Doyle Family History & Genealogy

My brother ( Wayne Edward Doyle Jr) of Hagerstown, Maryland and cousin bradley flook of smithsburg maryland are marine's currently serving both have been to iraq once brother is going again soon. We have a grandfather who served in vietnam john doyle of smithsburg.

Thomas Doyle (1704-1788) and his wife, Elizabeth Atkinson,(1708-@1790)were both early residents of Lancaster County. Thomas Doyle, listed as a "hatter" in the 1750 tax records, came to Lancaster from Maryland, possibly from a portion of Cecil County near the Pennsylvania border known as New Munster. New Munster was settled in the 1600s by Irish Catholic immigrants who had come to Maryland, the only colony accepting Catholics at the time. Most of these Irish immigrants began their lives in America as indentured servants.

By the early 1700s, due to the ascension of Protestant monarchs William and Mary to the throne of England, persecution of Catholics was taking place in most colonies. Anti-Catholic laws were passed even in Maryland, previously a Catholic colony. Catholics could no longer purchase or inherit property or hold public office. All Irish Catholics were double taxed. No wonder Thomas Doyle headed for the tolerant Quaker haven of Pennsylvania. He arrived in Lancaster @1728 and over the years, he became a prominent citizen of the city, accumulating real estate, lending money for mortgages and serving as executor of estates. The brick home that he built at the corner of West King and Water streets in Lancaster was considered a mansion. Thomas and Elizabeth Atkinson Doyle had several children including Prudence and Thomas Jr.* Elizabeth Atkinson Doyle's parents were Stephen Atkinson (@1680-1739) and Anne Wilton, (@1690-@1750s).

Thomas Doyle was a strong supporter of the Catholic church. His home was a "mass house" for a period of time. Later, he was a founding member of St. Mary's Catholic congregation in Lancaster in the 1740s. Thomas and Elizabeth Atkinson Doyle and many of their descendants were buried in an old cemetery next to St. Mary's church. In 1881 the remains in this cemetery were taken to the new St. Mary's cemetery on New Holland Avenue in Lancaster and reinterred in a vault.

*Historical note: Major Thomas Doyle Jr. and Major John Doyle were the grandsons of Thomas and Elizabeth Atkinson Doyle. They were part of an independent militia established in Lancaster at the beginning of Revolutionary war. This unit later affiliated with the First Pennsylvania Battalion, which took part in the battles of Brandywine, Germantown and Monmouth. After the war, Major Thomas Doyle went on to a colorful career of derring-do as an Indian fighter with Anthony Wayne's troops on the Ohio frontier.