Tag: Nantucket

Edward Starbuck a founding father of Nantucket

January 23rd, 2019 by Susan Holmes

Edward Starbuck

Edward, our 9th great grandfather, came with Thomas Macy, and James Coffin, in a small boat from Salsibury, England in 1635 during the early settlement of the Massachusetts Bay Colonies and was among the founding fathers of Nantucket Island.

Born in 16 Feb 1604 in Leicester, Derbyshire, England, the son of Edward and Ann Starbuck, he was a young man when he set sail with other men for the new world landing on the shores of New Hampshire with his wife Katherine Eunice Reynolds of Wales, daughter of Robert.

STARBUCK THE NAME

They settled in Dover, New Hampshire which was probably still Massachusetts at that time and it was he that brought the surname Starbuck to the United States. . This rare name is locational and derives from the Village of Starbeck, near Harrogate in Yorkshire, originally spelled ‘Starbok’. This original spelling which appears in the 1086 Domesday Book, indicates a Norse-Viking pre 9th Century origin ‘Stor-Bokki’, literally ‘Great River’. The name “Starbuck” is of Scandinavian decent and it’s possible that the family was of Danish origin that settled in England during the Viking invasions.

THE BEGINNINGS

Edward is first found in the records as receiving a land grant in 1643 for 40 acres of land on each side of the Eresh River at Cutchechoe, and a platt of Marsh above Cutchechoe where the brook runs out of the river, discovered by Richard Walderne, Edward Colcord,, Edward Starbuck, and William Furber. This definitely suggest that he was a man of exploration and adventure,

From 1643 to 1650 there are records of his many other grants of land.

In 1643, he was chosen as the first Representative from Dover to the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and served again in 1647. (This was before New Hampshire existed as a separate colony.)

He and two others were appointed “wearesmen” or official river fishermen for Dover for life and were required to supple the town and the church from their catch.

In 1647 and 1650 he was granted the right to erect a sawmill and went into the timber business with Rich Waldron, and in 1652 he was granted the right to the use of certain lands.

He sold half of his timber and water rights to Peter Coffin who was his son in law, in 1653.

Edward served on a six man committee to settle a boundary dispute between Dover and Kitter in 1654, and was one of the commoners chosen to lay out the boundary between the towns.

Edward was prosecuted for taking on Baptist beliefs and pronouncing the concept that baptism should not take place until a child was old enough to decide for themselves. His religious views were disturbing to the colony, though he was a Quaker his religious views were not acceptable to his fellow townsmen.

In ” Provincial Papers of New Hampsbire,” we find the following:

” Oct. 18, 1648. — The Court being informed of great misdemeanor Committed by Edward Starbuck of Dover with profession of Anabaptism for which he is to be proceeded against at the next Court of Assistants if evidence can be prepared by that time & it being very farre for witnesses to travill to Boston at that season of the year, It is therefore ordered by this Court that the Secretary shall give Commission to Capt. Thomas Wiggan & Mr Edw. Smyth to send for such persons as they shall have notice of which are able to testify in the sd. cause & to take their testimony uppon oath & certifie the same to the secretary so soon as may be, that further proceedings may be therein, if the cause shall so require.”

As a result he was heavily fined. There was no separation for church and state then and the puritans who ran the colony were intolerant of people like the Anabaptists.

In 1658 the Congregational minister swore out a peace bod against him due to his religious beliefs. His last official duty in Dover was serving on a coroner’s jury that investigated the accidental death of a man on Nov. 11, 1659.

