Lookee! My Ancestor Was On The Mayflower!

Hunter and Tysons Cousins Claim to Fame (again):

We can brag saying our ancestor was on the Mayflower.  I told you in a previous post that I discovered one of Tyson ancestors, Desire Doty’s 3^rd husband, Alexander Standish was the son Miles (Myles) Standish.  This morning I googled Desire Doty’s father Edward Dotyi and discovered he came to America on the Mayflower.  He was a servant to Stephan Hopkins but coming on the Mayflower is something.

Records show he was something of a hell raiser. But again, he did arrive on the Mayflower.

While Googling Edward Doty I came across a Society of Edward Doty which consists of members who have proof they are directly descended.  If you feel the need to belong to something go for it.

About Edward Doty, "Mayflower" Passenger

·        "The first of the family in America was Edward Doty, who came when but a youth in the Mayflower in 1620. He joined the Pilgrims at London and came with them to Plymouth, Mass. He married Faith Clark in 1635 and their children were William, Faith, Edward, John, Thomas, Samuel, Desire, Mary Elizabeth, Isaac and Joseph."

·        Edward Dotey "of London" was a "Mayflower" passenger as apprentice to Stephen Hopkins, and signed the Mayflower Compact.  

·        His alleged baptisms  -  1599, Shropshire, England; 14 May 1598, St Mary le Strand, Thurburton Hills, England - were exposed as fictional by Neil D. Thompson, The American Genealogist 66 (1988), p. 215.

·        According to Gov. Bradford's "increasings and gleanings," he was married in England to a woman whose name is not known.  He married in Plymouth to Faith Clarke (about 1617-1675), daughter of Thurston & Faith Clarke.  They had 9 children.

·        He fought New England's  first duel with fellow servant Edward Leister in 1621; both were sentenced to 24 hours of punishment by having head and feet tied together for 24 hours, fasting.  With the help of their master, Governor Bradford released them within an hour.  

Family

·       Parents: unknown (see ancestral summary, below)

Married

1.      to an unknown woman; no children.

2.      January 06, 1633/34, Plymouth Colony to Faith Clark, daughter of Thurston Clark and Faith.  9 children

Children of Edward Doty and Faith Clark: 

1.      Desire Doty, b. Abt. 1646, Plymouth, Mass, d. January 22, 1729/30, Marshfield, Plymouth, Mass.

2.      Edward Doty, b. Bef. 1637, Plymouth, Mass, d. February 08, 1689/90, Plymouth Harbor (drowned).

3.      John Doty, b. Abt. 1640, Plymouth, Mass, d. May 08, 1701, Plymouth, Mass.

4.      Thomas Doty, b. Abt. 1642, Plymouth, Mass., d. Abt. December 04, 1678, Plymouth, Mass..

5.      Samuel Doty, b. Abt. 1644, Plymouth, Mass, d. 1715, Piscataway, N. J..

6.      Elizabeth Doty, b. Abt. 1647, Plymouth, Mass, d. April 07, 1742, Marshfield, Mass.

7.      Isaac Doty, b. February 08, 1648/49, Plymouth, Mass, d. Aft. January 07, 1727/28, Oyster Bay, New York.

8.      Joseph Doty, b. April 30, 1651, Plymouth, Mass, d. Abt. 1732, Rochester, Mass.

9.      Mary Doty, b. Abt. 1653, Plymouth, Mass, d. Bef. June 13, 1728.

Biography

Edward Doty came on the Mayflower in 1620 as a servant to Stephen Hopkins and was apparently still a servant in 1623 when the Division of Land was held, indicating he was under the age of 25 during that time.  He signed the Mayflower Compact in November 1620, so he was likely over 21 at the time.  This narrows his likely birth date to around 1597-1599.  

Doty had a lot of spunk and energy. He made the decision to take the Mayflower voyage as a teenager. He was extremely independent, and wasn't afraid to take chances. He is said to have jumped off of a small boat used by exploring by the Mayflower captain and crew to claim an island in the Doty name. This was, of course, an unappreciated prank. The custom was that land was discovered, claimed and named by much older and established men who would be rowed to shore and allowed to plant a flag and say a few words.

Edward Doty is also recorded as a contentious man, and was often getting himself in minor trouble with the law. On 18 June 1621 he made history by fighting a duel with Edward Leister, which would become the Colony's first (and only) duel. A duel over honor. Luckily, neither were seriously injured, and both were subsequently punished by the elders by being sentenced to having their heels tied to their neck for a day. However, their punishment was cut very short as the two became friends during the ordeal.

