JOSEPH DOAN

Notes:

Joseph is #228, The Doane Family, Vol. I, p. 233. Joseph received an education above that of the average young man at the time. He taught the school in his neighborhood. His name appears on the list of the outlaw Doanes. He was captured by
a posse after a skirmish and after having been shot in the cheek. On 30 March 1784, he was arraigned, tried, and sentenced to be hanged. While awaiting the execution, he managed to escape from prison to New Jersey where he found refuge. He
taught school there under an assumed name. The Federal Gov't had placed a reward for his capture. One night, in a tavern, he overheard a man say that he would shoot any of the Doanes on sight just for the reward. Joseph quietly settled his
school bills and made ready to move to Canada. Before going, he returned to Bucks Co. to say farewell to his old home. A neighbor recognized him and threw him to the ground. During the scuffle, Joseph managed to retrieve his pocket knife,
which he opened with his teeth. He wounded his assailant in the neck, but before he left, Joseph bound up the man's wounds, got him to his feet, and directed him to a nearby house. Then, Joseph left for Canada. In Canada, he settled first in
Humberstone Twp, of Welland Co.living near the lake shore near Fort Erie. He resumed his teaching, for which he soon gained an excellent reputation. About 1815, he moved some 40 miles away to the township of Walpole where he bought a 200 acre
farm of which he claimed was to lie "in as pretty a section as can be found in all of Canada". Early on, he was known to be an outspoken man with an inveterate hatred of Americans. When the American Army landed there during the War of 1812, he
was pointed out as a man inimical to the American interests, and was again put in prison, this time at Greenbush, N.Y. He stayed in prison for 18 months. In 1823, Joseph returned to Bucks Co., Pa. to visit relatives and to obtain retribution
for the confiscation of his father's lands. He was appearently unsuccessful. A description of him at his time is contained in a letter by a neighbor in Plumstead, Mr. J.S. Kratz, "I now come to Joseph who is the only one I ever saw, a portly,
good looking, active, intelligent man of 72 years, straight as an Indian, very nearly six feet high and had travelled on foot all the way from Canada to Plumstead, a distance of over four hundred miles.".

JOSEPH married MARY DOAN in 1780. MARY was born on 27 Jul 1766 in Plumstead, Bucks Co., Penn.; died on 19 Sep 1852 in Walpole, Haldimand Co, Ont., Canada. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. MOSES DOAN was born on 24 Dec 1781 in Plumstead, Bucks Co., Penn.; died on 2 Jun 1857.