USA > Maine > Genealogical and family history of the state of Maine, Volume I > Part 83
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DOANE The American surname Doane is identical with the English Done, the ancient orthography of which is in some doubt. It is supposed to be derived from Dun or Dune, meaning a stronghold or fortress. In ancient manuscripts the name is spelled Donne, Dourn, Downe, etc. The Eng-
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lishi home of the family is the old Hall of Utkiton, in the hamlet of Utkinton, one mile north of Tarporley, where it is believed the family settled in King John's reign 1199- 1216, soon after the use of surnames became common in England. An ancient suit of ar- mor still hangs from the upper walls of Tar- porley church, doubtless worn centuries ago by one of the Dones, the principal family. The coat-of-arms: Azure two barrs argent over all on a bend gules three arrows argent. Crest : first on a wreath eight arrows in saltire, four and four points downward or feathered sable banded gules; second on a wreath a buck's head erased proper attired or. The family also had seats at Dudden and Flaxyards in the vicinity. Sir John Done, born 1576, was knighted in 1617. The Done monuments still to be seen in Tarporley church are very strik- ing examples of the fine arts. The pedigree of the family is traced to Richard Done in 1199 and somewhere doubtless the progenitor of the American line has a place.
(I) John Doane, immigrant ancestor of the American family, was born in England and came to New England about 1629. He became a prominent man in the Plymouth colony and was given the title of Mr., indi- cating gentle birth or college education. In 1633 he was a member of the council and elected deacon in 1633, evidently being a prominent Puritan before coming over, and he resigned as assistant, the Puritans being careful to keep church and state distinct. Deacon Doane had frequent grants of land from the general court. His original grant at Eastham, where he settled, was because he was one of the purchasers or old comers, but his various grants at Jones River, now Kingston, at Rehoboth, to the north of Taun- ton, etc., were because of public services. He was continually rendering services as deputy to the general court from Plymouth and East- ham and served on important committees. Ac- cording to his statement in his will dated May 18, 1678, he was then about eighty-eight years old and was born about 1590. He died Feb- ruary 21, 1685, aged about ninety-five years. The inventory of his estate states his age as about one hundred years. His wife's name appears to be Abigail. A granite post was erected in 1869 to mark the site of his house at Eastham, on the eastern side of the town, perhaps three hundred yards from the waters of Nauset bay. He bequeathed to his wife, to sons John, Daniel and Ephraim, daughter Abigail, granddaughter Margaret Hid or Hix. Children : 1. Lydia. 2. Abigail, born January
13, 1632. 3. John. 4. Daniel. 5. Ephraim, mentioned below.
(11) Ephraim, son of John Doane, was born probably at Plymouth before the removal of the family to Eastham in 1645, and died at Eastham in 1700. He settled in Eastham and took the oath of fidelity in 1670. He was admitted a freeman June 5, 1684. His name appears in Truro, June 17, 1690, and is on a list of legal inhabitants of Eastham in 1695. He was a surveyor of highways in Eastham in 1691-92. The following is from the Doane genealogy : "On March 3, 1662-63, he and three others were fined twenty-five shillings each for trading liquor with the Indians, and he and Thomas Ridman were fined fifty shil- lings cach for permitting the Indians to have liquor in their boats, it appearing that one of the Indians was drunk thereby." On October 29, 1669, he was before the court for "hor- ribly slandering and belying his neighbors" at Eastham and was fined "the sume of twenty shillings for telling two lyes about the same." June 6, 1678, he was again before the court to answer to the complaint of "Jawannum, late wife of James Pequin of Billingsgate, as suspected by her and Nicholas, to have been an occasion of the violent death of said Pequin, her husband." His will was dated December 7, 1699, and proved April 19, 1700. He mar- ried (first) February 15, 1667, Mercy, daugh- ter of Richard and Ruth ( Bower) Knowles. He married (second) after 1692, Mary Snow, born at Barnstable, December 1I, 1647, died at Eastham, 1703; widow of John Snow, and daughter of John and Ann (Walden) Smal- ley. Children : 1. Patience, born January 28, 1668, died 1675. 2. Apphia, July 18, 1670. 3. Hezekiah, August, 1672. 4. Thomas, Sep- tember 4, 1674. 5. Ebenezer, April, 1676, mentioned below. 6. Nehemiah, August, 1680, died February, 1684. 7. Patience, April, 1682, married, February 7, 1705-06, Joshua Cook. 8. Ruhama, April 30, 1685, married, Septem- ber 22, 1726, Richard Stephens.
