Thomas Macy

"The Exiles," written by the notable poet John Greenleaf Whittier in 1841. It's all about our emigrant ancestor Thomas Macy and how he fled religious persecution by the Puritans of Massachusetts to settle on the island of Nantucket.

The ballad has been posted at several online sites, including http://humanitiesweb.org/human.php?s=l&p=c&a=p&ID=20925&c=328 .

'Genealogy of the Macy Family from 1635 - 1868' 'The History of Nantucket County, Island and Town including Genealogies of First Settlers'

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GScid=2298305&GRid...

Birth: 1608 Chilmark Wiltshire, England Death: Apr. 19, 1682 Nantucket Nantucket County Massachusetts, USA

He was the husband of Sarah Hopcott who he married in Chilmark, England on June 9, 1643. He was the first Town Clerk of Amesbury, Massachusetts. from The History of Amesbury
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He was prosecuted and fined for allowing four Friends on a journey to take shelter in his house about three quarters of an hour, one rainy day in 1659, as his own letter to the court informs us. It is worthy to note that his grandson and many other of his descendants became Friends. Like Roger Williams, he fled from persecution in Massachusetts. His family were the first white settlers of Nantucket, then under the juridiction of New York. Edward Starbuck and Isaac Coleman, a lad of 12 years old, accompanied them.

Burial: Golgotha Burial Ground Amesbury Essex County

Thomas Macy was from Wiltshire, England/Town of Salisbury/Parish of Chilmark. He was married to SARAH HOPCOT. Came to America in 1635. He is listed among the original settlers of Salisbury, Massachusetts.

Thomas Macy was a merchant, planter, one of the select-men of the town, a juryman, and preacher of the Baptist faith. Massachusetts laws passed in 1656 and 1657 did not encourage freedom of worship. Because of these laws, Thomas Macy moved to Nantuckett where he "believed he could lead a more peaceful life". October 1, 1675, according to historical papers, Thomas Macy was commissioned Chief Magistrate of the town(Nantuckett).

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=10904420

A story is told by Silvanus J. Macy in his history of the Macy family of his trip to the Island of Nantuckett. Encountering rough weather while crossing the Sound it is said the good wife besought her husband to turn back and seek safety on the mainland as she was terribly frightened. Thomas paid no attention to her first request but on her second appeal he replied "Woman go below and seek thy God. I fear not the witches on this earth or the devils in hell" as all accounts agree that the craft in which this adventurous voyage was made was an open boat, it is difficult to understand just what the doughty skipper meant when he told her to "go below" but he may have used the expression figuratively in which sense, let us hope, it was obeyed.

They landed safely at all events and with the assistance of the Indians, erected some sort of house to shelter them for the winter.

Their son John who was four years old at the time and the only son of Thomas to reach maturity was the ancestor of all the Macys of America

Thomas Macy became chief Magistrate in 1676 of Nantucket

Died June 19, 1682 in Nantucket Island, Nantucket, Massachusetts, USA

GEDCOM Note

Category: Nantucket, Massachusetts Category: Chilmark, Wiltshire Category: Salisbury, Massachusetts Category: Newbury, Massachusetts Category:Nantucket Founders and Descendants

Biography ==It is unknown exactly when Thomas immigrated. Thomas Macy , of Chilmark, Wiltshire, England was made freeman at Newbury, Mass., September 6, 1639. He was one of the founders of Salisbury, Mass. (named for theShiretown of Wilts). His religious denomination was Baptist, and he preached occasionally. Because of religious persecution, he with nineothers, purchased the island of Nantucket in February, 1659, the deedbeing dated July 2, 1659. Nantucket at that time was under the jurisdiction of New Amsterdam. Thomas Macy's wife, Sarah (Hopcott) Macy, also came from Chilmark<ref name="MC">The Macy-Colby House Thomas Macy. The Macy-Colby House, 257 Main Street, Amesbury, MA 01913 USA · Phone: 1-978-388-3054Copyright © 2016 The Macy-Colby House All Rights Reserved • The Macy-Colby House is on the National Register of Historic Places. Accessed 2016 November 22 by amb</ref>, and they were undoubtedly married in England. He died in Nantucket, April 19, 1682, aged seventy-four years, and his widow died in 1706, aged ninety-four years.<ref name="MC"/><ref name="ENW"> Edward Norris Wentworth, Jr., The Genealogy of Edward Norris Wentworth Junior. Publication: Location:Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA; Date: June 1928. Page: 50-51. Special Project Submitted in Courses in Community Life and Advance Biology at the University High School, University of Chicago</ref>

For excellent information, see this site: Thomas Macy

• Ancestor of noted actor William H Macy<ref>"Puritans and Pioneers." <i>Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.</i> (Season 4, Episode 3). PBS. 17 Oct 2017.</ref> through his son John.*Settled in the Massachusetts Bay Colony and thrived there as a merchant until 1659.*12 Nov 1659 was fined 30 shillings and be admonished by the governor for allowing some Quakers to shelter in his home during a storm.*Purchased and moved to Nantucket, along with a group of others. They were the first European settlers on the island.
• Eventually converted to Quaker.

