One of our earliest Doaks on record in this country, David Doake, whose gravestone says he was born in 1710, had become the father of at least 15 (and probably 16) children by the time he died in Black Lick, Montgomery County (now Wythe County) Virginia in 1787. His will, dated 12 February 1787, names fourteen of those children, five of whom were under the age of 21. Robert and Thomas Doack (Montgomery County,Virginia Deed and Will Book B, p. 123). Though much confusion among Doak descendants has arisen over the years, documents show that David Doack probably had two sons named Robert, both of whom grew to adulthood! David Doack's first son with the name Capt. Robert Doack was a licensed surveyor and a Justice of the Peace of Fincastle County (now Wythe County) and is clearly named on the 1772 list of Tithables for Capt. Doak's Company as David Doack's son. This Robert Doack is not named in his father's will because he was killed between 2 August and 9 August 1774 during Dunmore's War. Some of the documents pertaining to the probate of Robert's estate are in a Fincastle County court volume that has been missing since the Civil War. One surviving probate document, date 2 May 1775, does show that William Doack was granted Letters of Administration for his brother Robert's estate, with David Doack and William Davis as securities. (Details about this Capt. Robert Doak and the citations for them are subjects of another paper.) It is interesting to note that not only did David Doack name his next-born male child for the fallen older son, but also Capt. Robert's brother, David Doake, Jr., named his first-born son Robert (born 6 Jun 1775). There are many instances of families of this era renaming two, three, and even four children by the same name after the previous child carrying the name had died. However, there were also cases of younger children being named for deceased adult brothers and sisters, as happened with the David Doack family.

It is the youner Robert Doack, named in his father's will, who can be shown to be the Robert Doke of Madison County, Arkansas and upon whom this article focuses. In his will, David Doack bequeathed to his sons John and Nathaniel land on the north side of Reed Creek upon the condition that they "shall provide for and keep the Family together untell (sic) they come of age & shall give my children who is uner their care a common education" and provided that "if the said John & Nathaniel shall Refuse to do for my family as is above Directed it is my will & order that David Doack, James Doack & Wm Ward Whom I appoint to be my Ex to make sale of the land above mentioned....." He additionally stated "Tis my further Will & order that my Sons Robert and Thomas have that part of Old Patent Land that lies on the South side of Reed creek to be Equally Divided Between them". (Note: this meant shares of equal value, not necessarily of equal acreage.)

To try to determine when David Doak's second son with the name Robert was born, several records must be considered, only a few of which are very reliable.

1. In their wills, many testators in the 1700s tended to name their children in order of birth. In David Doack's will, Robert is named first, then Thomas, leading one to believe that Robert might have been the older of the two.

2. In 1797 Robert is taxed for the first time as a white male over 16 years of age on the Wythe County tax rolls. Thomas first appears on these rolls in 1799. (M.W. Murphy and J.L. Douthat, Wythe County, VA Tax List 1793-1800 [Signal Mountain, Tennessee: Mountain Press 1985] p. 16) There are gaps and some inconsistencies in these tax lists, so they are used as supplementary clues only.

3. The land Robert and Thomas inherited from their father David Doack was a single parcel. Both brothers were deemed to have an interest in the whole parcel until it was offically divided between them. If one brother wished to sale his 1/2 of the parcel, he was required to obtain the other brother's release of interest in that 1/2 before it could be sold, thus providing the buyer with a clear title. The law also required that a seller either be 21 years of age, or make a sale through a guardian or someone who would sign as security. Robert sold his 1/2 [194 acres] of the inherited parcel to Samuel Graham on 5 August 1801, without a guardian or security (Wythe County Deed Book 3, p. 174) This deed shows by that date Robert was living in Washington County, Tennessee. One can conclude Robert was at least 21 years old at that time, having to have been born no later that 5 August 1780.

4. In addition, in the 1830 federal cenus (Campbell County, Tennessee, p 225) and the 1840 federal census (Kings River, Madison County, Arkansas, p 38) Robert is listed as having been born after 1 June 1771 but before 1 June 1780, [calculations based upon the cenus requirements for determining age categories]. However, the birth could not have been earlier that August 1774 when David's son Robert died.

5. on 17 November 1796 Robert witnessed a document for his brother Alexander Doack when Alexander, with his wife Margaret, sold his property interest in the estate of Alexander and Robert's deceased brother Nathaniel Doack to their older brother John Doack (Wythe County, Virginia Deed Book 2, p. 66.) In Virginia, at that time, males could witness legal documents as young as 12 years old only if the community deemed them to be 'mature'. Witnesses of that age were uncommon. Most were 21, with a very few being 16.....the age at which they first appeared on the tax rolls. While Robert couldn't have been 12, he could have been 16.

