Thomas Dane 1762 - 1828
Many of the early settlers of
Three views of Thomas Dane’s marker
and then the general area where it situated.
The sign at the entrance of Frost
Park and taking a rubbing of Thomas’ marker, hoping to discover evidence of Frederick Thompkins Dane.
Three views of
Left: 1917 photo with view of
original fountain with Grand Hotel.
Right: 1895 photo with view of park as seen from the
hotel.
Below: 1910 colorized picture postcard view of park,
also as seen from the hotel.
Notice the buildup of the wharf area
over those 15 years.
According to Leona (Dane) Briggs in A Bit Of
Grandma's Life (page
5), the
location in
“Next to the house was an old burying
ground and across from the house the commons where the soldiers drilled.”
The commons is now occupied by a war
memorial, the library, and Memorial Park.
As time passed, many of the markers
were removed and preserved within a wall memorial that is located behind the
library across the street.
Also found in this Memorial Park are lists of other names that are known to have been buried
in
The city has announced its
intentions to construct another memorial dedicated to those lost at sea.
Thomas Dane 1762 - 1828
Born: abt. 1762, Ipswich, Massachusetts
Died: April 9, 1828. Buried in the
Old Burial Grounds in
Spouse: Mary “Polly” (Brown) Dane, m. April 17, 1788
in
Children: James Brown
Dane
Mary “Polly” (Dane) Cann (See below)
Sophia (Dane) Patten (See below)
2nd Spouse: Mary (Barnard) Dane, married __?__ (See below)
Children: Maria “Mary” (Dane) Richan
b. March 17, 1804 and m. Capt. Eleazer Richan, son of Capt. John Richan.
Thomas B. Dane (See below)
Occupation: Sailor
Public Service and Investor.
Held the position of Assessor of Yarmouth at least
for 1791, likely other years too, including 1810.
Served as a Deputy Sheriff in 1792 and again for 3
years beginning in 1797.
Served as Proprietor’s Clerk from
at least 1806 through 1813.
Thomas signs a document as Clerk, pro. tem. In 1819.
Served as the Yarmouth Clerks of
the Peace from 1821 until his death in 1828.
Thomas
was one of the original stockholders for the Inland Navigation Company, founded
in 1811. (Another original stockholder
is Hugh English Cann, uncle to son James’ wife Mary
Cann.)
Father’s name: Israel Dane
Mother’s name: Ann (Storrs) Dane
Siblings: Anne Dane/Dean
Zerviah (Dane) Brown
Israel Dane, Jr.
Mary (Dane) Farley
(?)
John Dane (?)
Thomas Dane most likely was born and lived in
In a book pertaining to the history of
Starting around 1812, about the time of the birth of
his grandson Thomas G., son of James Brown Dane, Thomas occasionally signs his
name followed by the abbreviation “sen.” This would imply “Senior” rather than Senator
as his public service might suggest.
This was especially true after his son Thomas, by his 2nd
wife, was born. And yes, the grandson
Thomas is 11 years older than Thomas the son.
In his role as Proprietor’s Clerk, Thomas was
instrumental in calling for and attending an October 9, 1813 meeting regarding
the division of Marshlands. The meeting
was held at Mrs. Richan’s Tavern, likely related to
the family of daughter Mary’s husband, Capt. Eleazer
Richan.
Thomas was a member of the English and Foreign Bible
Society and served as the group’s secretary in 1816.
In 1818, the deed for what became known as the Old
Methodist Chapel was given to Thomas Dane and wife Mary, James Starr and wife
Ann, Waitstill Lewis and wife Chloe, and James
Brooks. The property was sold about 1870
to John B. Smith, then to Thomas B. Dane and heirs. (See below)
Charles Churchill was appointed minister in 1841 and served until
1844. I’m curious if Churchill was any
relation to Caroline Churchill who became Thomas and Mary’s grandson Thomas G. Dane’s 2nd wife.
Thomas held the office of Clerk of the Peace in
1st wife Mary “Polly” (Brown) Dane: b. October 17, 1770 in
2nd wife Mary (Barnard) Dane,
b. March 15, 1783 and d. 1863; buried in Mountain Cemetery, Yarmouth. Daughter of Benjamin and Lois (Butler) Barnard, granddaughter of
Rev. Thomas Barnard. Mary
remarried to Horace Baker and they had a son named Jonathon.
Mary (Barnard) Dane’s marker from Mountain Cemetery.
Thomas B. Dane, Thomas
Dane’s son with 2nd wife, was born November 15, 1823 and died July
15, 1890; married on September 13, 1848 to Jane M. (Stoneman),
born 1826 and died November 29, 1873. She was the daughter of Joseph Stoneman. T.B. Dane
and Jane had 7 children:
- William Stoneman Dane,
b 1849, d February 14, 1856.
- Julia M. (Dane)
- Ella Mary (Dane)
- George Murray Dane, b November 6, 1853, d July 14, 1910,
m.
- Annie J. (Dane) Embree,
b August 6, 1855, m July 11, 1875 to Luther E. Embree
and had 4 children: Melville,
- William H. Dane, 1857 - 1906, m. Lois Annette
(Murphy), 1865 - 1935. Yarmouth
Genealogist Clement Doane reports both are
buried in Mountain Cemetery, however I was unable to find their
markers. Gretchen Dane Burdick
reports that wife Lois is buried in New Jersey, USA. They had 4 children: John, Charles,
William, and Walter. William H.
Dane was a dealer in boots and shoes as per City Directory of 1897.
- Isabella Maclean (Dane) Rogers, b December 6,
1859, m September 21, 1881 to Arthur Rogers and they had 4 children:
Janie, Marion, Florence, and Arthur Edgar.