Residence

:Place: Chilmark, Wiltshire, England<ref name=MC/><ref name=ENW/> :Place: Salisbury, Massachusetts<ref name=MC/> "The Macys settled in Salisbury, Essex, Massachusetts by the end of 1640. The Macy-Colby house in nearby Amesbury, which Thomas built, stillstands. The house lot was bounded, in 1654, on the West by the land of Edmund Elliott and the burying ground, called Union Cemetery since 1663, and on the East by what is now Main Street. This early home of Macy's is about one quarter of a mile below the lights at the junction of Route 110 and Main Street. Although Macy was buried on the island ofNantucket, as were some of his descendants, his name appears on the Golgotha Stone near the Powow river. Here, he was a representative in 1664, according to Savage. Austin states that he was one of those given “full powers to order all the affairs of the town” in 1643, 1647, and 1653 and served as a juryman in 1648 and deputy in 1654." <ref> http://www.boydhouse.com/michelle/bird/thomasmacy.html </ref> :Place: Nantucket, Massachusetts<ref name=MC/>. He (Thomas Macy) wasprosecuted and fined for allowing four Friends on a journey to take shelter in his house about three quarters of an hour one rainy day, in 1659, as his own letter to the court informs us. It is worthy of note that his grandson and many others of his descendants became Friends. Like Roger Williams, he fled from persecution in Massachusetts. His family were the first white settlers in Nantucket, then under the jurisdiction of New York. Edward Starbuck and Isaac Coleman, a lad 12 years old, accompanied them.<ref name=Sal>The old families of Salisbury and Amesbury, Massachusetts ; with some related families of Newbury, Haverhill, Ipswich and Hampton, by Hoyt, David Webster, 1833-1921.Published 1897 Accessed 2016 November 22 by amb</ref>

Immigration

Circa 1635 from Chilmark, England to Salem,Massachusetts<ref name=MC/>

Marriage and Issue

: Husband: Thomas Macy : Wife: Sarah Hopcott : Marriage Place: England<ref name=ENW/>:Date: 9th August 1639<ref name=BH>© 2004 by Michelle Boyd, All rights reserved. Boyd House: Thomas Macy & Sarah Hopcot. Accessed 22 November 2016 by amb</ref># Sarah, born 9 July 1644 in Salisbury, Essex, Massachusetts, died in 1645 -1646 in Salisbury, Essex, Massachusetts.<ref name=BH/><ref name=Sal/># Sarah (1646-1701) m. William Worth (1642-1724)<ref name=MC/> on 11 Apr 1665 in Nantucket, <ref name=BH/><ref name=Sal/># Mary (1648-1729) m. William Bunkers (1648-1712)<ref name=MC/><ref name=Sal/># Bethiah (1650-1732) m. Joseph Gardner (1652-1701)<ref name=MC/><ref name=Sal/>

1. Thomas (1653-1675)<ref name=MC/> <ref name=Sal/># John(1655-1691) m. Deborah Gardner (1658-1712)<ref name=MC/><ref name=Sal/>
2. Francis, (1657-1658)<ref name=BH/><ref name=Sal/>

Death

: 1682 April 19<ref name=Sal/>
Per the book, Nantucket Lands and Land Owners, p. 71, his death occurred on 19 June 1682. Another book lists the date of death as 19 April 1682. Administration on his estate was granted on 1 August 1682 to his son John. The estate was valued at £71, of which about 1/2 was land and the rest cattle. Claims against it were established so that it was insolvent. <ref> Nantucket Lands and Land Owners, by Henry Barnard Worth,publ. 1901 by Nantucket Historical Association, Vol. II, Bulletin No.1, p. 71</ref>

Sources

<references/>

• Wentworth, Edward Norris , Jr; The Genealogy of Edward Norris Wentworth Junior; Chicago, Cook, Illinois’ June 1928; (Special Project Submitted in Courses in Community Life and Advance Biology at the University High School, University of Chicago)* U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900; Yates Publishing; Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004; Footnote Abbreviation: Yates* Starbuck, Alexander; History of Nanucket ... by Alexander Starbuck;1969; F72.N257 1969; Footnote Abbreviation: Starbuck* Pearson, Ralph E; Macy Family History v.1; 1982; CS71.M177 1982; Footnote Abbreviation: Pearson* http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ny/state/his/bio/pt57.html - accessed 6 Dec 2007* Findagrave memorials Thomas Macy and Thomas Macy* Macy, Silvanus Jenkins. <i>Genealogy of the Macy family from 1635-1868</i>. Albany: J. Munsell, 1868. Page 67. [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89061967113;page=root;vie...]* Barney Genealogical Record. Online publication: Nantucket HistoricalAssociation [https://www.nantuckethistoricalassociation.net/bgr/BGR-o/p257.htm#i...]* Philbrick, Nathaniel. <i>Away Off Shore: Nantucket Island and Its People, 1602-1890</i>. New York: Penguin Books, 2011. Chapter 3 - ThomasMacy's Great Escape.

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GEDCOM Note

[3026504.ged] !Source, History of Nantucket" by Alexander Starbuck and other sources. !"The Old Families of Salisbury and Amesbury Massachusetts" by David W. Hoyt. !Thomas was the subject of Whittier's poem, "The Exiles." VERSIONS OF HIS NAME: - Thomas [Savage1862] - Thomas Macy [Barnard1988] [Burke/AFBA] [wDShields] [wGBNF/TBirch] - [wWC/DonCoffin] - HIS LIFE: - of: Chilmark (Wilts.) - Went to America; abt 1635A - One of ten purchasers of the Island of Nantucket; 1659A - Chief magistrate in Nantucket; 1675A - SOURCES: - Burke/AFBA "Macy formerly of Chilmark":p#2814 - Barnard1988 - Savage1862 - wDShields - wGBNF/TBirch - wWC/DonCoffin - Copyright (c) 2002 Paul K Davis [paulkdavis@earthlink.net] Fremont CA

GEDCOM Note

[3026504.ged] 1st settler of Nantucket, brought wife & 5 ch. with him in open boat Brought wife Sarah and their five children with him in boat from Salisbury to Nantucket, a distance of 24 miles, on in early November 1659. Accompanying the Macys were Edward Starbuck, James Coffin and a 12 year old boy named Issac Coleman. After arriving in Nantucket, the group dug in for the winter at Mandaket, the west end of the island, to become Nantucket's first white settlers.