Recently, I found out a bit more about a branch of the Northen family in my genealogy search. It relates to the Dobyns family. My third great-grandfather, Edward Jones Northen, married a woman named Sarah Dobyns. She was the daughter of Charles Dobyns of Richmond County, Virginia. Coincidentally, Winifred Northen, Edward’s sister, married Abner Dobyns, also the son of Charles Dobyns. So, they were cousins. I’d known about both Sarah and Abner but not exactly how they were related. Charles father was Daniel Dobyns, who was the first Dobyns to come to the United States.
Daniel Dobyns came to the United States prior to 1675, probably around 1671. The record of his first arrival is not clear, but it appears that who came with his uncle, Richard Dobyns. Daniel’s father, Edmund, had died fairly young, probably in his early thirties, prior even to the death of his own father, also named Daniel. It seems likely that the Daniel who first came to Virginia was raised by his uncle Richard (Edmund’s brother) and probably came to the Viginia colonywith him when her was about 20 or 21. Richard’s name surfaces in several places as present in some part of old Rappahannock County during that time period. The speculation is that, since he did not appear to hold any land, Richard was basically a merchant traveling back and forth to England. Daniel, on the other hand, seems to have done quite well for himself. He ended up in the part of old Rappahannock Count in what is now Richmond County and at one point there is a record of him selling over 23,000 pounds of tobacco that he had grown, so, obviously he landed on his feet. He also later became a constable for the county and a surveyor just as men like George Washington and William Byrd later did, and served as a “gentleman justice,” which means that he probably acted as a judge, even though not a lawyer. Daniel later was charged with administering the fealty oath to the area residents, this being an oath of declaring loyalty to the king of England.
The Dobyns line in England traces back quite a ways, probably to the fifteen century, though there are no exact dates. It is hypothesized that the name Dobyns, which traces back to Guy Dobyns originally came from Norman French. It is derived from the town of Aubyn on the Isle of Jersey in the English Channel. More than likely it belonged to someone who came over with William the Conqueror in 1066, since William brought Norman French and many people who spoke it with him. At any rate, the Dobyns’ family first shows up in Newent in Gloucestershire during the reign of Edward IV. The family seems to have been originally Catholic, and when Henry VIII took over the Catholic Church in England, the Dobyns family did not follow Henry, but remained Catholic, if in name only. Two bits of personal information about them was that Randal Dobyns attended Oxford and was an attorney and his son Daniel (1600-1665, the grandfather of the Daniel who came to the United States), was the sheriff of Worchestershire and a member of Parliament. This Daniel had originally been a haberdasher or merchant. By that time the family must no longer have been Catholic because when Charles I assumed the throne of England, Daniel refused to support him. Later when Charles was dethroned and beheaded and Oliver Cromwell came to power, Daniel’s fortunes changed; that is when in 1647, he was elected to parliament.. It seems likely, then that when his grandson Daniel came to America, it was as someone who had some access to money, rather as an indentured servant or a poor man. This may help to explain why he ended up being successful in his new country.
Northen History 