REMOVAL TO NANTUCKET

Edward could have possibly lived quite comfortably in Dover had it not been for the religious conditions of the colonies. The strong persecution of religious beliefs was most likely the reason that Edward decided to go to Nantucket. At the age of 55, Edward, James Coffin and Isaac Coleman arrived on Nantucket Island with Thomas Macy and stayed throughout the winter. They returned to Massachusetts the next spring, and returned in 1660 with his wife and children, except for daughters Sarah and Abigail, and ten other families. More settlers arrived the following year. Sarah who had married

The white settlers found Nantucket inhabited by about 1600 Wampanoag Indians who were farmers and fisherman and hunters. The arrival of the white man brought disease, alcohol, and debt servitude to the island which cause a cruel toll on the peaceful people over the next 100 years. By 1763 only 358 Indians survived and that number was reduced later that year when more than 222 died of the plague.

It is not to be wondered at that Edward Starbuck was quite ready to leave Dover under existing conditions. He was fifty-five years of age when he joined Thomas Macy in his voyage from Salisbury to Nantucket; he spent the winter there and in the spring returned to Dover for his family, who accompanied him to the island excepting his daughters Sarah (Aus- tin) and Abigail (Coffin), who had married and settled in Dover.

” Dover lost a good citizen ” and Nantucket gained a much respected one ; ” he was a leading man on the Island and at one time a Magistrate; ” he is described as ” courageous and persevering.”

EDWARD THE PEACE KEEPER

Edward had great repose among the Indians and was often called upon to settle disputes that came up with the natives in Dover and Nantucket. A deed of land to him from the Indians in 1660 is the oldest original Nantucket document in existence and his name appears on many other documents until his death.

During the 35 years of his life on the Island of Nantucket he was Representative in the General court, and Elder in the Church, and in 1669 he and Peter Coffin were appointed by the town meeting to manage the government among the Indians. Four year later He was chosen one of the town’s five selectmen, was one of the highest ranking government officers.

As a clergyman it is said that Edward was the one that read from the Bible at the funeral of his dear friend Tristram Coffin.

Edward was instrumental in the development of the land and began the development of the whaling company.

It is said that at the time of his death he was the wealthiest man in Nantucket owning a third of the Island in land. He left most of his property to his only living son Nathaniel, as was the tradition at that time.

Nathaniel and Mary Starbuck

Nathaniel went with his father to Nantucket and married Mary there in 1662, the daughter of Tristram Coffin (Edward and Tristram being our 9th Great grandparents making Nathaniel and Mary our 8th) Their marriage was the first on the Island, and their daughter, Mary was the first white child born there.

The Nantucket Quakers became influential in every area of life including social behaviors, lifestyles, business, and politics and Nathaniel was highly involved in the lucrative whaling industry.

Quakerisn began to take hold in Nantucket largely due to the influence of Mary Coffin Starbuck, following her conversion to the faith in 1701. Mary (the Great) who eventually became a Quaker preacher, and her husband Nathaniel, led the Quaker movement and the first meetings were held in their home until a meeting house was built in 1711. Mary “esteemed is judge among them” was the moving force in establishing the Society of Friends, (Quakers) on Island.

Nathaniel was one of the strong men among the Nantucket settlers, and would have received more credit but for the superior intellect of his wife. He is said to have been a man of no mean abilities, but was outshone by the superior capacity of his wife, a woman of uncommon powers of mind.

He ran a trading post, where Indians swapped codfish and feathers (used in mattresses) for cloth, hooks, buttons, etc. When Ichabod Paddack of Cape Cod introduced whaling to Nantucket, it was Nathaniel who financed the venture. Due to Nathaniel’s whaling interests, land holdings and store profits, he became one of the wealthiest men–if not the wealthiest man on the Island. So much public business was conducted at this home that it became known as “Parliament House”. It was also there that Quakerism took root on Nantucket thanks mostly to the leadership of his wife, whose importance and fame quite outshone his own not inconsiderable accomplishments. (From James Carlton Starbuck’s book “Starbucks All” published in 1984)

His house was erected near his house lot, but on a spot a short distance southeast which was afterwards set off to him. It was a large house of a capacity sufficient for meetings, both religious and municipal, and was called “Parliament House.” It was located a few feet west of the present Cornish Barn and was placed near the spring. His house lot was on the northwest of the swamp, bounded north by that of James Coffin and south by the swamp and southwest by the lot of Thomas Mayhew. By purchase from Greenleaf and others and by set off, he acquired a large tract around the north head of Hummock Pond. It later was comprised in the Cambridge farm.