(III) Ebenezer, son of Ephraim Doane, was born at Eastham in April, 1676. He was engaged in the fisheries at Provincetown and resided in Truro, where his children were baptized by Rev. John Avery. He was select- man in 1711. On June 14, 1714, he was ap- pointed the first collector of taxes on the province lands at Cape Cod, for the support of the minister. In 1717 a grant of one hun- dred and fifty pounds was made toward the building of a meeting house at Provincetown, and the money was expended under the direc- tion of Ebenezer Doane. He married Lydia
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Children, born at Truro: I. Ebene- zer, August 22, 1706, mentioned below. 2 . Thankful, March 5. 1708. baptized September 13, 1713. 3. James, November 10, 1709, mar- ried Mary . 4. Keziah, May 22, 1712. 5. Levi. December 9, 1714. 6. Lydia, baptized July 28, 1717. 7. Elizabeth, baptized August 21, 1720. 8. Mary, born August 12, 1724.
(IV) Ebenezer, son of Ebenezer Doane, was born at Truro, August 22, 1706, and baptized there by Rev. John Avery, September 13, 1713. With seven or eight other families, he removed as early as the spring of 1739 to Falmouth, Maine, from Provincetown. He was probably a seafaring man. They settled at Long Creek, Cape Elizabeth. But little can be learned of his history, as the probate records were burned in the Portland fire. He married Elizabeth, born April 25, 1713, daugh- ter of Samuel and Aroda (Haley) Skillings, of Kittery and Falmouth. After his death his widow went to live with her daughter, Joanna Berry, at Buckfield, where she died very aged. Children : 1. Levi, served in the revolution ; it is said that he went to sea and never re- turned. 2. Joanna, born March 3, 1753, mar- ried William Berry. (See sketch of Berry family herewith.) 3. Deborah, married Joshua Wescott and removed to Buckfield. 4. Mary, married David Gammon. 5. Anna, married Joseph Skillings. 6. Edward, married (first) 1762, Anna Wescott; (second) 1766, Sarah McDougle : served in the revolution. 7. Eben- ezer, married Joanna Millet.
LINCOLN It is worthy of historical men- tion that of the early emi- grants who came to the old Bay colony from 1635 to 1650. Henry Adams, of Quincy, was the progenitor of two presi- dents of the United States; Moses Cleveland, of Woburn, of another; Edward Garfield, of Watertown, of still another, and Samuel Lin- coln, of Hingham, of yet one more-all within the radius of a small territory. These people left England to escape the ecclesiastical op- pression so prevalent in the old country. There were besides, Samuel Lincoln, from whom our lamented president comes down, his brothers, Thomas, "the weaver," and Daniel. Abraham Lincoln's lineage passed to Ken- tucky by way of Berks county, Pennsylvania, and Rockingham county, Virginia, making short stops at each point. From this Sam- uel came down that Levi Lincoln, who was the sixth governor of Massachusetts, and that Levi Lincoln, who was the eleventh governor of Massachusetts, and that Enoch Lincoln.
who was the fourth governor of Maine. Three other Thomas Lincolns there were besides, and to distinguish them, one was called Thom- as, "the miller," another Thomas "the hus- bandman," and yet another Thomas, "the cooper." The Dennysville Lincolns come from Thomas, "the cooper." They were all bound together by ties of consanguinity, and hailed from Norfolk, England.
(I) Thomas Lincoln, "the cooper," came to Hingham, Massachusetts, in 1635, and the next year was granted five acres of land. He afterward exchanged this lot for one on Beal street. He also owned a small triangular close conveyed to him at what is now the junction of North and Lincoln streets. Be- sides his cooperage trade. he was a maltster. His seat in the meeting house was in "ye pew under ye pulpit." He died at the house on North street, September 28, 1691. The old homestead is still in the possession of the family. He married, in England, Avith, daughter of William Lane, and she died Feb- ruary 13, 1682; children: Thomas, Joseph, Benjamin, Deborah and Sarah.
(II) Benjamin, third son of Thomas and Avith (Lane) Lincoln, was born May 7, 1643, in Hingham, and died September 27, 1700, having completed fifty-seven summers. His father gave him the malt house, and he con- tinued the business and resided at the old homestead. He held the office of selectman. He married Sarah, daughter of John and Mar- garet Fearing. She was of Hingham par- entage, and died November 26, 1716. Chil- dren : John, Margaret, Benjamin (which is a traditional name in this family), Thomas, Jeremiah, Jonathan and Sarah.
