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As far as can be ascertained, at this late period, JACOB DOCKENDORFF the First, came over in the Waldo Fleet, with the intention of settling and forming a township at what is now called Waldoboro, Maine, with an addition of 1500 others; but the title of the land given them by General Waldo proving unsound, they became scattered, and DOCKENDORFF wandered here and there until the country became somewhat settled, and the Indian and French War was over. They arrived, as told, at St. Georges River, and landed on the west side in the lower part of the present town of Warren, September 1753.He suffered very much hardship. He was taken prisoner by the Indians, carried off and left by them in a dying condition; but after they were gone, he crawled on his hands and knees seven miles to a place of safety, and was rescued after much suffering. He was a German by birth, and his father was a wealthy man. His father made his fortune in wine. JACOB was a progenitor of German nobility , forced to leave home because he wouldn't speak to his father's second wife by her title, but called her "Nancy". But he, delighted with the dazzling account of the new country which his intriguers held up to his view, was decoyed into the net, to repent at his leisure. He was eighteen years of age when he arrived in North America.
We can find no record or knowledge of the place of his birth; but John D., his eldest son, says he was born on the River Rhine, or near it, in a place called "Winchingham" or "Winsingham bei Crighnack". On consulting maps, we find "Krewghnach" on the Nahe, a branch of the Rhine; and a little farther up the river we find Melsenheim, and have but little doubt that it was Melsenheim bei Krewghnach, which has in time got somewhat changed in pornunciation (the German pronunciation is "Croitznoch"). The first stationary place at which we find JACOB DOCKENDORFF is Broad Cove, Bristol, Maine, as it was a few years after his marriage incorporated as a town, and given that name. Since that time it has been divided, and the place where he began his married life is called Bremen. He was married at Fort Frederick, Pemaquid, Maine 1 Oct 1760 to Marguerite McFARLAND (MacFARLANE), youngest daughter of John and Isabella (BLACK) MacFARLAND, her father being the Commander of the Fort.
Jacob and Marguerite DOCKENDORFF had 14 children. Notes say the youngest died at age 18, he being the first to break the family circle of fourteen. There may have been two more, but expect they died in infancy, making sixteen in all. The eldest son out-lived all but one of the children.
JACOB DOCKENDORFF was Catholic, and his wife Marguerite was Protestant. They brought up the children Protestant, and Jacob gave up the Catholic faith.
No record of John McFARLANE's death; think it was 1786-1788. (He) lied at Pemaquid. He owned a farm and his wife survived him, living there after his death. But her daughter, Mrs. DOCKENDORFF worried so much about her lest she should not have proper care, that her husband went away unbeknown to her one day, and brought her home, and made a present to his wife of her. She lived there until her death, Christmas Day, 1793, aged 93 years.
SOURCES CITED in the above document:
Vol.1. Old Bristol and Nobleboro Vital Records. PR 79
DOCKENDORFF Records from Beaconsfield, Charlottetown, PEI
Carmen DOCKENDORFF, son of Walter, was with the Canadian Armed Forces stationed in Germany until a few years ago, and while there, learned (the) German language. He has been in Winchenham, a village on the Rhine, where the DOCKENDORFFs supposedly came from. He also met a DOCKENDORFF who told him that the DOCKENDORFF coat of arms had a garland of oak leaves around it.In the Revolutionary War of 1775, it is possible that Jacob's sympathies were with the British. King George III was not only King of Great Britain, but was also King of Hanover, Germany. One of the things that enraged the Colonists was his use of Hessian troups from his Hanoverian Army. Kings George I, George II, George III, George IV and William IV were all kings of Great Britain and Hanover. When William IV was succeded by his niece, Victoria, because of the Salic law she was unable to become Queen of Hanover, and the Hanoverian throne passed to her Uncle, another brother of William IV.
DOCKENDORFF oral tradition says that William DOCKENDORFF (son of Jacob) built a boat in Maine and sailed it to PEI. At the age of 19, this is doubtful. However, if he went with Peter CRAMER as the Johnston records states, and Peter was a sailor, it well might have been. Tradition also says that he was a United Empire Loyalist. I saw a newspaper clipping when my mother graduated from Prince of Wales College (in which) she stated that her great grandfather, William DOCKENDORFF, was a U.E. Loyalist.
From PEI History, William DOCKENDORFF was a member of the Legislative Assembly, and with other members, charged Governor Smith with embezzelment of public funds, and circulated a petition to the British Government to recall Smith. As Smith, through his relatives, controlled the Post Office, they couldn't mail their petition in PEI. One stormy night, William and two others crossed Northumberland Strait in a dory, and mailed their petition in Nova Scotia. On their return, Smith thanked them by putting them in jail. However, public opinion was too strong, and he had to release them. The British Government appointed a committee to investigate, and Smith was recalled.
Another DOCKENDORFF oral tradition is that Jacob had two brothers killed in the taking of Quebec. They supposedly spent the winter at Fort LaJoi (Charlottetown) before going on to attack Quebec. If this is so, then this may have been one of the influences that brought Peter (CRAMER) and William (DOCKENDORFF) to Charlottetown. Francis wrote to Quebec City to find out if they had any records. They said all records are in London, England.
John Peter CRAMMER and Isabella (DOCKENDORFF) CRAMMER's children - Isabella, Mary (both b Bristol, Maine), and Christopher, William, Margaret, Sophia, Catherine, Sarah and Elizabeth (b PEI).
John Peter CRAMMER, from Darmstadt, Germany (sic), painted a water color as a boy, of the family farm, with a ruined castle on a hill in the background. A descendant has it.
William DOCKENDORFF paid 10 pounds for his marriage license, 30 Oct 1795. (from Charlottetown, PEI V.R.)
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This page was updated on 23 Jan 2000
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