Nathaniel and Mary had 10 known children and spread their descendants throughout the US.

Will

He made his will on 14 June 1716 in Sherbourne, Nantucket, Massachusetts. It was probated on 29 August 1719. The will was written while his wife Mary was still alive; codicil was dated 20 November 1717 after her death. Pecuniary legacies given to daughters Eunice Gardner, Priscilla Coleman, Hepsibah Hathaway, and the children of two deceased daughters, Mary Gardner and Elizabeth Barnard. His real estate was given to his sons Barnabas, Nathaniel and Jethro. Witnesses: Thomas Macy, Thomas Clark, William Stratton, John Macy.

The codicil was written shortly after his wife died and devised the household goods to Barnabase, Eunice, and Hephzibah. The three sons were made joint executors.

At the time of his death, he was one of the wealthiest men (if not individually the wealthiest) on Nantucket. He owned three full shares of land, having purchased a share of Stephen Greenleaf.

THE MOST ASK QUESTION

Are we related to the Starbuck coffee people? That is the most commonly asked question and the answer is no.

Actually the coffee company was not named after anyone. When they were searching for a name for the company they just started throwing out names when someone blurted out the name Starbuck. The name appealed to the literary trio and since characters in Moby Dick and the Rainmaker shared it, and it had a strong ring to it, it was chosen.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this, if so please leave a comment in the section below and let me know!

Until next time!

The Pierce Family Historian

Tristram Coffin

January 2nd, 2019 by Susan Holmes

Researching Tristram Coffin comes quite easily as much has been written about him through out the history of the United States. Some of which is fact and some assumed so therefore you will find much conflicting information about him. He was one of the nine purchasers and founders of Nantucket Island and to him much credit is given. There are over 500 family trees on ancestry.com that connect to him so it could be said that he was also monumental in populating the United States from sea to shining sea.

I am proud to say that he is my 9th great grandfather. Our Pierce line descends from his daughter Mary “Great Mary” Coffin Starbuck who was the wife of 8th great grandfather Nathaniel Starbuck, son of Edward and Katherine Reynolds Starbuck (also 9th great grandparents) of which I will write at a later date.

WHERE WE BEGIN

The first of the Coffin name of which there is any record is of Sir Richard Coffin who removed to Normandy, England in 1066 where he entered the English Army and had land granted to him and he was Knighted by the King. He was of Scandinavian decent like all Nobles of Normandy. The Vikings were settling in Normandy around the 800’s AD through conquest and they were granted the “Duchy of Normandy” by the French King “Charles the Simple” as a defense against other Viking Armies. The First “Duke of Normandy” was Hrolf or Rollo 911AD (an ancestor of “William the Conqueror”).

Sir Richard, as he was called, fought as a General for “William the Conqueror” (formally “William the Bastard”) at the Battle of Hastings, during the Norman invasion of England and Williams successful claim for the English Crown.

We learn from Prince’s “Worthies of Devonshire” that the ancient family of the name settled at Portledge by the seaside in the Parish of Alwington, five miles from Biddeford and flourished there from the Conquest from the time of King Henry I to the age of King Edward the II. For two hundred years each successive heir of this family bore the name of Richard. (that’s a lot of Richards!)

Coffins are also in the Williams “Doomsday book” (1080) as current inhabitants of England, probably settlers from France at an earlier date. The Coffins spread out to Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire and Cornwall. By 1252 the name in its different forms (Colvin, Corvin, Cophen and Coffyn) are frequently found in records. The name is disputed in its origins. Welsh “Coffyn” meaning hill top boundary, English and French: occupational name for a basket maker, from Old French cof(f)in ‘basket’ (Late Latin cophinus, Greek kophinos). The modern English word coffin is a specialized development of this term, not attested until the 16th century.
and the most likely is meaning of “Coffer” or treasure box.

