The Nantucket Macys

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(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 homestead 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 affairs 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-granddaughter, Mary J. Kingsland, a truly remarkable 1850 daguerreotype.

Captain Josiah Macy, following his apprenticeship as a mariner, all in the coasting trade, married Lydia Hussey, daughter 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. Eventually 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

THE NANTUCKET MACYS 27

ship which was named the Orbit, and Captain Macy immediately placed her in the Liverpool trade. Later, on other newly built vessels, notably the ships Isaac Hicks, Diamond and Sylvanus Jenkins, he sailed regularly to Charleston, S. C., from New York, loaded with cotton, and sailed for Liverpool.

In 1827 he resolved to end his sea career and enter business in New York, now being aware of the packet trade to Europe as well as the cotton business. He was then nearing 43 years of age and had been for more than twenty years an active shipmaster, having never lost a vessel nor suffered shipwreck. At the beginning of the year 1828 he opened his new venture as an active trading house — the firm of Josiah Macy & Son, his eldest son, William H. Macy, having joined him. When his son Charles and three other sons joined the firm it became Josiah Macy & Sons, one of the most highly respected mercantile establishments in New York. In 1853, Captain Macy retired from his business and went to live on his property in Rye, New York, where, as he wrote, "When evening comes I have the cheerful view of the lights from five lighthouses, placed there to guide the mariner on his way."

William H. Macy, eldest son of Captain Josiah, left Nantucket for New York when he was 17 years of age, entering the counting house of Isaac Hicks as a clerk. His experience induced him to enter business on his own as a commission merchant. When he joined his father in the firm of Josiah Macy & Son, he decided to press his suit for the hand of Eliza Jenkins, daughter of Silvanus Jenkins, and the couple had eight children. In 1834, William H. Macy was elected to the Chamber of Commerce of New York, and some years later became its VicePresident. In 1845 he was elected as a Director of the Leather Manufacturers Bank, and ten years later became its President. After serving as a Director of the Seaman's Bank of New York he was elected its President in 1863. Four years later he resigned, urging the selection of a man who could pay full attention to the bank's interest as that institution had grown so large. He continued to hold the position of Vice President of the United States Trust Company. A portrait of William H. Macy, painted by Thomas Hicks, now hangs in the Peter Foulger Museum.

The two other sons of Captain Josiah Macy who later joined the firm were Charles and Francis H. Macy, the latter becoming the senior member of the firm. Another brother, John H. Macy, also became one of the highly respected firm of Josiah Macy & Sons. All three entered into the mercantile life of New York City by becoming directors of a number of companies and banking institutions.

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No account of Nantucket men entering the business life of New York City would be complete without some detail concerning Rowland H. Macy, the proprietor of the establishment in New York City that became one of the best known stores in America — Macy's. Born in 1822, the son of Captain John Macy and Eliza (Barnard) Macy, he went to sea at the age of 15, on board the whaleship Emily Morgan, Captain Shubael Clark — a New Bedford ship under a Nantucket master — which sailed in 1887 and returned in 1841. Although his father had been a successful coasting skipper, after his first voyage Rowland decided to leave a seafaring career for a life ashore as a storekeeper. He tried operating stores in Haverhill and Boston but with no success; he went to California and tried his luck at store-keeping in Marysville, but returned to the east coast nearly discouraged. In New York City he opened a dry goods store on 12th Street, enjoying a small success which enabled him to open a larger store further "up town." His unique ideas of advertising, and his variety of merchandise caught the public fancy and he became one of the best known merchants in the metropolis. Death came in Paris, France, when on a business trip to Europe, in 1870, at a time when his fame as a mercantile success was in full tide.

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Of quite a different experience in life was the career of General George Nelson Macy, son of George Wendell Macy and Lucy (Percival) Macy. Born in 1835, at the age of 20 he was in Boston pursuing a clerk's training, and here met a number of young people in similar work. When the Civil War broke out he joined the 20th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment and, upon obtaining a commission, came to Nantucket to enlist men for that Regiment. He took part in most of the major engagements of the War, losing his left hand at Gettysburg, again severely wounded at the Wilderness, suffered near death at the advance on Spotsylvania when his horse was shot and fell on him, but continuing in active service. He was appointed Provost Marshall of the Army of The Potomac and had in his charge a large number of Lee's troops after the surrender at Appomatox. He was made a Brigadier General at the final phase of his army career. But the attrition on his physical strength proved too much and he died only a few years after his retirement from the service. 0

Another of Nantucket's Macy clan who served in the Civil War was William Hussey Macy, born in 1826, and one of the surviving sons of Captain George Macy, a whaleship master. His grandfather, Captain Barnabas Macy, had been lost at sea, and when young William H. joined the ship Planter, of Nantucket, in November, 1841, he was the fourth generation of his

THE NANTUCKET MACYS 29

family to adopt a sea career. Captain Isaac Hussey, of the Planter, signed Macy on as a cooper's apprentice. During the voyage to the Pacific the Planter was in the harbor at Nukaheava, in the Marquesas Islands, at the time the ship Acushnet put into that anchorage, and in his journal young Macy recorded the desertion of five of that ship's crew — one of whom was none other than Herman Melville.

