Edward Doty, Pilgrim Immigrant

 Update 8/11/2022:  This man is not our ancestor.  However, I am leaving the post here for those who might want a short version of his highly interesting life.  (The error is that Sarah Doty did not marry Josiah Standish, according to further research.)

Well, probably he wasn't a Pilgrim in the traditional sense.  He would have been required to go to religious services, of course, but there's no evidence he joined the church, that I can find.  So while he was definitely a passenger on the Mayflower of 1620, and he was definitely an immigrant, we don't know what his religious beliefs really were, if any. 

We also don't know who his parents were, or where in England he was from.  Really, the first thing that is known for certain is that he was on the Mayflower, signed the Compact, and was an indentured servant of Stephen Hopkins.  If he didn't know Hopkins earlier, then he surely would have been entertained on the trip by Hopkins' takes of life in Jamestown, Virginia, and his shipwreck adventure on Bermuda in 1609.  It is believed that he was married prior to his known marriage in Plymouth Colony, but whether that was in England or in America is unknown.  It's also suspected that he had served most of his indentureship before arriving at Plymouth Colony. 

We do know that he married Faith Clark, daughter of Thurston or Tristam and Faith Clark, in 1634/5.  She was 19 years younger than he was, and Dory had "snagged" her pretty much fresh off the boat, as the Clarks arrived in 1634. By this time Doty had made something of a name for himself, and not necessarily for a good reason. 

He and fellow servant Edward Leister had such a falling out, a few months after the Mayflower landed, that they actually dueled with sword and rapier.  Each was wounded, apparently not seriously.  For this, the Pilgrim leaders decided that the two should be bound together for 24 hours, head and feet together, so that they could neither eat nor drink during that time.  The two complained so piteously that they were released after only an hour, but this was the first in a pattern of court appearances and complaints that Doty was involved with, usually as the plaintiff.  He seems to have had great faith in the American justice system, even as limited and as primitive as it was during his lifetime.  If someone wronged him, he expected legal redress, and he also expected to pay his fine if he was found to be in the wrong.  The records prior to 1632 are mostly lacking, so we don't know what happened regarding the courts as a younger man, but after that his name is frequently noted. 

Sometimes, his name was recorded for a good reason.  He was granted land several times, he sold some of it and bought more, and he paid his taxes.  He also was counted as fit for military duty, so he would have had armor, guns, and swords as required  We can assume that he patrolled the area when the natives were nearby, and probably that he went on military expeditions expecting trouble from the native Americans.  However, perhaps because of the court cases, perhaps because of his personality or education, he apparently never held any colony offices, even though he was made a freeman in about 1633.  Had he not been involved in all those court cases, he would have been one of the nearly invisible population. 

Edward and Faith had nine children, with the last born in about 1653.  Edward died just three years later, leaving Faith with a large family to raise.  She must have done a decent job of raising them, because she didn't remarry (to John Phillips) for another ten years, on March 14, 1666/7.  She died on or before December 21, 1675.  Edward's estate was valued at close to 138 pounds, which was not terrible but probably not terrific, either. 

Edward Doty was undoubtedly a colorful character, and we may not know his whole story.  But he came, he survived, he persisted, and he died here after going from indentured servant to landowner.  For that, he deserves to be honored. 

The line of descent is:

Edward Doty-Faith Clark
Samuel Doty-Jeane Harman
Sarah Doty-Josiah Standish
Hannah Standish-Nathan Foster
Nathan Foster-Elizabeth Lansford
Jude Foster-Lydia M
Betsy Foster-Josiah Whittemore
Mary Elizabeth Whittemore-Joseph Holbrook
Fremont Holbrook-Phoebe Brown
Loren Holbrook-Etta Stanard
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
Their descendants

Holbrook line: Thurston Clarke, Immigrant, abt 1590-1661

 Update 8/11/2022  This man is not our ancestor.  I am leaving the post up, however, in case someone is interested in reading about him.  The error is that Sarah Doty did not marry Josiah Standish, according to current research.

Sadly, I don't know the parentage of Thurston (aka Tristam) Clarke.  He is believed to have come from Ipswich, Suffolk, England, but even with that clue no one has found his birth or christening record yet.  There are a few trees that give his birth date as 1574 and give him parents, but those parents were also born in the 1570s and as such, are probably too young to be Thurston's parents.  So the search goes on. 

We know very little of Thurstan's life in England.  He married a woman named Faith, possibly Faith Loes, and they had six children.  Two died in England and one died when she was about twelve, so there were three children who came to America.  We can't trace the arrival of anyone other than Thurstan and Faith the daughter, who came to America on the Francis in 1634.  It appears that his wife, Faith, stayed in England until after Abigail died in 1637.  Perhaps the boys stayed behind, too, to help their mother with all that was needed during the time of Abigail's illness. 

The early death of Mary Clarke, daughter of Thurstan and Faith, who only lived about a month, resulted in a sentence of death by hanging of Anna Puse, wife of Richard Puse of Ipswich.  She was tried as a witch for having caused the death of Mary, by "inchantments, witchcraftes and charmes".   I have not been able to verify that she actually was hanged, but it's possible.  From the books I've read, it was somewhat unusual for a married woman to be accused of such a crime, and this was a little late in the witchcraft scare, but someone had to be one of the last to be hanged, I suppose. 

Thurstan had been a husbandman in England and was a husbandman again in his new home of Plymouth Colony, in what became Duxbury.  He was a neighbor of William Brewster and Miles Standish, but was not nearly as prominent in the running of the colony.  He was educated to a certain point, or at least his inventory included a Bible and a psalmbook.  His sons were admonished in 1644 for not frequenting the public assemblies on the Lord's Day.  From this, we can conclude that Thurstan and Faith did attend, and that they didn't have total control over their sons.  That second factor mught have made them feel uncomfortable in a conformist colony like Plymouth. 

The only evidence we have of participating in colony life was that he was appointed a surveyor of highways in 1655. 

His death on December 6, 1661 was sad.  The jury determined that he had died of cold and exposure, as his body was found covered in ice.  It is also possible that he had a heart attack or other life ending event, and that the body froze after his death, but we will never know for sure.  He had been traveling on foot between Duxbury and Plymouth when he died. 

His estate was quite small, only 97 pounds.  His wife died in 1663 and at that time daughter Faith was granted 1/4 of the estate, with the balance going to the sons Henry and Thurstan Jr.  Henry and Thurstan were found in 1690 to be impoverished and unable to take care of their needs, so arrangements were made that they would be cared for.  John Doty, their nephew, was directed to care for them. 

Thurstan had a difficult life.  He lost three children young, his sons didn't amount to much, as we would say today, and he didn't built much of an estate.  However, he came to America with his three children, and built a home and a life here, and for that, we can be grateful. 

I would certainly like to know what his thoughts were about the witchcraft trial for the woman accused of killing his daughter.  Did he instigate the charge, or did his wife?  What was the relationship between these families?  Why would the court have found the woman guilty?  If there was a hanging, did Thurstan and his wife attend?  This part of his life is difficult to comprehend, but it is part of his story.

The line of descent is:

Thurstan Clarke-Faith possibly Loes
Faith Clarke-Edward Doty
Samuel Doty-Jane Harman
Sarah Doty-Josiah Standish
Hannah Standish-Nathan Foster
Nathan Foster Elizabeth Lansford
Jude Foster-Lydia M
Betsy Foster-Josiah Whittemore
Mary Elizabeth Whittemore-Joseph Holbrook
Fremont Holbrook-Phoebe Brown
Loren Holbrook-Etta Stanard
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen