26
The Nantucket Macys (Continued from January Issue) Thomas Macy, son of Obed, married Eunice, daughter of Zenas Coffin, and his home at 99 Main Street was a Macy home stead for over a century. Thomas carried on the firm launched by his father, Obed, and uncle Silvanus. Among ships owned in major shares by the firm were the Potomac and the Aurora. Joined by his two sons, Isaac and Philip, he carried on the af fairs of the Macy company successfully. Elected as Moderator at Town Meetings he was accorded the respect of the voters, and he also served as Postmaster for a number of years. Among the shipmasters from Nantucket bearing the Macy name Captain Josiah Macy holds an honored place. Born in 1785, the son of Jonathan Macy and Rose (Pinkham) Macy, he first went to sea with his father, who was a coasting skipper and traded with firms in Philadelphia and other seaport cities. His mother, Rose Macy, lived to the advanced age of 95 years, and just before her passing she had a photograph taken of her son, Josiah, her grandson, William H., and her great-grand daughter, Mary J. Kingsland, a truly remarkable 1850 daguerreo type. Captain Josiah Macy, following his apprenticeship as a mariner, all in the coasting trade, married Lydia Hussey, daugh ter of Zaccheus, in 1805, and soon after took command of the sloop Hero, bringing oil and candles to Baltimore. He was then just twenty years of age. He invested in a larger vessel, the schooner Mount Hope, loaded her with whaling products and made a good voyage. He then entered the trans-Atlantic trade, making a successful voyage to Marseilles, with liberty to stop at any port where a sale of the supplies might prove profitable — eventually selling his cargo at Lisbon, Portugal. This was the beginning of a series of adventures in the European trade that established him as a dependable shipmaster. After a short lapse in his fortunes due to the War of 1812, he re-entered the trans-Atlantic shipping business and became associated with the New York firm of Hicks & Jenkins. Even tually he bought a half-interest in the ship Edward, a new vessel built at Boston, which he commanded on a voyage to Liverpool. He continued in the Liverpool trade until 1818, when he decided on a voyage to Calcutta and Madras, making the return voyage to Philadelphia. With the death of Silvanus Jenkins, the firm of Hicks & Jenkins was dissolved with the business being continued by Samuel Hicks. At this time the later wellknown ship builders Brown & Bell were engaged to build a new
