Chat
|
Daily Search
|
My GenForum
|
Community Standards
|
Terms of Service
|
|
|
Robert,
Thank you for responding! You have zeroed in on my favorite family mystery, which remains unsolved. I am going to attach my musings on the subject here, and if you want extra informaiton about this Doak family I will be happy to e-mail it to you.
Information on this family's ancestry is from Frederick Virkus Abridged Compendium, Volume 1.
BETTY SMITH BEARD: I do NOT believe that this John Newton Doak is the Washington County John Newton Doak, son of John Whitfield Doak.
There is a marriage record of John N. Doak marrying Martha Snapp in Washington County, Tennessee, on 25 June 1825. Several of his brothers and sisters are listed in the same marriage database. I do not know the relationship between the Cannon County John Newton Doak and the Washington County one, but they do NOT seem to be one and the same.
The granddaughter of Cuba Mae Doak (who is a granddaughter of this John Newton Doak) says that her grandmother Cuba Mae left a letter in which she says that her grandfather was the son of Mary Elizabeth Malseed, "the Irish Princess." ALL OF THIS INFORMATION NEEDS TO BE CHECKED! I do NOT believe that Cuba Mae Doak necessarily knew the correct ancestry. According to information gleaned from Genforum, Mary Elizabeth Malseed was the wife of a Samuel Doak. They apparently settled in West Virginia. They apparently have children Rev. Robert Doak, born approx. 1804, married Mary Ireland. Their children were Eliza, Agnes, Margaret, Jesse, Herilda, Pricilla, Martha, Alexander, John, and Freeman. Another source lists the children of Samuel Doak and Mary Elizabeth Malseed as James, William, John, Robert, Alexander, Samuel Jr., Hiram, and Margaret. The lineage is carried down from James in this source. James married Hannah Davis in Mouth of Long Run, Doddridge County, West Virginia.
Other researchers have this John Newton Doak married to Martha Payne in Washington County, Tennessee. This also is inconclusive. A John W. Doak married Martha C. Payne in Washington County on June 10, 1834. Some researchers, however, have him listed as "John Newton Whitfield Doak," which would make this a possibility. Martha Doak is on the 1850 Washington County Census with two children: William, and John N. Her husband is not listed.
As mentioned above, a John N. Doak married Martha Bethsheba Snapp in Washington County, Tennessee, on June 25, 1829. She died before 1833, as her grandfather Abraham Snapp leaves her portion of his estate to her daughter Mary Jean Doak in his will dated July 8, 1833. He mentions that Bethsheba is already dead. Many sources give this as a first marriage for John Newton Doak, and the marriage to Martha C. Payne as his second marriage. The dates would seem to bear this out.
Many sources have the Washington County John Newton Doak listed as "Doctor." Whether he is a medical doctor or like many of his ancestors a doctor of divinity, it is very unlikely that he is the same as the Cannon County John Newton Doak, who was a TAILOR.
A daughter of the Cannon County John Newton Doak was named Thankful Caroline, which would certainly seem to tie this family to the Washington County Doak family, in which "Thankful" is a well-known name. The Cannon County Thankful married Hugh Lawton Preston. It is the PRESTON family who traced the ancestry back to the famous Washington County Doaks, and who evidently provided this information to the compilers of the Frederick Virkus Abridged Compendium.
AUSTIN WHEELER SMITH, author of four different genealogical studies and Emily George's grandnephew, says of the Cannon County Doak family, "With the exception of two or three years they lived in Missouri, she spent her entire life in Cannon County, Tennessee. He was born in North Carolina as shown by the Census of 1850. By occupation he was a tailor."
From Sterling Spurlock Brown's HISTORY OF WOODBURY AND CANNON COUNTY (1936):
THE DOAK FAMILY
In the early history of Cannon County there came from North Carolina to the village of Danville, John Newton Doak, who established the first tailor shop in the town. He was a grandson of the East Tennessee preacher, Samuel Doak, founder of Washington and Tusculum Colleges, and builder of the old Salem church--the first schools and the first church in the territory of Tennessee.
Within a few years, he closed his tailor shop and cleared a farm on Hollis Creek. Two of his sons--Thomas J. and Andrew N. Doak, joined the Southern army. Andrew died at Fort Donelson.
Thomas J. Doak, returning from the war, took up the business of farming and remained on Hollis Creek until his death. He operated a tanyard and broom factory in connection with his farm. His son, J. R. Doak, now of Watertown, practiced medicine for several years at Woodbury.
John N. Doak, Jr. lived in Woodbury for thirty years, operating a blacksmith shop.
Robert D. Doak cleared a farm in the hills above the head of Hollis Creek. One of his sons, Lester, is a successful manufacturer of hames and plows at McMinnville, and has represented his district in the state senate. Another son, Hugh, publishes the Times at Manchester.
BETTY SMITH BEARD:
This family is listed on the 1850 Cannon County, Tennessee census as John N. DOKE. He is listed as 38, Emily is 28, Andrew N. is 8, Thomas J. is 6, Thankful C. is 5, Mary H. is 1. There is a Barthema (??) Weaver (??) listed with this family. She is 60 years old and was born in North Carolina. Emily and all the children were born in Tennessee; John was born in North Carolina. It is difficult to read, but it appears that he is listed as a farmer. The "value of real estate owned" is listed as $600.
On the 1860 Cannon County, Tennessee census J. N. DOKE is listed along with EMILY, Andrew, John, Mary, Thankful, and Thomas. They are all on page 28.
On the 1870 Cannon County census J.N. Doak is 58, a farmer. Emily is 48, Robert D. is 17, John N. is 11, and Martha is 5. (image 34/280) (residence 99).
On the 1880 Cannon County, Tennessee census John N. Doak is 68, a farmer, born in North Carolina (as were both his parents). Emily T. is 58, born in Tennessee, with both her parents born in Virginia. John N. is 20, a blacksmith, and Willie, 19, is his wife. Mattie is 14.
All the above census dates seem to agree with the 1812 birthdate of the Cannon County John Newton Doak. This makes it impossible that he is the same as the Washington County John Newton Doak who married Martha Snapp in 1825.
Robert--I hope you can make sense of all that. I need to go back and edit and put some paragraphs in proper order, but I think you can get some idea of my dilemma with this family. ANY help would be greatly appreciated! Again, thank you for the response!
Followups:
|
| http://genforum.genealogy.com/doak/messages/719.html | ||
 |
Agreement of Use Link to GenForum Add Forum |
|