Archive for the ‘Nantucket (Island)’ Category
Person:John Swain (1) – Genealogy
Swain, Robert H. Swains of Nantucket
“Nantucket. If you have ever been there, you know what it means. It was named by the Indians who occupied the island before ten founding families purchased it in 1659. The name Nantucket means “Land Far Out to Sea” and the whalers use to call it the “Grey Little Lady”. There were two tribes on the island, Sachem Autopscot and Sachem Wanackmamack, when Thomas Mayhew sold Nantucket for 10 Pounds and 2 Beaver hats. The nine original purchasers were;
Thomas Macy
Richard Swain
John Swain
Tristam Coffin
Peter Coffin
Christopher Hussey
Stephen Greenleaf
William Pike
Thomas Bernard
Thomas Mayhew kept one-tenth of the island for himself on the Western part of the island. The Eastern half remained to the Indian tribes until the entire island was slowly taken over by settlers. Before Thomas Macy and other settlers moved to Nantucket, they lived in Rowley and Salisbury, Massachusetts where the Quakers were often persecuted. Thomas Macy gave them shelter and protection until they found their permanent settlement on Nantucket. When they finally moved to the island, each was given a plot of land near Sherbourne, the first town on Nantucket Island.
