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Family Sheet

HUSBAND
Name: Thomas Macy Note Born: 1608 at Chilmark, , , England Married: Bef 1644 Died: 19 Apr 1682
WIFE
Name: Sarah Hopcott Born: 1612 at Possibly Chilmark, , , England Died: 1706 at Nantucket Co., , , MA
CHILDREN
Name: Sarah Macy Born: 1 Aug 1646 at Salisbury, , Essex, MA Died: 1701 at Nantucket Co., , , MA Husband: William Worth
NOTES
1). Thomas was a farmer and a whaler, and held many offices on the island of Nantucket. They were Baptists by faith. Thomas was listed as one of 68 first settlers in Salisbury Mass. in 1639. No sooner had this group of Pilgrims found their religious freedom in the new land, they then turned and branded another group, the Friends, or Quakers, as witches and heretics. They were subjected to every possible indignity. Laws were passed that banished all Quakers from Massachusetts under penalty of death. It was against the law to aid or harbor the people of this religion. Although Thomas Macy was a puritan, he did not believe in this. He let four fleeing Quakers into his home for three quarters of an hour to shelter them from a storm. A complaint was made against him and he was summoned to appear and answer all charges. Instead, he wrote a letter explaining how the situation had occurred. He was fined 30 shillings and reprimanded by the Governor. He decided he could not tolerate the injustices around him, so he took his family, and with nine other men, purchased the Island of Nantucket. Not too much later, a man wrote a poem about Thomas Macy and his convictions. This poem & information from Macy Genealogy by Sylvanius Macy. Thomas Macy and his family were the first white settlers on the island of Nantucket. With him was his wife, and five little children, the oldest was 13 and the youngest was 4. He died on the island at the age of 74. A letter written by the Nantucket Historical Assoc. in 1974 states......Not only was Thomas Macy our first white settler but many of his descendants did a great deal to spread its name and fame. We have a famous Macy House flag which flew on Macy ships all over the world in our Whaling Museum and this year will have the Nathaniel Macy House...built in 1720 as one of our permanent exhibits, plus considerable Macy memorabilia principally acquired by William Macy, our first President of the Association in 1894. Source http freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com parisho m macy.html As elsewhere related, Thomas Macy and family were the first to settle on the island and they, were soon followed by the other purchasers and the Island began to grow in population. At first Tristan Coffin was the leading spirit politically and little was done without his approval and sanction. Being by nature aggressive and dominating not to say domineering nature an well as a man of great ability, his influence had been strongerthan any other man of the proprietary. And he also had the backing of the Mayhews who still retain their interest. After John Gardner arrived in 1672, who was also of strong and forceful personality there was trouble. He soon became prominent in the affairs of the Island and was appointed by Governor Lovelace Captain of the Fort Company. Tristan and John Gardner soon locked horns, the latter formed a close and defensive alliance with Peter Folger and Thomas Macy. William Worth, Starbuck, Colemans, Bunkers, Myers and others also sided with him. While those that favored Tristan Coffin were the Swains Hussy, Barnard and Starbucks’s son Nathaniel. In 1673 the freeholders were required to name two men for Chief Magistrate and Edward Starbuck and Richard Gardner were submitted The governor chose the latter and named his brother Jim for Captain of the military company. This did not please the Coffins as it made their rivals hold two of the principal offices and so began the long fight whenever there was a meeting held. It was noted on the records, Mr. Tristan Coffin enters his decent whereupon all the other members of his party followed suit but Tristan has been well called the great dissenter. The Coffins believed that the whole share men should have two votesand the half share men one vote while the Gardners stood firm for equal power. Each faction were soon appealing to the authorities in New York and the first round was won by the Coffins. Ir. 1674 the Gardner faction still being in control fined StephenHussey for contempt for telling Captain John to meddle with his own business or . In 1676 Thomas Macy, then Chief Magistrate and William Worth sided with the Coffins and they regained control of affairs. William Worth was chosen clerk and Gardner and Folger were arbitrarily disfranchised and refused any participation in the affairs of the town. Peter Folger was arrested for contempt of His Majesty’s authority and for contemptous carrg He was bound over for 20 pounds to appear in Court and in default was committed to jail where he remained in durance vile coery vile according to Peter for the greater part of a year. Tobias Coleman and Eleazer Folger and his wife Sarah.. Richard Gardner’s daughter were arrested and fined for criticizing the Court. Peter Folger refused to deliver up the Courts books. So things went on till August l677 when Governor Andros took a hand and ordered a& suspension of all further proceedings and later decided that Gardner and Folger’s disfranchisement was null and void. Mayhew and Coffin were furious but Captain Gardner had won and the hatchet was soon after buried. The two important events which affected the whole life and affairs of the Island were whaling and Quakerism. The first engrossed the time and attention for the period from 1670 to 1870 and the fame of Nantucket as a whaling town became known throughout the world. Practically the whole population were interesting in it in one way or another. The capture of the first whale by the Nantuckets was more or less an accident., A whale of the kind called a scrag came into the harbor and this seemed to excite the curiosity of the Islanders and led them to devise means for its capture. They accordingly invented a harpoon which they caused to be wrought with which they attacked and killed it. The result was so profitable they proceeded to erect lookout stations on the shore and when one was sighted they would go out in small boats and harpooned them and towed them ashore and dried out the blubber. Soon they went into it on a larger scale, fitting out vessels to cruise, remaining out many months until they had the holds filled and the people waxed fat and wealthy. On the top of their houses they had outlooks built so that their families could watch for their return. Source http freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com mcronin111 hisnantu.htm

						

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