The following letter describes O. Henry's ancestry. Most interesting is the handwritten description of O. Henry's lineage dating back to the Sixteenth Century (on the other side of the typed letter). The original letter from John Macy to Mrs. E. E. Moffitt can be located in the "Ancestry -- Correspondence" Folder of the Greensboro Public Library's O. Henry Collection.


Wrentham, Mass.,
April 2, 1913.
Mrs. E. E. Moffitt,
Richmond, Virginia.

Dear Mrs. Moffitt:-

I thank you for your most interesting letter. Yes, I am a descendant of Thomas Macy. My father was born in Nantucket. I did not discuss O. Henry as much as I should have liked: he was a remarkable man, a predestined and congenital short-story writer, somewhat encouraged and somewhat perverted by the magazines. If his soul had been embodied in France or Russia, I guess, like a speculative Yankee, that he would have done consistently better work. I wonder how his humor, sometimes dry and sometimes alcoholically fluid, would have reacted on the idea of setting up a memorial to him and making a local state celebrity.

With kindest regards, I am
Yours very sincerely,

John Macy.

descendant of Thomas, also
O’ Henry is a descendant

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Thomas Macy emigrated to America about 1640 from Chilmark England. He was the first white settler on Nantucket Island. --He came from England and settled first at Amesbury Mass.-- There he built a house, previous to 1654.  He was a man of more than ordinary ability, as is shown by the ancient book of records so carefully written and which is preserved as a precious legacy by the town.

He sold his home to Anthony Colby and it has remained in this family for about 260 years.  The Society Daughters of the Revolution has the custody of the old historic house, called the Macy-Colby house in which they hold their meetings, also is their depository for relics, manuscripts, and many specimans of antique furniture.

William Sidney Porter is 8th in lineal descent from Thomas Macy.

Other early Ancestors of William Sidney Porter[:]

8th descent from Peter Folger born (1618)
-Peter Folger was grand father of Benjamin Franklin

9th descent from John Tilley born before 1586 was the 16th Signer of the May Flower Compact.
(See Pilgrims Republic pp 63-64)

8th descent from John Howland [?] born 1592 was the 13th Signor of the May Flower Compact

8th descent from Thomas Macy-

7th descent from Lieut Col John Graham[.] Served in Great Swamp fight, Canadian Exp- in command under Colonel Church.

Maria Mitchell was descended from Peter Folger

It is pretty well settled that Governor John Carver, the first governor of Plymouth Colony Mass was lineal ancestor of the Worths.