6. The community might have considered Robert to be mature. The early Doaks for whom we have actual records were not married until they were 21 or older. But perhaps this was not true of Robert. It may have been that when he appeared on the Wythe County tax roll it was around the time he married, set up his own household and had a child. He seems to have had a son at about 17-18 years of age. In the 1850 federal cenus, (Lafayette Township, Crawford County, Arkansas p. 315) someone told the cenus-taker that Robert Doke's oldest son, Campbell Doke, was 52 years old in 1850 making his possible birth year 1797 or 1798. (If Campbell had just turned 52 in the early part of the year, before the census-taker arrived, then his birth year would have been 1798. But if he was 52 going to become 53 later in the year of 1850, his birth would have been 1797). In the 1860 federal cenus (Lafayette Twp., Crawford County, Arkansas, p. 694) Campbell is listed as 63 years old, making his possible birth year 1796 or 1797. Assuming for now Campbell was born at least by 1797, then his father Robert might have been married in the 1796-1797 time frame while still living in Virginia.

Another question arises in 1850. In the 1850 federal cenus (Osage, Carroll County, Arkansas, p. 141) Robert's age is given at 65 (born circa 1785). His bounty-application, based on his service in the War of 1812 as Capt. Robert Doke, (File #185,600), lists different ages during different interviews, putting his birth year at 1784 or 1787. These ages are most probably inaccurate.

When Robert Doack/Doke was younger he seemed to know his own age bracket very well, and certianly knew when he turned 21 and could sell his Wythe County land in order to buy land in Tennessee. Why then in his 'old age' is the information so different? [It is true that many ment applying for pensions and bounty-land would state that they didn't know their own exact ages because their families kept no records....but they guessed themselves to be a certain age. Because birthdays weren't celebrated as they are today, many people whose parents were no longer alive simply knew 'about' how old they were. This doesn't seem to have been Robert's case. One possibility is that in Arkansas in 1850, Robert's last wife [Rachel Pharis Doke], who was at least 20 years younger than he, may have given the information to the cenus taker without actually ever having known her husband's real age.....or perhaps, as often happened, one of the children provided the information.]

By 1858, ongoing paperwork for Robert's bounty-land application was describing his mind as being feeble and in frail health. Robert stated that he hadn't signed his own name in years....that someone else had done it for him. So information provided toward the end of his life probably was less accurate than that provided by Robert when he was younger. Untill proof is available, a reasonable guess at his birth year might be 1779 [making him age 16 when witnessing the release, and 17 or 18 when his son Campbell was born] or 1780 before 1 June [which was the cenus taker's deadline for calculating Robert's age group].

Robert Doke migrated from Montgomery, Wythe County. Virginia through Washington and Campbell Counties in Tennessee, and Washington, Madison and Carroll Counties in Arkansas. Robert seems to have died in Carroll County, Arkansas sometime between 20 June 1856 [a date on which he was still alive according to his bounty-land application] and 1860 when he didn't appear in the nest federal census taken.

Calculating Thomas Doack/Doke's birth year is an easier task. Thomas apparently had made an ageement to sell 1/2 of the inherited parcel [249 acres] to a James Graham "about the year 1802" according to Graham. James Graham finally sued Thomas in March of 1807 to obtain clear title. In the suit, Graham claimed that Thomas had been under 21 at the time of the orginal sale agreement and had made the agreement using John Doack (Thomas' older brother) as his security. Graham stated that when Thomas had turned 21, Thomas has executed a deed describing his 1/2 parcel in metes and bounds [17 October 1802 Wythe Co. Virginia Deed Book 4, p 54] and that Graham accepted the deed because he was under the impression the land already had been divided into seperate parcels and described by metes and bounds in David Doack's will. Upon discovering that was not the case and that Thomas had never obtained Robert's release of interest in Thomas' 1/2 parcel, Graham claimed he had them written to Thomas several times. Not only did he further claim he hadn't heard of Thomas Doack, but also Robert Doack had threatened Graham, and that Thomas had filed suit against Graham in Washington County Tennessee's Distric Court. The court ultimately decreed that James Graham receive his clear title. The above documents indicate that sometime in 1802, before 17 October, Thomas turned 21. One can conclude that Thomas was born sometime between 1 January and 17 October during the year 1781. It probably was nearer October, since he soon after, on 5 January 1803 signed off on his interest in Nathaniel's estate. [Nathaniel Doack died in 1794 before all the children were raised, but John remained to care for the family as their father requested in his will. Because Nathaniel had no wife or children, his brothers and sisters were heirs to his estate. They released their interests in Nathaniel's tracts of land to their brother John for small sums of money, so that John could own the tracts in clear title. They signed from whichever counties and states were their places of residence. However, those siblings who were yet minors had to wait until they were 21 years of age to release their interests. Robert and Thomas "signed off" on their interests from Washington County, Tennessee on 5 January 1803 after Thomas had turned 21 [Wythe Co. Virginia Deed Book 4, p 83]].

Thomas Doke migrated from Montgomery, Wythe County, Virginia through Washington and Campbell Counties, Tennessee and Putnam County, Indiana to Missouri. His estate was entered for probate in Polk County, Missouri on 28 December 1840. (This article appeared in the family newsletter, The Doak/Doke Junction, dated 31 March 1996, Volume IV)