Upon returning home in May of 1845, Macy again signed on for another voyage whaling, shipping out on the Alpha, under Capt. Joseph B. Folger, 1846 to 1850. Then followed successive voyages on the Enterprise, Capt. Charles B. Swain, returning home in the Harriet Erring, in 1853; next on the Albion, of Fairhaven, Capt. John W. Hines, 1854-1857; and his last voyage on the brig Homer, under Capt. George Haggerty, from 1858 to 1859 — this a sea elephant voyage to Heard's Island.

In 1857 Mr. Macy married Phebe Ann Winslow, daughter of Benjamin and Mary Baker Winslow, and the first of five children, Carrie Louisa, was born to them in April, 1868. He had taken his bride to East Boston, where the family resided until returning to Nantucket. Two other children died very young. With the advent of the Civil War, Mr. Macy enlisted in the 45th Massachusetts Regiment. He was wounded at the battle of Kinston, N. C., in December, 1862, and was invalided home. He carried the bullet in his left leg the rest of his life. The family had now returned to Nantucket, where he obtained employment with The Inquirer and Mirror. His letters home from the war front had attracted the attention of the editors, as well as the readers of the local paper. During the next quarter century Mr. Macy wrote a wide variety of articles for the newspaper, as well as editorials and historical material.

William Hussey Macy's literary gifts developed and he began writing short stories for a number of magazines, including Ballou's Monthly, Flag of The Union, and other periodicals of the day. The success of these encouraged him to write the book Thar She Blows, which became the most popular whaling story of its time, published in 1876. His reputation as a highly dependable man induced his friends to prevail upon him to run for public office, and in 1870 he was elected Register of Deeds for Nantucket, and also served on the School Committee. For the newspaper he originated a popular column of local news titled "Here and There," which has been continued to the present time in The Inquirer and Mirror. A collection of his verse which contained bits originally appearing in his column was printed in later years as "Here and There In Verse," and is now a collector's item.

At the full tide of his life, with further successes awaiting, he suffered two tragedies, one quickly following the other. First,

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his wife, Phebe Ann Macy, died suddenly, leaving him with four children, the youngest barely five years of age. Swiftly following his bereavement his eyesight which had been failing, rapidly worsened and within a year he was stricken blind. The great courage of the man was now fully demonstrated. He designed a wooden frame wherein he was able to guide his pen, and thus continued to carry on his work at the Registry of Deeds, enabling him to support his family. Although unable to continue as Register in his own name he kept his desk at that office, his great knowledge of the intricacies of the Common and Undivided Lands of the Island being invaluable.

William Hussey Macy was in his 65th year when he died at his Main Street home in 1891. His passing removed a man from the community whose rare intellectual powers and genial personality had won him a wide circle of admirers and friends.

His eldest daughter, Carrie Louisa, married Herbert Gardner; the next oldest daughter, Isabelle Winslow, married James Lehmaire, of New York; and the youngest in the family, Mary Jennie, married Lieut. Max Wagner, who was killed in the Philippines shortly after the War with Spain. Mr. Macy's only surviving son, William F. Macy, lived in Boston until his retirement, when he returned to Nantucket. He served as President of the Nantucket Historical Association for a decade, and was the author of a popular condensed history The Story of Old Nantucket. Before his death in 1935, at the age of 65, William F. Macy accomplished a great ambition — the successful launching of the Whaling Museum on Broad Street — one of the most significant features of Nantucket's present-day life.

The example of William Hussey Macy's life was an inspirational force in his own time and in the time of his children. 0

Still standing tall among its fellows, and a landmark along the older portion of Straight Wharf, the old Macy warehouse is now known as the Kenneth Taylor Art Gallery. Erected immediately after the Great Fire of 1.846 for Thomas Macy, whaling merchant, the brick structure was better known in the 19th century as the Joseph B. Macy warehouse. From his counting house office here Joseph B. Macy fitted out in 1869 the three last whaleships to sail from Nantucket — the brig Eunice H. Adams, which sailed in March, the schooner Abby Bradford, sailing in May, and the Bark Oak, which left Straight Wharf in November, 1869.

Joseph B. Macy was the older brother of William Hussey Macy. Becoming interested in the mercantile side of Nantucket life he began his business career with the firm of J. & N. Tallant in the provisions market. Upon assuming the management of

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the Macy Warehouse one of his first ventures was the organization of the Nantucket Fishing Company, gaining investments in an enterprise which was hoped would supplant the loss of income from the rapidly failing whaling industry. Joining him in the enterprise were a number of veteran shipmasters, including Captain Joseph Mitchell, Capt. Prince Ewer, and Captain William Cash. A fleet of five schooners were chartered, and the first arrival from Georges Banks with a load of fish whs the schooner Laurel in July, 1848.