The Rogers are a rather prominent family; there is a Roger’s Room
on the second floor of the Yarmouth Archives.
The 1881 Canadian Census shows that widowed T.B. Dane
was living with his 2 children William H. and Isabella. His son George M. lived next door with his
wife Ada and their son Francis.
On January 30, 1859, a fire destroyed
Thomas B. was a Tailor and had a partnership with
George M. Brown beginning September 1, 1862; sold his half back to George April
16, 1864. (Is George M. Brown related to
family of father Thomas Dane’s 1st wife?) He formed new partnerships with his sons,
beginning with George Murray Dane on February 25, 1875, adding in William H.
Dane on January 1, 1884, forming the business entity of T.B. Dane &
Sons. William H. left the partnership a
year later, starting his own shop in the
Left: 1864 ad from Hutchinson’s Provincial
Directory
Right: 1890
ad from Yarmouth Town Directory
Left: The Stoneman’s, T.B. Dane’s wife’s side of the family, also had
a thriving business in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.
Right: Ad
for son William H. Dane’s business,
Ads are
from the 1890 Yarmouth Town Directory
publ. by the Yarmouth Times.
T.B. Dane lived in
T.B. Dane subscribed and donated money towards the
building of the
After 1870, T.B. Dane and heirs received the deed for
the property of the Old Methodist Chapel.
(See above for father’s 1818 involvement.) They
re-opened it as a gathering hall named St. Julian Hall on January 1, 1890.
On October 4, 1894, a double tenement house owned by
the estate of T.B. Dane and an Ellen Purdy, located on the corner of Central
and Hawthorne Streets, was severely damaged by a fire.
Thomas B’s middle name is often assumed to be
Barnard, his mother’s maiden name. It is
more likely that it is Benjamin after his mother’s father, Benjamin
Barnard. This detail is suggested in
Thomas B.’s will.
Thomas B. Dane’s shipping
interest included partial ownership of:
- Brig Annie
Laurie, 258 tons, built in July of 1856 in Argyle,
- Brig
- Schooner Clementina,
34 tons, built in 1861/2. Built and
registered at Rollo Bay, Prince Edward Island by Charles Deagle. (Note:
This is not the same Clementina involved in an incident with Spanish
Privateers.)
- Barque Native, built in Argyle in1853 at 451 tons. Lost at Isle of
Details from Record
of the Shipping of Yarmouth, N. S., compiled by J. Murray Lawson, Yarmouth,
N. S., 1876.
And Yarmouth County
Museum & Archives,
- An 1874 Yarmouth shipping record shows T.B. Dane
with interests in a 998 ton vessel called Magnolia. (From Nova Scotia Archives & Records
Management.) I’m having
difficulty finding additional information regarding this vessel. However, there is quite a bit about a
Brig Magnolia beginning in 1831
and continuing through 1853.
Vessels in this era would be refurbished and maintained and it was not
uncommon for one to remain in service 50, 60, even 70 plus years.
Left: Thomas B. Dane’s Family Marker
in Mountain Cemetery. Right: his grave
marker.
Left: Thomas B. Dane’s overall
family plot. Right: marker for wife
Jane, maiden name Stoneman.
Left: The Stoneman
plot next to Thomas B. Dane’s family plot.
Right: marker for William Stoneman Dane,
Thomas B. Dane’s son.
Left: Thomas B. Dane’s son George,
his wife Ada. Right:
their children’s markers, Oscar Stafford and Baby
The overall view of the plots for
the Thomas B. Dane, Stoneman, and George M. Dane
families.
Daughter Mary “Polly” (Dane) Cann
was born December 5, 1792, in
This Grandson, Capt. Israel Dane Cann,
married before 1847 to Mary Raymond and settled in Pt. Sorell,
Sophia (Dane) Patten was born on May 2, 1797 in
The wreck of the Eagle
is described In the 1876 compilation by J. Murray Lawson, Record of the Shipping of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, (http://books.google.com/books?id=9EcEAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#PPA229,M1). This wreck killed Daughter Mary “Polly”
(Dane) Cann’s 2 sons, Capt. Israel D. Cann and John Cann, as well as
Daughter Sophia (Dane) Patten’s son Henry Patten, who was serving as a member
of the crew. Briefly, the Schooner Eagle was under its first voyage and was
under the master Israel D. Cann. She left
James Dane, a boy (probably son of Norman J Dane, son
of James B Dane. James would be a great
grandson to Thomas.), survives the wreck of the Dominion Govt. Steamer Newfield while towing a new ship, the
S.S. Princess Louise of Nova
Scotia. The ship was damaged in a gale
on January 4, 1884 and carried onto the rocks near Digby
Gut. James and a Richard or James Soy
reached land safely and were the only two to survive. The Newfield
was originally built in 1871 at 785 tons.
She was purchased by the Canadian government and fitted for cable repair
work.
Admiral Digby Museum photograph of monument to
SS Princess Louise and Newfield
at Point
Prim, Digby County, Nova Scotia, Canada
Many of the details regarding Thomas Dane and his
family were found in the book Yarmouth
Reminiscences, Lawson, 1902.
Now let’s make the big leap…It is reasonable to
assume Thomas’ father Israel Dane would have been familiar with
Other Thomas Dane mentions that are out “there”:
- Thomas Dane as son of Philomen
and Anstice (Manning) Dane, from
- Thomas Dane as submitted to LDS site with same
marriage and death dates I have, but having a birth in 1763, rather than
1752.
- Thomas Dane as a spouse to an Abigail Furnell, m. August 3, 1749 in
Back to the Genealogy Main Page.