Records show Edward Doty was in court on a number of occasions, mostly in civil disputes which now seem quite humorous. On 2 January 1632/3, Edward Doty was sued by three different people: John Washburn, Joseph Rogers, and William Bennett. It all appears to have been a disagreement about a trade of some hogs; John Washburn's case was thrown out, Joseph Rogers was awarded four bushels of corn. In William Bennett's case, Edward Doty was found guilty of slander, and fined 50 shillings. Two years later it seems Edward Doty started a boxing career, in March 1633/4, Edward Doty was fined 9 shillings and 11 pence for drawing blood in a fight with Josias Cooke. In January 1637/8, Doty was fined for punching George Clarke during a dispute. 

In 1639, Edward Doty posted "bail" for John Coombes, who was charged with giving out poisoned drinks. There were a number of other civil disputes and court matters that Edward Doty was involved with. And however strong in personality, Edward Doty was involved in simple civil disputes and was never in any serious official trouble. If you were a friend of Edward Doty you had a friend for life. But on the other hand, he was not a man to cross.

Edward Doty was a family man. He started a long line of descendants that were the first setttlers of this land that became the USA. Most all with the last name of Doty, Dotey, Doute, Doughty, Dotton and Dotten are descended from Edward Doty of the Mayflower. Perhaps it is the pride we have in our Pilgrim ancestors. They were a courageous group, with strong convictions and determination, ready to risk their lives to cross the Atlantic and land on unfamiliar soil, a wilderness. Our Pilgrims were people we can look up to, and they were our ancestors. Maybe we take pride in the accomplishments of the Pilgrims. It might be their faith in God that attracts us to honor them. There were Bible reading, praying Christians, not afraid to voice their faith. Perhaps unknowingly, the Pilgrims set the stage for religious freedom on this continent. Their goal was to worship God, as they thought right, following God's word, not the dictations of the established church. The Mayflower Compact, the first written declaration of self-government, was the genesis of the Constitution of the United States. And, that Plymouth Colony, except for Jamestown, is the oldest permanent European settlement on our East Coast. 

Ancestry

The ancestry of Edward Doty is unknown. He came on the Mayflower as an apprentice ("servant") to Stephen Hopkins. The Mormon's I.G.I. says Edward Doty was born in Shropshire, England on 14 May 1598, but this record is complete fiction. [For more information on this hoax, see The American Genealogist 63:215]. 

Some sources claim he was baptized on 14 May 1598 in either Dudlick, Shropshire or "Thurburton Hills", Suffolk.  I have investigated these in English records, and found both to be complete hoaxes.  

However, there is a real Edward Doty baptized on 3 November 1600 at East Halton, Lincolnshire, England, son of Thomas Doty.  The Doty families of East Halton are regularly using the names Thomas, Edward, and John: the first three names Mayflower passenger Edward Doty assigned to his first three children.  Even if this particular Edward Doty is not the Mayflower passenger himself, I strongly suspect the true Mayflower passenger will be found amongst this general Lincolnshire Doty family

Another entry, which is circulated widely on the internet and is also on the 1994 I.G.I. addendum is that he was baptized 14 May 1598 in St. Mary le Strand, Thurburton Hills, Suffolk, England, son of John. This is just a perversion of the fictional Shropshire origins, and this record is, again, completely mythical. To begin with, there is no such place as Thurburton Hills, Suffolk. Further, the parish of St. Mary le Strand is in London not Suffolk, and contains absolutely no baptismal entries for any Edward Doty's from 1595 to 1600. 

There are no fewer than eight known genuine Edward Doty baptisms that occurred between 1585 and 1605, but none have been conclusively identified as the Edward Doty of the Mayflower. 

Edward was an apprentice (servant) to Stephen Hopkins, and apprentices could not generally get married until their contract term was up. William Bradford, in his journal Of Plymouth Plantation, states in early 1651 "But Edward Doty by a second wife hath seven children, and both he and they are living." Doty's first marriage must have occurred in Plymouth sometime after he was released from his contract with Hopkins (which apparently occurred between 1623 and 1627). 

Descendants

1.      Edward, son of the immigrant Edward, married Sarah Faunce in 1663. Their children were, Edward, Sarah, John, Martha, Elizabeth, Patience, Mercy, Samuel, and Benjamin.

2.      John, son of the immigrant Edward, was father of John, Edward, Jacob, Elizabeth, Isaac, Samuel, Elisha, Josiah, and Martha.

3.      Thomas son of the immigrant Edward, resided in Middleton and was father of Hannah and Thomas.

4.       Samuel, son of the immigrant Edward , who moved to New Jersey, was father of Samuel, Sarah, Isaac, Edward, James, Jonathan, Benjamin, Elizabeth, Joseph, Daniel, Margaret, John, and Nathaniel, this Samuel and his descendents frequently spelled their name Doughty.

5.      Isaac,son of the immigrant Edward, frequently used the Doughty form, moved to New York and was father of Isaac, Joseph, Jacob, Solomon, James, and Samuel.

6.       Joseph 1, youngest son of the immigrant Edward, resided at Rochester, Mass. His children were Theophilus, Elizabeth, Ellis, Joseph, Deborah, John, Mercy, Faith, and Mary.