A short distance from Fallaise, a town of Normandy, stands the old chateau of Courtition, the home of the Norman Coffin.

The last Miss Coffin married Le Clerc in the late 18th century and since that time Le Clerc family occupied the Norman estates.

WHAT ABOUT TRISTRAM

Tristram Coffin (Coffyn as was signed by him) was born to Peter and Joanna (Kember) Coffin (10th great grandparents)and baptized in the parish of Brixton near Plymouth, England, on 11 March 1609/10. He married Dionis Stevens in 1630 and they had nine children, the first five born in England. He was of the the landed gentry, or simply the gentry, which is a largely historical British social class consisting in theory of landowners who could live entirely from rental income, or at least had a country estate.

Charles I inherited the throne of England in 1625 and initiated a long struggle with his parliament, which wanted to abolish bishops from the House of Lords which is an upper house of Parliament, and limit the king’s powers. Things came to a head when Charles raised his royal standard at Nottingham in August 1642, and England soon descended into Civil War (1642–1651).

Tristram Coffin’s brother John received a mortal wound at Plymouth fort, although it is not known exactly when or which side he was fighting on. It could be for reasons associated with these political upheavals, Tristram Coffin decided to leave his estates in England and emigrate to the new America though some suggest that it was after the death of his father that he decided to remove.

He bought with him his mother, and his sisters, Mary and Eunice, as well as his wife and the five children born in England.

Tristram immigrated to Massachusetts from England in 1642, and lived in Salisbury, Haverhill, and Newbury for sixteen years. For a short time he ran an inn in Salisbury, Massachusetts. He then moved to the new settlement of Pentucket, now Haverhill, Massachusetts. His children Mary Starbuck and John (the first John having died at the same place in 1642) were born at Salisbury. In 1648 he removed to Newbury, where his youngest son, Stephen was born. His name appears on a deed dated 15 November 1642 recording the sale of the land for the settlement by the local American Indian people.

He is said to have used a plow that he had made himself to cultivate the land. In 1648 he left the farm and moved to Newbury, Massachusetts and he operated a ferry across the Merrimack River . He and his wife Dionis ran a tavern in Newbury. In 1653 Dionis was “presented” for selling beer above the legal price of two pennies per quart but she was acquitted when it was found that her beer was much stronger than the ordinary. Coffin sold the inn and ferry in 1654 or 1655 and moved to Salisbury, Massachusetts, where he signed himself “Tristram Coffyn, Commissioner of Salisbury”.

THE PURCHASE OF NANTUCKET

In 1659, he made a voyage of inquiry and observation to the group of islands off the Massachusetts coast, with a view to this change of residence. He first visited Matha’s Vineyeard, and taking from there Peter Folger as an interpreter of the Indian language, proceeded to Nantucket.

He along with Thomas Macy led a group of nine investors that bought Nantucket Island from Thomas Mayhew for thirty pounds and two beaver hats made by his son, Tristram JR . Coffin was among the prime movers of the enterprise and was given first choice of land. In 1659 he settled near the western end of the island near Capaum pond.It has been supposed that religious persecution was the cause of these frequent changes and of his final departure from the main land.

Soon after settling, Tristram Coffin purchased the thousand-acre Tuckernuck Island at the western end of Nantucket. On 10 May 1660 the sachems conveyed title to a large part of the island to Coffin and his associates for eighty pounds. He became one of the first prominent citizen of the settlement and was appointed the first chief magistrate of Nantucket on 29 June 1671 being the most respected and wealthy settler on the Island.

He built a corn mill in which he employed many of the local Native Americans, and he employed others on his farm.

