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Evidence Of Parentage & Birth
Of the parentage and date of birth of John Doggett, no positive proof has been found. The fact that he came to America with Gov. Winthrop, and that a Doggett family resided at Groton, Suffolk, England, from whence Winthrop came, would naturally lead a researcher to follow out the history there to see if our John Doggett might not be one of them.
While in the adjoining parish of Boxford the Doggetts and Winthrops were connected by the marriage of Thomas Doggett and Margaret Clopton. Of the Groton Doggetts named John, those of a suitable age to have come to America in 1630 can all be placed, but not so with the Boxford Doggetts: for among them we have John, bapt. 4 NOV 1602, and of whom the parish records give no further information. Therefore it is possible that this John Doggett, the third son of William Doggett & and Avis Lappage, is the same John Doggett who took part in the "Great Emigration." However, Banks criticizes that "the names William and Avis do not appear in any of the immediate descendants of John Doggett for three generations, and that this is an unusual omission according to all custom and experience."
A clue to John Doggett's origins may lie in Rev. William & Mary (Fosten) Eddy1 of Cranbrook, Kent, England, who had among others, two sons, John Eddy2 who married about 1622 to Amy DOGGETT, daughter of John Doggett of Groton, Suffolk, England; & Samuel Eddy2 who married Elizabeth (-----). John Eddy3, a son of Samuel & Elizabeth (-----) Eddy, married about 1658/9 to Hepzibah Doggett (D1-4; p. ), the daughter John Doggett (D1; subject). All of these circumstances would lead one to the conclusion that John Doggett, the immigrant and subject of this sketch, was a member of this same Doggett Family, but no connection has yet been found.
Many sources claim that the wife Giles Firmin, who is found to have come to America with Winthrop, was Martha DOGGETT, daugther of John Doggett of Groton. This is based on a letter of 14 MAR 1632/3 from John Bluett of Groton to John Winthrop Jr. in Boston, which extends felicitations to several of his former friends, including "my ancient acquaintance goodman Childe and Martha Doggett the wife of goodman Firmyn." Robert Charles Anderson, in his The Great Migration Begins, contests this interpretation on several points. "First in such a letter the wife of goodman Firmin, whoever he may have been, would not have been referred to by her maiden name, so the Martha Doggett of this letter was either unmarried, or the wife os someone named Doggett. Second, Giles Firmin Senior was regularly referred to as "Mr." and not as goodman. Third Martha Doggett, daughter of John Doggett of Groton was named as Martha Flack in her father's will of 30 AUG 1619. Fourth, no New England record gives the Christian name of the wife of either Giles Firmin Senior or John Firmin", and added "John Bluett would have greatly aided modern interpreters of his letter if he and employed the modern rules of punctuation."
Yet another clue of John Doggett's origin may lie in a letter from John Winthrop, dated 29 NOV 1630 to his wife, which enumerated those close to him who had died recently. Among whom was "one of L. Kedby his sons." This "L. Kedby" is presumably Lewis Kedby of Groton, Suffolk, who had married a daughter of John Doggett also of Groton, a Winthrop tenant. Lewis Kidby of Boston in 1640 may also be a member of this family. John Eddy, who had just married Hepzibah Doggett is also mentioned in this letter.
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Marriages:
John Doggett married first, probably in the early 1620's.
The exact date, location, and to whom he was married are unknown, but Banks suggests "that the Hepzibah Doggett who signs as witness 3 MAR 1660 to the sale of the farm from Wampamag to John Doggett was his then wife. That it could not in all probability, be the daughter Hepzibah2, is based on her age at that date, seventeen years, and on further reason that Hepzibah Doggett was then the wife of John Eddy and would not have signed as Hepzibah Doggett. The daughter was undoubtedly named for her mother, and grandchildren bore this name for John's first wife rather than in honor of the aunt." He further sugests that "a guess may be hazarded that her maiden name was "Brotherton". This appears as a baptismal name in the Thomas Doggett branch as early as 1686, and is used in the Joseph Doggett branch after the intermarriage with Thomas Martin in 1715. Brotherton Martin continued as a family name in Nova Scotia, wither this branch emigrated, until recent years." Of this HEPSIBAH BROTHERTON, George H. & Sydney B. Daggett, in their supplement to Doggett state that she was born in 1604, probably in Suffolk, England.
Anderson, in the Addenda et Corrigenda of his The Great Migration Begins, relates the marriage of a John Doggett on 29 AUG 1622 to ALICE BROTHERTON at Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire, England & further relates the baptism of John Doggett on 5 SEP 1624, Woburn, Bedfordshire, England, son of John Doggett & Alice Brotherton. Both of these facts were submitted to him by Gordon L. Remington.
Another possibility for the name of John Doggett's first wife is presented by Dorothy C. & Gerald E. Knoff in their Thirty-One English Emigrants Who Came To New England by 1662 on page 80 which they "think has more validity than Hepzibah or Brotherton. In the first book of the Parish Register of the Church of St. Mary the Virgin at Bures, Suffolk, England, a village a few miles from Boxford," was found the following record: "1623 John Doggat & Elizabeth Woodethorpe were married March 20th." Of this the "wife of his youth and the mother of his children" Banks suggests that she probably died on the island prior to John Doggett's removal to Plymouth.
John Doggett removed once again after 1665 to Plymouth, Massachusetts and was again, there, married on 29 AUG 1667 to MRS. BATHSHEBA (FAY?) PRATT, the widow of Joshua Pratt of Plymouth. She was living as late as 4 JUN 1673.
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