(III) Deacon Benjamin (2), son of Ben- jamin (I) and Margaret (Fearing) Lincoln, was born in Hingham, January 16, 1671, and followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather as a maltster. He was town clerk, selectman, and deacon of the church. His will was dated February II, 1724, and he died suddenly July 10, 1767. He married Mary, daughter of Lieutenant James and Sarah (Lane) Lewis; children: Mary and the tra- ditional Benjamin.
(IV) Hon. Benjamin (3), only son of Deacon Benjamin (2) and Mary (Lewis) Lincoln, was born in Hingham, August 17, 1699. He clung to the family trade of malt- ster, and was selectman for sixteen years, suc- ceeding his father as town clerk, representative to the general court, and was a member of his Majesty's council. He always enjoyed the esteem and confidence of his townspeople,
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and accumulated a modest property for those days. He resided on the patrimonial estate, and married Mary, daughter of Captain Thom- as and Leah ( Buckland) Loring, born in Hingham, September 16, 1696. He married (second ) Elizabethi, widow of Captain John Norton, whose maiden name was Thaxter. The children, all by the second marriage, were : Mary, Elizabeth, Sarah, Hannalı, Olive, Benjamin, Bela and Theodore.
(V) Major-General Benjamin (4), eldest born of Hon. Benjamin (3) and Elizabeth ( Thaxter ) Lincoln, was born January 24, 1733, and died May 9, 1810. He received the rudiments of an ordinary English education, such as was common to the youth of that day, and made the most of his opportunities, for his correspondence shows him to have been a correct writer, using good and forcible lan- guage. He had an active and inquiring mind, and was a great reader, storing his memory with learning such as was useful to him in after years in the important posts, both mili- tary and civic, he was called to undertake. He was known and trusted as a man of cor- rect principles and sound discretion, and was hence put forward by his constituents to act in all public matters of the infant colony, and held all the minor town offices. He was a farmer by occupation, and resided on the old Lincoln homestead. The troubles with the mother country were brewing, though the "cloud was no bigger than a man's hand." Hingham was quick to act, and in 1768 a meeting of the inhabitants was warned to send delegates to the Faneuil Hall conven- tion. Here young Lincoln appeared on the committee to prepare instructions to the dele- gates. In 1772 he represented Hingham in the provincial legislature, and was secretary of the first provincial congress, at Salem, of which John Hancock was president. He acted
as president of the third provincial congress at Watertown in 1775. He was elected to both the general court and the council. Re- signing the former, he wrote : "Although, gen- tlemen, I am removed from the House of Rep- resentatives and therefore am not considered as your particular representative to the General Court, yet that will not relieve from my mind the great obligation I am under to the town of Hingham. I recollect with gratitude that they have conferred on me most, if not all, the places of honor that were in their power to bestow." His military services by which he obtained his passport to fame began as muster master in 1755. In 1771 he was made major of the Third regiment, and one year later
promoted to lieutenant-colonel. In 1776 he was commissioned brigadier-general, and in this capacity he came in contact withi Wash- ington, whose confidence and esteem he pos- sessed to the last. In May he won the stars of the major-general, and had the chief direc- tion of affairs in Massachusetts throughout the summer. On June II he took posses- sion of the heights at Hull, and some tramp vessels which had lingered after Howe's evac- uation to annoy shipping were driven off by General Lincoln. After the disastrous battle of Long Island, General Lincoln was ordered with a part of his command to proceed to New York and reenforce Washington, and the en- gagement at White Plains took place, in which Lincoln's division participated. General Heath was in command at Peekskill, and in writing to him Washington said: "I would wish you to consult and co-operate with General Lin- coln, of whose judgment and abilities I enter- tain a very high opinion." General Lincoln was recommended by Washington to a position in the Continental army, and the appointment was accordingly forthcoming. Lincoln was detached to Vermont to operate against Bur- goyne, who was carrying terror to the people of that region. The general succeeded in quieting their fears, kept a sharp lookout for the enemy, and had the situation well in hand. At the battle of Bemis Heights, Lincoln was leading a body of men around in the rear of Burgoyne's army, and was met by some Brit- ish, who shot him in the leg. It was a dan- gerous wound, and for three months he was confined at Albany under the surgeon's care. In token of his love and respect for him, Washington presented him a set of epaulets sword knots. On September 25 he being able to resume command, was ordered to the de- partment of the South. He fought the battle of Stono Ferry, with a loss to the Americans, but the failure was due to the non-arrival of General Moultrie. Lincoln also led his col- umn at the storming of Savannah, but the arrival of Maitland with reenforcements saved the day for the British. General Lincoln was made prisoner of war at the capitulation of Charlestown, and was allowed by Sir Henry Clinton to proceed to Philadelphia on parole. Although disasters followed in the wake of each other, nobody cast any blame on General Lincoln. Washington still had confidence in him. Of him Colonel Lee said: "So estab- lished was the reputation of the vanquished General, that he continued to enjoy the un- diminished respect and confidence of congress, the army, and the Commander-in-Chief." In
