Deacon JOHN DOANE came to Plymouth soon after the landing of the Pilgrim fathers, in an unknown ship, between 1628 and 1632.

He was chosen as one of the assistants to the governor in 1632/33, and again in 1633/34. He was one of the body of men chosen to revise the laws of the Colony in 1636, the first revision that was made.

He was a deacon in the Plymouth Church about 1633/34 and resisigned his position as assistant to the governor in order to serve as deacon.

About 1645, he moved to an area of Cape Cod called Nauset, to buy land from the indians and help establish a town there. The first constable at Nauset was JOHN DOANE's son-in-law, Samuel Hicks. On June 7, 1651, the General Court at Plymouth ordered the name of Nauset be changed to Eastham.

According to the History of Plymouth Colony, by Eugene Stratton, the wife of Dea. John Doane was called Ann in a 1648 deed, but called Lydia (possibly a second wife) in a 1659 deed. His inventory was sworn to by Abigail Doane, presumably his daughter (not yet married at the time).