In 1671 Coffin and Thomas Macy were selected as spokesmen for the settlers, going to New York to meet with Governor Francis Lovelace and secure their claim to Nantucket. In 1677 he was again appointed chief magistrate for a term of four years and it was said by Benjamin Franklin Folgers, the historian, that he always exhibited a fair Christian character “in all the varied circumstances and conditions of that infant colony,” both to Indians and white settlers.

TROUBLE AMONG THE COLONY

The first settlers had bought their rights to Nantucket with the intent of using the land for their own benefit. But, as more and more people came to Nantucket to live and work in the late seventeenth century, the newcomers began to resent their limited power and representation in the island’s government.

Led by ambitious newcomer John Gardner (a great uncle of the Pierce line), many of the “half-share men” staged a peaceful revolt against the proprietary government led by Tristram Coffin. Through several appeals to the provincial government in New York, the half-share men eventually succeeded in having the original proprietary transformed in favor of a more democratic, town-meeting-based government, where all men who held property had equal voting rights.

At first Tristram Coffin was the leading spirit politically and little was done without his approval and sanction. 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 Captain of the Fort Company by Governor Lovelace. Tristram and John Gardner soon locked horns.

In 1673 the freeholders were required to name two men for Chief Magistrate and Edward Starbuck (9th great grandfather) and Richard Gardner (eighth greath grandfather) 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. Tristram Coffin enters his dissent whereupon all the other members of his party followed suit but Tristram has been well called the great dissenter. The Coffins believed that the whole share men should have two votes and 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.

In 1674 the Gardner faction still being in control fined Stephen Hussey for contempt for telling Captain John to “meddle with his own business”.

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.

On Feb 10, 1677, Peter Folger was arrested for contempt of His Majesty’s authority. 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 1677 when Governor Androstook took a stand 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.

Finally, in June of 1678, everyone gets tired of the in-fighting and a settlement is reached. The Full-Share men will allow other parts of the island to be bought from the Natives and developed while the half-share men agree that it will all involve the town.

Coffin and Gardner still hate each other, but everyone else is willing to live and let live.Then, in September of that year, Tristram Coffin finds himself in very hot water. A French ship wrecked itself on the shoals and Coffin had supervised the salvage operation. After all the gear was grabbed from the boat, it needed to be stored and guarded. Coffin botched the job and was brought before the Admiralty Court. Faced with possible jail time and a steep fine, Coffin appealed to John Gardener to help him.

Gardner weighed in on the Coffin side and Tristram was set free. One year later, Tristram died.Without Coffin, the compromise began in earnest. The half-share and full-share men began talking and working again. Moreover, the Natives were granted grazing rights for their own horses and all three parties were at peace.The final symbolic closure came in 1686 when Peter Coffin’s son Jethro married John Gardner’s daughter, Mary. John Gardner gave the new couple land for a new house and Peter Coffin supplied the lumber. They built, atop Sunset Hill, a house now known as the oldest house on Nantucket.

THE COFFIN FAMILY

He and his wife, Dionis, had five sons who perpetuated the Coffin family name. A great number of his descendants became prominent in North American society, and many were involved in the later history of Nantucket during and after its heyday as a whaling center, though when researching his history little is said about that part of his life.

Several Nantucket families, including the Coffins, Gardners, and the Starbucks (from all we decend), began whaling seriously in the 1690s, and by 1715, the Coffins owned three whalers and a trade vessel.

In 1642 there were only 455 people living in Newbury. The town’s economy was primarily a combination of agriculture and husbandry. There was a limited number of artisans and manufacturers. Some of the earliest were weavers, tanners, and shoemakers.

Tristram Coffin and his sons at one time owned about one-fourth of Nantucket, and the whole of the little island adjacent to it on the west, called Tuckermuck, containing 1,000 acres, which he purchased of the old Sachem Potonet at the time of his visit in 1659.

