William Ferdinand Macy (1852 - 1901)

W. Ferdinand Macy was born in New Bedford, MA and died in Pembroke, MA. He was of Quaker stock on both sides and a descendant of Thomas Macy, [who was] one of the original settlers of Nantucket in 1659.

He went to New York at the age of 13 to study painting and remained there several years as a pupil of [both] R. Swain Gifford (1840-1905) and a portrait painter named Eaton; possibly Joseph Oriel Eaton (1829-1875).

The earliest mention of W. Ferdinand Macy… on Nantucket is from a newspaper clipping of 1878, when he was 26, saying that he had rooms open to the public on Pleasant Street. Newspaper notices continued throughout the 1880’s extolling his paintings of marine scenes and flowers, among other subjects. In 1882 he was reported to have a studio on the North Shore hill. ~ Art On Nantucket, Robert A. diCurcio

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