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1786, when Shay's Rebellion broke out in west- ern Massachusetts, Lincoln received the com- mand against the insurgents. Washington wrote him at this time in friendly council and encouragement. The remaining portion of his career must now be passed rapidly over. He did yeoman service to have his state adopt the federal constitution, whose fate hung long in the balance. He was appointed collector of the port of Boston, and a commissioner to treat with the Indians. In 1788 he was lieu- tenant-governor of Massachusetts, and pre- sident of the Cincinnati. The old general's last days were shadowed and embarrassed by his endorsing notes for his friend, General Knox, who had made large purchases of Maine real estate and the enterprise had forced him into bankruptcy. This involved Lincoln. Some of his friends advised him to place his prop- erty out of his hands. The battle-scarred veteran shook his head. "When I endorsed those notes," said he, "I had a clear real estate. This fact was generally known, and was the basis of that credit which was given to my endorsements. I could not, therefore, con- sistently with my ideas of right, make any change in my apparent property. I could not sacrifice my own opinion to that of my good friends, for they could not enter into my feel- ings on the subject, nor quiet a mind con- scious of having done what it could not ap- prove." Everything went, even to the old homestead. The land in Maine, however, which Knox conveyed to the general proved more valuable than at first supposed, and was sufficient to adjust all liabilities. It is a satis- faction to be able to state that in the end Lincoln came out aboveboard and suffered no loss for his moral and upright conduct, and left something for his children. He married, January 15, 1756, Mary, daughter of Elijah and Elizabeth (Baker) Cushing, of Pembroke, Massachusetts, who was born April 22, 1739. Their children were: Benjamin, Mary, Eliza- beth, Sarah, Theodore, Martin, Bela, Martin, Edmund. Hannah and Deborah.
(VI) Theodore, second son of General Ben- jamin (4) and Mary (Cushing) Lincoln, was born December 30, 1763. He went to Dennys- ville, Washington county, Maine, probably on account of his father's real estate investments there. He and one or two other pioneers to that place spent their first night in Levi Scott's camp, on Hobart's Point, near where the road divides into branches, one to Mr. Vose's, one to Mr. Allan's wharf. As soon as possible the party went to work building the mill, also a small frame house. Mr. Lin-
coln then turned his attention to clearing land, on which he erected a large two-story house, which in 1886 was inhabited by the Lincoln family, and for a number of years after its erection the Indians used to make it a stop- ping place on their way to and from Machias, camping on quilts and robes before the great fireplace in the old kitchen. Mr. Lincoln was familiar and friendly to all, loved anecdotes and told them well, had a keen sense of the ludicrous, and had a cheering word for every- body. His activity was irrepressible, and after a severe fall in his old age had disabled him, he had a low carriage built, and kept a horse that knew his infirmities, and with these he traveled not only the highways, but the fields, the pastures, and the woods, overseeing his farming and milling to the last. He married Hannah Mayhew, who formerly acted in the capacity of housekeeper for him, and who brought into his home refinement and the love of order and beauty, as well as thrift and economy, together with the culture of those ideas and sentiments which out-of-door em- ployments and excessive cares from the de- tails of domestic drudgery are apt to repress. Their children were: I. Theodore, born 1800; served as president of the Temperance So- ciety in 1834, as selectman one year, as town treasurer one year, again as selectman, asses- sor and overseer of the poor from 1832 to 1846; enlisted in the Sixth Regiment Maine Volunteers for three years, serving as sergeant, lieutenant and captain, having command of regiment when disbanded; died November 9, 1865; married Elizabeth, daughter of Hannah Lincoln, and granddaughter of General Lin- coln. 2. Hannah, born 1801, married Ichabod R. Chadbourne. 3. Benjamin, born 1802; was without doubt the man who conferred the greatest distinction upon the town of Dennys- ville; from his father he inherited a love of nature, a zest of life, and a buoyant spirit ; from his mother he derived a sensitive spirit, an unselfish and philanthropic sentiment, and the capacity for speculative and abstract thought. He graduated at Bowdoin College in his twentieth year; spent five years in the study of medicine, and commenced practice in the city of Boston in the autumn of 1827. The following year, having accepted an invitation to deliver a course of lectures at the Univer- sity of Burlington, Vermont, on anatomy and physiology, he was elected to the professor- ship there of those branches of science, and took up his residence in that town, acquiring at once a high reputation also as a practicing physician. He died in 1835, at the early age
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of thirty-two. 4. Mary, born 18Q4, died un- married. 5. Bela, born 1805, married Eliza- betli Rice. 6. Saralı, born 1807, married Spencer Tinkham. 7. Edmund, born 1809, died unmarried. 8. Thomas.