He appears to have been a leading spirit among the first settlers, and was frequently selected by the inhabitants to transact important public business. His letters to the Colonial Government of New York (Nantucket was at that time a dependency of New York), are preserved in the Archives of the Department of State at Albany.“At a Court of Sessions held the 29th of November 1681 there granted administration unto me James Coffin, John Coffin and Stephen Coffin on the estate of Mr. Tristram Coffin deceased the 3rd Oct 1681 they having given security according to law.”The body of the Oath was evidently written by Peter Coffin (son of Tristram), the signature is an autograph.

During the years before his death, he had bestowed much of his property on his children and grandchildren.

Tristram Coffin died on 2 October 1681 at the age of 76.He was buried on his property on Nantucket Island

At his death he left seven children, 60 grandchildren and several great-grandchildren.

Nearly all his descendants are enabled, by means of the accurate genealogical records in existence, to trace their linage back to him, although nearly two centuries have elapsed since his death.Almost all notable Americans with roots in Nantucket are descended from Tristram Coffin,

CHILDREN

Their daughter, Mary, married Nathaniel Starbuck and became known as “Great Mary” for her leadership in the early community and her conversion to Quakerism, looking to escape harsh Puritan rule in New England.

Peter,

Tristram,

Elizabeth,

James

John

Deborah

John

Stephen died on 1 Dec 1690 in Drowned off Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada, at age 62 .

THE COFFIN HOUSE

As the family grew, they added partitions and lean-tos so that different generations could continue to live together under one roof. In 1785 two Coffin brothers legally divided the structure into two separate dwellings, each with its own kitchen and living spaces. With rooms from the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries, Coffin House depicts the impact of an expanding economy and new concepts, such as the notion of privacy, on architecture and modes of living.
The significance of Coffin House lies partly in the age of the original building but more importantly in the way in which it reveals how a home, built in 1678, grew and changed over the years to accommodate the needs of six generations of one family. The earliest part of the house, the southwest ell, is an example of what is known in New England as First Period or Post-Medieval style.When Tristram Coffin Jr. came to Newbury with his parents, siblings, aunts, and grandmother in 1643, it was a frontier settlement with Indian tribes nearby, wild animals, few roads, and most travel by water.

Most of the occupants of this house are buried across the street in the First Parish Burying Ground. Judith and Tristram JR. are buried on the left side of the burying ground if you are facing the front gate.

INTERESTING FACTS ON DECENDANTS

From Wikipedia we find this information on some of the Coffin descendants.

^[6] His sons Peter Coffin, Tristram Coffin Junior and James Coffin also received land on the island.^[13] ^[15]^[18] .^[6] One of his grandchildren calculated that by the year 1728, the number of his descendants was 1582, of whom 1128 were still alive.

^[19]Several of his descendants achieved prominence. His daughter Mary Coffyn Starbuck became a leader in introducing Quaker practices into Nantucket.

^[20] A grandson, James Coffin, was the first of the Coffins to enter into the whaling business.

^[21] A poem by Thomas Worth written in 1763 says six Captains named Coffin were sailing out of Nantucket.^[3] Sir Isaac Coffin (1759–1839) served during the American Revolutionary War and the Napoleonic Wars and became an admiral in the British Royal Navy.^[22] He founded a school on the island in 1827 to educate descendants of Tristram Coffin – which included almost all the children on the island – with emphasis on nautical skills.^[23] Lucretia Coffin Mott (1793–1880) was a Quaker born on Nantucket, who became a prominent abolitionist and women’s rights activist. She helped write the Declaration of Sentiments during the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848, and will be included on the back of the U.S. $10 bill to be newly designed by 2020.

Some branches of the Coffin family were prominent in New England, grouped among the so-called Boston Brahmins.^[24] For example, Elizabeth Coffin, daughter of a wealthy merchant from Nantucket, was mother of the prominent Massachusetts industrialists Henry Coffin Nevins and David Nevins Jr..