Joseph B. Macy married Mary Myrick, daughter of George and Eliza Myrick, in August, 1846, and a little more than a year later his wife died. In 1849, two years later, he married Rebecca Coffin, daughter of Barzillai and Rebecca Coffin. Three daughters and one son were born to them. But only Charlotte, eldest of the daughters, can be traced at this writing, she having married William P. Kelly, of Nantucket. The only son of Joseph and Rebecca Macy, John E. Macy, a promising young man — died at the age of 20. While on a voyage from Boston to Canton, China, he was lost overboard one night, and although a boat was quickly lowered the ship had such headway he was never again seen.

The fine old white mansion where Joseph B. Macy lived on Federal Street was unwisely removed in 1933 to make room for the new brick post office. During the business depressed years Macy assumed an active role in local affairs being one of the supporters of increased steamboat service from Hyannis. He recognized the potential of the "Summer Business" and encouraged the building of hotels which would serve the numbers of visitors to the Island who wanted this type of accommodation. He was one of the notable Nantucketers of his time. 0

Alfred Macy was another of the Island's outstanding nineteenth century men. Born in 1831, he was the son of Peter Macy and Elizabeth Gardner Macy, and the grandson of Obed Macy, the historian. A teacher and lawyer by profession he served as Principal of the Coffin School for a time, as well as being pressed into service as an Editor for The Mirror during a period in that newspaper's history. He was appointed Collector of Customs for Nantucket in May, 1861, by President Lincoln, and held this office for ten years. As Manager of the Massachusetts Life Association he became highly respected, and was a Presidential Elector in 1860, as well as a candidate for the nomination as Lieutenant Governor of the State on the Republican ticket.

Thrice elected to the Governor's Council he became one of its most active members, and was one of Governor Talbot's closest advisors during his last year as a Councillor — 1873-1874. At the age of forty-three he died in Boston, after being confined to his hotel room for two weeks with what was diagnosed as typhoid

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symptoms. A special committee was elected to escort his body for burial on Nantucket, and in his obituary it was stated: "The Hon. Alfred Macy's loss will be keenly felt, not only in domestic but also in political circles, both of which he adorned by his sterling honesty of purpose and strict adherence to principle." 0

Several issues back in Historic Nantucket there was published the story of Captain Alexander Macy's whaling career, as he recounted his experiences to his daughter. It is a thoroughly interesting account of a whaling master who had a wide range of adventure, and serves as another facet in the story of the Nantucket Macys.

But before we leave the 19th century representatives of the Macy family some mention should be made of Wendell Macy, an artist who painted a number of Nantucket scenes. Probably the best of his work was the panorama of the town of Nantucket which he completed in 1874. From it were struck a number of lithographic copies, and some of these are now prized possessions of collectors of Nantucket memorabilia. One of Wendell Macy's most popular canvases was the Wreck of The Warren Sawyer, depicting the large schooner on the beach at Surfside in 1884 (December 22), loaded with cotton and becoming a total loss. He painted five versions of the wreck. His subjects range from farm scenes and landscapes to interior views of the Old Mill, as well as crayon portraits of Islanders. His painting of the sidewheel steamer Island Home is a favored exhibit at the Peter Foulger Museum.

E.A.S.

N. B. On page 9 of the article on the Macys of Nantucket, which appeared in the January issue, errors should be corrected. John Macy, son of John Macy (the first) and Jabez Macy were brothers. The latter was listed as the son of John (the second) and should have been noted as the brother. Both were grandsons of Thomas Macy. The corrected paragraphs read as follows: of Deborah, and another sister, Sarah, married William

Worth, thus combining families of first settlers. During the next four generations the sons, grandsons and great-grandsons of John Macy inter-married with others of the first families — John the second marrying Judith Worth; Jabez, brother of John, marrying Sarah Starbuck; Thomas (great-grandson of

Thomas) marrying Deborah Coffin; and Richard, son of Thomas, marrying Deborah Pinkham.

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Mrs. Orris Wilson Willard, of San Francisco, California, whose husband is a Life Member, noted that it was Sarah, and not Mary Macy, who married William Worth. In her letter she commented further on her husband's direct descent as being from both John Worth, son of William and Sarah (Macy) Worth, and Miriam Gardner, sister of Deborah, who married John Macy. Continuing she writes: You may be interested to note that, because of these two marriages — William Worth to Sarah Macy, and and John Worth to Miriam Gardner, their descendant, my husband, is doubly related to the Macy descendant,

Rowland Hussey Macy, who established R. H. Macy and Co. Orris Wilson Willard, my husband, had been associated with Macy's for twenty-five years and been named a senior vice president and director of Macy's California, before learning that he was related to the founder of the firm. As far as is known, he is the only Macy presently associated with the corporation.

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The genealogy of the Macy Family from 1635-1868, by Silvanus J. Macy, 457 pages, has been reprinted by Marshall S. Macy and is available, at $15.00 postpaid, from him at 606 North Main Street, Ellinwood, Kansas 67426.