Thomas Doane was born on September 20, 1821 in Orleans, Massachusetts, United States. He was descended from Deacon John Doane who came to Plymouth, Massachusetts, on the ship Fortune, in 1621. Thomas was the oldest child of John and Polly (Eldredgc) Doane. His father was a lawyer and served for a time in the state Senate.
Thomas attended an academy on the Cape and when he was nineteen entered the English Academy at Andover, Massachusetts , spending five terms there. At the conclusion of this period he took advantage of an opportunity to enter the employ of Samuel L. Felton of Charlestown, Massachusetts, a well-known civil engineer.
Having served his professional apprenticeship, Doane accepted his first employment with the Windsor White River Division of the Vermont Central Railroad. He served as resident engineer of the Cheshire Railroad at Walpole, from 1847 to 1849. In the latter year he began in Charlestown an independent practise as civil engineer and surveyor, which he continued until his death. During his professional career he was associated with practically all of the railroads running out of Boston, but he was more especially known for his connection with the Boston & Maine. Appointed in 1863 chief engineer of the Hoosac Tunnel, on which construction had already been begun, he introduced new engineering methods, relocated the line of the tunnel, and achieved great accuracy in the meeting of the borings. He has been called a pioneer in the use of compressed-air machinery in this country. During this period he became much interested in the establishment of a Congregational college at Crete, and was instrumental in obtaining for its location a square mile on the Big Blue River near that town. In gratitude for his aid the college was named in his honor and until his death he was one of its trustees. In 1873 he returned to Charlestown where he was again appointed chief engineer of the Hoosac Tunnel. When the tunnel was formally opened, on February 9, 1875, he ran the first engine through it. For two more years he continued in charge of construction. He was actively interested in professional societies. He was active in numerous civic, charitable, and educational enterprises in and around Boston.
Doane was for over twenty years a member and for nine years president of the Boston Society of Civil Engineers, and joined the American Society of Civil Engineers in 1882.
On November 5, 1850 Doane married Sophia Dennison Clarke, who died in 1868. Later he married Louisa Amelia Barber of Brattleboro, Vermont.