(VII) Thomas, younger son of Theodore and Hannah ( Mayhew ) Lincoln, was born in Dennysville, March 27, 1812, and died there March 27, 1883, his seventy-first birthday, at the old homestead where he was born, and where he had always lived. The years of his life passed away quietly and, in the main, uneventfully. The wellbeing of his little fam- ily, the care of his large farm occupying largely his time and attention. He was a stud- ious, retiring, but very companionable man. His large intellectual powers were well im- proved, and his agreeable and useful conver- sation pleased and profited his numerous friends. Thoughtful, kind, conscientious and liberal, he endeared himself to the poor. In his earlier days he was politically an abolition- ist, but connected himself with the Republican party at the time of its organization. He loved his country, but never filled any political office. He loved his native town, but never accepted any municipal place, excepting that of school committeeman. Only ten days prior to his decease he sat in his accustomed place in the church, singing the hymns and join- ing with the congregation in the Lord's prayer, in apparent health. The Sentinel of April II, 1883, contained a very just and fitting obitu- ary notice of Mr. Lincoln, written by a friend who knew him well. It does not seem, how- ever, that one brief paragraph ought to be all the tribute paid to him whose rare gifts and excellencies furnish so much that is worthy of extended record.
Mr. Lincoln will be chiefly missed in the old home in which he has always lived. He was a man of such quiet, retiring spirit that he was fully known only by his immediate family and a few other friends. And yet it is remarkable that a man so modest and un- obtrusive should be so widely known and es- teemed and loved. When the word spread through the community that he was danger- ously ill, it was the universal feeling that we could not spare him yet. We could not be- lieve that we were to be so greatly bereaved. It seemed to us that Heaven was rich enough without him. It seemed to us that he was just entering upon a period of old age. Un- like many people when they are beginning to grow old, his interest in all good things seemed to increase as his years increased. He al- lowed new cares to be laid upon him. At a
time of life when most persons think less and less of others and more of themselves, he thought more of others' burdens and less of himself ; his sympathies widened ; his charities increased. He died in the midst of active use- fulness. Never were the calls upon him for advice, for aid, for sympathy more numerous than during the last five years. With a sacred sense of responsibility, he cheerfully, with in- creasing cheerfulness, responded to the many calls with which he was burdened. He never knew what it was to be poor, but no heart ever beat with warmer sympathy for the poor. When sending his crops to market, it was his custom to keep back a portion, that when the next sowing time came he might be able to help those who, through misfortune or neglect, were in need. The many and varied calls upon him for help must have consumed con- siderable of his time, but he never complained of the service required of him. His benevo- lent work was done so quietly that scarcely any one knew the extent of it. He literally obeyed the injunction, "Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth." Mr. Lin- coln was deeply interested in the moral and religious and educational interests of the town. He gave liberally for the support of the Gos- pel. He was very regular in his attendance at public worship. To him the church was a place for communion with God, for religious contemplation. A few persons will never for- get the unusual interest he manifested in the services, on the last Sabbath he was present, only ten days before his death. He was al- ways a judicious cousellor in educational mat- ters. He was an officer of our Library Asso- ciation from its organization in 1866. Not a little of the excellence of our library is due to his cultivated literary taste and his instinctive choice of the best books.
The following extracts are taken from a letter written by Hon. George F. Talbot, a friend of Mr. Lincoln: "Perhaps the hasty judgment of some of his friends may have been that he did not achieve either in reputa- tion or influence that position which his talents and education seemed to make easily attain- able. His mind of great originality and com- prehensiveness had been furnished and en- larged by an appreciative reading of the best books, and as he grew older his taste in read- ing became more discriminating and severe. There was nothing in philosophic discussion, or metaphysical speculation or poetic inspira- tion, too deep or subtle for his understanding and sympathy, and he liked best the few great authors, who discover new truths or who give
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