Ebenezer Doan
| Ebenezer Doan | |
|---|---|
Ebenezer Doan, Master Builder
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| Born |
9 September 1772 Bucks County, PA |
| Died | 3 February 1866 (aged 87) Sharon, Ontario |
| Occupation | Master Builder |
| Known for | Sharon Temple |
Ebenezer Doan, Jr. (1772–1866) was the Master Builder or architect-contractor in charge of designing and building the Sharon Temple, a National Historic Site of Canada. Doan was a highly accomplished builder, as evidenced by the creative techniques used in the Temple structure. Doan was an early Quaker immigrant from Bucks County, Pennsylvania who joined the Children of Peace in 1812. His first house (1819), drive shed and granary have now been relocated on the Temple grounds and restored.
Ebenezer Doan, Jr. was born 9 September 1772 in Bucks County of a large Quaker family. He apprenticed at a young age to his elder brother Jonathan, a prominent Master Builder in the mid-Atlantic states, he having built and designed the first New Jersey State House (1791-2) and the New Jersey State Prison (1797–99).
After a short, tragic first marriage, Ebenezer Doan married Elizabeth Paxon in 1801; they had six children. In 1808, the extended Doan clan moved to the new Quaker settlement on Yonge Street in what is now Newmarket, Ontario. In 1813, most members of the family, including Ebenezer and Elizabeth, joined the Children of Peace, led by another Yonge Street Quaker, David Willson. Ebenezer's fame as a builder is linked to the extraordinary "Meeting Houses" (churches) that he built for this group in Hope (now Sharon), Ontario.
Doan remained an active member of the group until 1840, when he resigned for unknown reasons. His wife and children remained members. Doan died 3 February 1866.
The Children of Peace rejected the "plain style" of Quaker architecture and built a series of ornate meeting places designed to "ornament the Christian Church with all the glory of Israel". The building most clearly associated with this imagery is the Temple, built over a seven-year period in imitation of Solomon's Temple, and the New Jerusalem described in Revelations 21. The Temple is three storeys tall and measures 60 feet square by 75 feet high. The building is of timber frame construction, held together with mortice and tenon joints. It is square, and each side symmetrical, with tall centred double doors on each side to "allow all to enter on an equal footing". On either side of the door are three tall, sliding sash windows; there are 3 more per side on the second storey, and one on the third. At each of the building's twelve corners is a square lantern (carved out of a single block of wood) surmounted by four green finials. From the top four lanterns hangs a golden ball, with the word Peace inscribed on it. A reeded frieze caps each storey, and the four corners are tall, reeded quarter columns.
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