Thomas Macy (1608–1682) was an early settler of the
Massachusetts Bay Colony
The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1630–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around the Massachusetts Bay, the northernmost of the several colonies later reorganized as the ...
and of
Nantucket Island. He was born in
Chilmark, Wiltshire
Chilmark is a Wiltshire village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish of some 150 houses straddling the B3089 road, west of Salisbury, England. The parish includes the hamlets of Mooray and Portash, both close to the south of Chilmark vi ...
, came over to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1635, and lived at various times in
Newbury and
Salisbury before becoming a founder of the town of
Amesbury, Massachusetts. He married Sarah Hopcott (1612–1706) in 1643. He served as Amesbury's first town clerk; he held many town offices, including those of school overseer and deputy to the
Massachusetts General Court, and was involved in numerous land transactions. While in Amesbury, he built and lived in the
Macy-Colby House, today a listed historic building. Unlike many other early settlers of Massachusetts, he was a
Baptist rather than a
Puritan.
He left Amesbury in 1659 after years of conflict with local Puritan leaders, including being fined 30 shillings for providing shelter to
Quakers during a rainstorm in 1657.
He was among the first group of European settlers to establish his family on the island of
Nantucket
Nantucket () is an island about south from Cape Cod. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck and Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and County of Nantucket, a combined county/town government that is part of the U.S. state of Massachuse ...
(then a part of the colony of New York); he,
Tristram Coffin and other settlers purchased the land from the Native Americans. In 1671, Macy and Coffin were selected as spokesmen for the settlers, going to New York in 1671 to meet with
Governor Francis Lovelace and secure their claim to Nantucket. Macy ultimately rose to the position of Chief Magistrate. The island soon became a haven for Quakers, and many of Macy's descendants were raised in the Quaker faith (his wife Sarah converted to the faith following his death). Macy became the subject of a poem by the 19th-century Quaker poet
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier (December 17, 1807 – September 7, 1892) was an American Quaker poet and advocate of the abolition of slavery in the United States. Frequently listed as one of the fireside poets, he was influenced by the Scottish poet ...
entitled "The Exiles", depicting the plight of Quakers in the religiously intolerant Puritan society of colonial Massachusetts.
Entrepreneur
R. H. Macy
Rowland Hussey Macy Sr. (August 30, 1822 – March 29, 1877) was an American businessman who founded the department store chain Macy's.
Life and career
Macy was the fourth of six children born to a Quaker family on Nantucket Island, Massachuse ...
and actor
William H. Macy are among his descendants.
References
External links
Biography at the Macy-Colby House
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macy, Thomas
1606 births
1682 deaths
People from Wiltshire
People from Amesbury, Massachusetts
People from Nantucket, Massachusetts
Kingdom of England emigrants to Massachusetts Bay Colony
Members of the Massachusetts General Court