^[25] Charles A. Coffin (1844–1926) born in Somerset, Massachusetts, became co-founder and first President of General Electric corporation.

^[26] Some retained the family links to Nantucket after the whaling industry had collapsed and many people had left the island. In the eighth generation, Elizabeth Coffin (1850–1930), an artist, educator and Quaker philanthropist, was known for her paintings of Nantucket and for helping revive Sir Isaac Coffin’s school with a new emphasis on crafts.

^[27] Among the ninth generation, Robert P. T. Coffin (1892–1955) was an American poet who won the Pulitzer Prize in 1936 for his book of collected poems called Strange Holiness.

THE MEDALS

After the original struck medals were produced in 1826, the medal was cast and recast for family reunions on Nantucket, perhaps even as late as the first few decades of the 20th century.In the year 1826, Sir Isaac Coffin, a native of Boston (who went to England in early life and became a Baronet, and an Admiral in the British Navy), visited Nantucket and founded the ‘Coffin School’, which is still flourishing.

The Act of Incorporation provides for the establishment of a school by the name of Admiral Sir Isaac Coffin’s Lancasterian School, for the purpose of promoting decency, good order and morality, and for giving a good English education to youth who are descendants of the late Tristram Coffin who emigrated from England” etc. The act further provided that the Trustees shall all be the descendants of the above mention Tristram Coffin in the male or female line.

If you are interested in more history of the Starbuck, Macy, Coffin, Gardner line some great reads are

North American Family Histories

A genealogical History of Clark and Worth Families and other Puritain Settler in MA Bay Colony

Macy Genealogy

Life of Tristram Coffin

Netherlands Genealogy Online

Colonial Families of the USA

The Great Migration Begins

Encyclopedia of American Biographies

As Always thanks for stopping in. Hope you are enjoying our family history…and please leave a comment below! I love hearing from you!

THE PIERCE FAMILY HISTORIAN

happy hunting

Nantucket Island and our Quaker Ancestors

December 19th, 2018 by Susan Holmes

As discussed in my last post of our Quaker Ancestors…researching them has been made simple by the wonderful records that were kept, and stretching far back in our history we will find much written of their lives and travels. Following our lineage from the early days in the America’s can sometimes be confusing due to the many uses of like names and the tangling of our ancestors as they traveled together and intermarriage amongst each other. One will find that our lines cross over and over again down through the years.When trying to decipher the DNA matches you will find it difficult to find that common match due to the criss-cross in the lines. Our history from Nantucket Island and our Quaker Ancestors is proof of this for sure.

NANTUCKET ISLAND

In 1659 it is recorded of Thomas Mayhew that the land in Nantucket was sold to nine men namely

Tristen Coffin, Thomas Macy, Christopher Ilussey, Richard Swain, Thomas Bernard, Peter Coffin, Stephen Greeleaf, John Swain, and William Pike.

Still suffering persecution in Massachuttes Thomas Macy and Tristen Coffin, set out to find a place of peace among them. They purchased the land from William Mayhew for 30 pounds and two Beaver Hats, one for William, and one for his wife. Seeing the promise of their plans William Mayhew chose to become a partner in the land also, and bought in his share. By the deed recorded it is observed that a share of the island was retained by Thomas Mayhew and in this way he became one of the proprietors who are said in all histories of the place to have founded the settlement.

Among these men I will discuss in detail those of our direct ancestors in the next few post, though for years the families of these mentioned intermarried and we will find that . we are descended in one way or another by the 16 earliest settlers of the Nantucket area. Just as in researching those Quaker ancestors that migrated to the Sugar Grove, Virginia area it seems we have relations to almost all in the area. You will find that within the migration areas (Gilford, N Carolina, Kentucky, Indiana, Missouri, Iowa and on westward) there are so many times intermingled relationships. Down through the years and a crossed the United States they traveled in families and groups together and married within these groups.

Pay close attention to the names mentioned within the posts, as they will come to play amongst each other.

