1894): 71.

4. Charles Thornton Libby, "The Knowles Family of Eastham, Mass.," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 78 (1925): 286–97, 379–92.

5. "Barnstable, MA: Probate Records, 1685–1789," database with images, AmericanAncestors.org, 1: 13 (John Doane); 2: 77–78 (Ephraim Doane).

6. David Hamlin, "First Settlers of Eastham, Mass.," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 6 (1852): 41–46.

7. Alicia Crane Williams, "Early New England Families, 1641–1700," database with images, AmericanAncestors.org > > Brewster, William (MFIP Patience), 42–45.

8. Rachel E. Barclay, "The Two Wives of Thomas Mulford of Eastham, Mass.," The American Genealogist 40 (1964): 193–8, specifically 196.

Last revised: 03-Aug-2023