Roscoe Pound called Doe one of the ten greatest jurists in American history, the "one judge upon the bench of a state court who stands out as a builder of the law since the Civil War."

[5] In autumn of 1845, Doe entered Harvard College where he stayed for only a year, possibly having been expelled for an incident in which he threw a tree stump through the dormitory window of an upperclassman who had tormented him in a hazing ritual.

[5] Doe left Harvard Law School without earning a degree, instead returning to Dover in January 1854 to be admitted to the bar.

According to Jay Surdukowski, Doe's early diary "reveals a hopeful youth struggling to come into his own in a tumultous [sic] time.

"[9] In a long article about the journal, Surdukowski writes: Doe's early musings on his chosen career path are uncanny in their modesty.

His notes on court sessions tend to be perfunctory – records of verdicts, poor jury charges, satchels of work brought back by his mentor Mr. Christie.

[12] After his removal as county solicitor, Doe devoted his attention to his law practice in a partnership he formed with attorney Charles W. Woodman.

Doe is thought to have written opinions ostensibly authored by other judges, in an effort to conceal his influence in guiding certain reforms in the law.

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., the United States Supreme Court justice, did not share Wigmore's high regard for Doe.

[18]Despite considerable wealth, Doe dressed plainly, in the manner of a country farmer, wearing a brown frock coat and unpolished boots.

His marginalia, one commentator observed, "provide evidence of his inclinations toward reform, his peeves, his interests, and show his humorous and poetic sides.