August 7, 2022 | Amesbury, MA

We stopped at the Macy-Colby House in Amesbury. It was super hot again, in the mid to high 90s. We didn’t tour the inside of the house as the tour docent told me it was under renovation and very messy. Everything appeared in order when we peeked in the windows, so I regretted not taking her up on her offer to tour it anyway. It seems the house hasn’t been open to the public for tours since Covid-19 closed everything. I see conflicting dates for the year the house was built, but it seems to be circa 1649 which makes it one of the oldest standing timber frame houses in North America. Unfortunately, it has not been scientifically dated like the Fairbanks House which claims the title as oldest timber-frame house still standing in North America (see other post).

Anthony & Susannah Colby are my twice my 10th great grandparents.

Anthony & Susannah Colby > Samuel Colby (married Elizabeth Sargent) > Elizabeth Colby > Enoch Rowell > Enoch Rowell > Samuel Duncan Rowell > Judith Lucretia Rowell > Jame Franklin Gile > Evelyn Judith Rowell

Anthony & Susannah Colby > Mary Colby (married William Sargent) > Jacob Sargent > Tabitha Sargent > David Foss > Anna Foss > Judith Lucretia Rowell > James Franklin Gile > Evelyn Gile

From Brittanica:

Amesbury, town (township), Essex county, northeastern corner of Massachusetts, U.S. It lies on the Merrimack River at the New Hampshire border. Settled in 1642 as part of Salisbury, it was named for Amesbury, England, became a separate precinct in 1654, and was incorporated as a township in 1668.

From MacyColbyHouse.org:

Born in 1605
Anthony Colby was born in Horbling, England, 1605.¹ He arrived on one of the eleven vessels of the Winthrop Fleet that came to New England in 1630. He is listed as No. 93 on a list of Boston church members in that year. He married Susannah (Haddon?) sometime between 1630 and 1632. They were living in Cambridge in 1632. In 1634, he took the ‘oath of freeman’ before the General Court in Boston. By 1637, he and his family were living in Ipswich, Massachusetts.

One of the Original Settlers of Salisbury Massachusetts
Anthony Colby was one of the original settlers of the town of Salisbury, Massachusetts and was one of sixty-nine men to receive ‘first division lots’ in 1639. He was granted additional lands in 1643 and 1654. Anthony seams to have been able to speak his mind; in 1639 he was fined 1 shilling for being ‘disorderly’ in a town meeting. In 1640, he was appointed to a committee to appraise domestic animals in Salisbury. By 1649, he had moved west of the Powow River to Salisbury New Town (the future Amesbury), along with other grantees such as Haddon, Macy, Sargent and Martin. ‘Articles of Agreement’, which designated the rights and responsibilities of the new town’s inhabitants, were signed in 1658.

Bought Thomas Macy’s House & Lands in 1654
Thomas Macy [one of his descendants founded Macy’s department store] sold the house now known as the ‘Macy-Colby House’ and lands in Amesbury to Anthony Colby in 1654. Thomas Macy left Amesbury in 1659 to become one of the first European settlers of the island of Nantucket. A portion of this original house still stands today, although the house was extensively modified by the Colby family sometime in the early 1740’s. The house was donated to the Bartlett Cemetery Association in 1899 by Moses Colby and it is now maintained as a museum. Anthony Colby was granted an additional sixty acres of land in 1658, the same year the new town of Amesbury started legal procedures to separate from Salisbury. The town of Amesbury was incorporated in 1668. Anthony Colby died at the age of 54 in Amesbury on February 11, 1660-61.

Susannah Colby
Susannah married Anthony Colby and bore him seven surviving children. Two years after Anthony’s death, she married William Whitridge. In 1664, Susannah was involved in a dispute with the Macy family over ownership of Macy-Colby House property in which the court upheld her rights to the property. Her second husband died in 1668 and Susannah lived in the Macy-Colby House during the term of her widowhood until her death in 1689. Some sources say she may have been previously married to a Mr. Waterman, leaving her a young widow before her marriage to Anthony Colby. Also, although it has not been documented, Susannah may have been related to Jarret Haddon, another first-settler of Amesbury, who owned adjoining properties to the Colby’s in Cambridge, in Salisbury and in Amesbury.