Until the nineteenth century when more new people begin to come to the island, the very close-knit community was almost all related in one way or another. It is hard to separate the relationships among the early settlers as they each come together at some point.

Among these were men of varied experience and marked executive ability. Men who embraced every opportunity for the advancement of the settlement, and the establishment of an interesting society upon the island.

THOMAS MACY

(EIGHT GREAT GRANDFATHER)

In the Parish of Chilmark, near the town of Salisbury, Wiltshire, England, Thomas Macy resided before his removal for America around 1635. We do not know the name of the ship that brought him to America but he arrived here no later than 1639. He was among the original settlers of the Salisbury, Massachusetts area and is in “The first or Original list of Englishmen of Salisbury” book of records.

It has been recorded that Thomas was “a merchant, a juryman, a preacher and one of the select men of the town. ”

Several people were prosecuted for violating the law of 1637 which prohibited entertaining Quakers. Among these was Thomas Macy, who was fined thirty shilling, and ordered an apology, and it was ordered he be admonished by the governor. It was recorded that he had sheltered Edward Warton, William Robinson, a merchant of London, and Marmaduke Stephenson, of Yorkshire, England. Of those the last two named were hanged in Boston the 27th of October in 1659.

His letter to the Court went like this:

“On a rainy morning there came to my house Edward Warton and three men more, the said Wharton spoke to me saying that they were traveling eastward and desired me to direct them in the way to Hampton, and asked me how far it was to Casco Bay, I never saw any of the men afore, except Wharton neither did I require their names, or who they were, but by their carriage I thought they might be Quakers and told them so, and therefore desired them to pass on their way, saying to them I might possibly give offense in entertaining them, and as soon as the violence of the rain ceased (for it rained very hard) they went away and I never saw them since. The time they stayed in the house was about three quarters of an hour, but I can safely affirm that it was not and hour.”

“They spake not many words in the time, neither was I at leisure to talk with them, for I came home wet to the skin, immediately afore they come to the house and I found my wife sick in bed. If this satisfy not the honored Court I shall be subject to their sentence. ”

“I have not willingly offended. I am ready to serve and obey you in the Lord.”

Thos. Macy

Thomas Macy was a Baptist, and on the Sabbath frequently exhorted (Exhort is a 15th-century coinage. It derives from the Latin verb hortari, meaning “to incite,” and it often implies the ardent urging or admonishing of an orator or preacher.) the people which was also in violation of the Massachusetts Law which prohibited all but the regularly ordained from service.

Tradition says that immediately after his sentence, Thomas Macy, left for Nantucket.

The Macy Genealogy relates that in 1659, Thomas embarked at Salisbury in a small boat with his wife and children and such household goods as he could conveniently carry, and in company with Isaac Coleman and Edward Starbuck, and set sail for Nantucket. ( James Coffin, son of Tristram is said to have accompanied him also).

Thomas basically, had had it with the authority over him, and could no longer submit to the ” tyranny of the clergy and those in authority.”

Having satisfied the requirement of the law, and paid his fine, he undoubtedly felt he could lead a more peaceful and independent life in Nantucket, and voluntarily exiled to the Island.

BEFORE HIS REMOVAL

Before his removal to Nantucket Thomas was commissioner, and representative to the General Court of Salisbury, and the citizens of that testified of their sympathy with him by electing his friend and defender, Robert Pike as his successor.

Apparently, according to records he returned to Salisbury and again at a later date removed to Nantucket which is evident from old records, in which it is found that on October 1, 1675, he was commission chief magistrate of the town.

Thomas was the first recorder appointed on the island, and a portion of the first Book of Records in the office at Nantucket was mostly written by him.

He died April 19, 1682, at the age of 74. His wife, Sarah Hopcott, who had accompanied him from Chilmark, survived for nearly a quarter of a century after.

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Happy Hunting

The Pierce Family Historian