Edward Doty (he died August 23, 1655) was a Mayflower passenger, a signer of the Mayflower Compact, and a permanent settler of Plymouth Colony. His surname sometimes appears as Doten, Dotey, or Day.
His ancestry is unknown. Statements that he was born in Shropshire, England, on May 14, 1598, or baptized on the same date in St. Mary le Strand, Thurburton Hills, Suffolk, England, are fabrications. While there are no fewer than eight Edward Doty baptisms recorded between 1585 and 1605, none have been confirmed to be the Edward Doty of the Mayflower.
Doty was one of two indentured servants obligated to Stephen Hopkins, the other one being Edward Leister, and as such accompanied Hopkins and his family aboard the Mayflower. [1] While the Mayflower was anchored off Cape Cod, forty-one of the adult males, including the servants, signed the Mayflower Compact on November 11, 1620. Doty and Leister were among the signers.
Doty was a member of the exploratory party, led by Myles Standish and including John Carver, William Bradford, Edward Winslow, John Tilley and his brother Edward, John Howland, Richard Warren, Stephen Hopkins, and several crewmen from the Mayflower, that departed on December 6, 1620, in a shallop to search for a suitable site for settlement.[2]
The first duel in Plymouth Colony occurred June 18, 1621, when Doty and Edward Leister fought with swords and daggers until one was wounded in the hand and the other in the thigh. They were to be punished by having their ankles tied to their necks for twenty-four hours without food or drink. Within an hour they were begging to be released, which the governor allowed upon their promise to behave.[3]
Doty's name appears in the lists of freemen for 1633 and 1636 and in the 1643 list of males that are able to bear arms. His name also appears many times in the records of the Plymouth Colony as either plaintiff or defendant in various lawsuits. Doty was on the losing side in the majority of these cases.[4] Doty was married twice, but the name of his first wife is unknown. His second wife was Faith Clarke, daughter of Thurston Clarke, both of whom arrived at Plymouth on the Francis in April 1634. Doty and Faith Clarke were married on January 6, 1635. They are the progenitors of a large American family. They had nine children, 76 grandchildren, and at least 358 great-grandchildren.[5]
Generations in this list begin with Edward Doty's children as the first generation.