Seven Children
Anthony and Susannah Colby’s seven children were born and baptized in New England. 1) John b. 1633 m. Frances Hoyt in 1655 d. 1674 2) Sarah b. 1634 m. Orlando Bagley in 1653 d. 1663 3) Samuel b. 1638-39 m. Elizabeth Sargent in 1667 d. 1716 4) Isaac b. 1640 m. Martha Parrett in 1668 d. 1684 5) Rebecca b. 1643 m. John Williams in 1661 d. 1672 6) Mary b. 1647 m. William Sargent in 1668 d. after 1689 7) Thomas b. 1650 m. Hannah Rowell in 1674 d. 1691.

Died in 1661
Anthony Colby (1605-1661) is buried in Golgotha Cemetery, an historical grave site in Amesbury, where a monument lists the founding fathers of Amesbury, Massachusetts. (See Founders of Amesbury post.)

¹ Originally it was believed he was from Beccles, England but this aristocratic-Beccles connection has been disproved.

The Macy-Colby House Inhabitants

1649 – 1899

Thomas ¹ Macy (1608 – 1682) was born in Chilmark, Wiltshire, England. Thomas Macy was among the first settlers of Salisbury and Amesbury, MA. In 1654, he sold the house (build about 1649) and property to Anthony Colby. In the fall of 1659, he and his family left Amesbury and became the first European settler on the island of Nantucket.

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Anthony ¹ Colby (1605 – 1661) was born in Horbling, Lincolnshire, England and came to America in 1630 on the Winthrop Fleet. Anthony Colby was one of the first settlers of Salisbury, MA and the new town of Amesbury. He purchased the house and property from Thomas Macy in the year 1654. Nine generations of Colbys lived in this home.

Susanna ¹ Colby Whitridge (1610 – 1689) was the widow of Anthony Colby. After Anthony’s death, she married William Whitridge. He died in 1668. Susanna lived in the Macy-Colby house during the term of her widowhood.

Samuel ² Colby (c.1638 – 1716 (my 9th great grandfather) the second son of Anthony ¹ and Susanna Colby, was the innkeeper of Amesbury’s Colby Tavern. He married Elizabeth Sargent about 1667. He purchased the house and land from his mother in 1682, to provide for her during her widowhood.

Samuel ³ Colby II (1671 – 1746) was the oldest son of Samuel ² and Elizabeth (Sargent) Colby. He was a Yeoman. He inherited the former Macy land and other property from his father in 1716. He sold the north part of the former Macy land to John Bartlett in 1729, and additional land in 1731.

Obadiah ⁴ Colby (1706 – 1749) was the seventh child of Samuel ³ and Dorothy (Ambrose) Colby. He was a blacksmith. After his marriage to Bostonian Elizabeth (Gee) Colby in 1728, they resided in Boston. In 1744, they returned to Amesbury, and Obadiah purchased the south part of the former Macy land from his father Samuel ³. It is believed that Obadiah and Elizabeth Colby extensively modified the original homestead to its present structure.

Obadiah ⁵ Colby [Deacon](1731 – 1814) was also a blacksmith. He was the oldest son of Obadiah ⁴ and Elizabeth (Gee) Colby. He inherited his father’s house and land when he came of age. He purchased additional land west of the homestead from the heirs of Ichabod Colby.

Obadiah ⁶ Colby (1763 – 1832) was a blacksmith, like his father and grandfather before him. He was the third child of Obadiah⁵ and Mary (Merrill) Colby. He received the north part of his father’s land in 1816, which did not include the ‘Macy-Colby House’ property.

Hezekiah ⁶ Colby (1770 – 1844) was a Schoolmaster and was the sixth child of Obadiah ⁵ and Mary Colby. He received the south part of his father’s land with the house in 1816. He never married and lived in the house until his death in 1844. He left the house and property to his brother Captain William ⁶ Colby.

William ⁶ Colby [Captain](1775 – 1850) was a Mariner and the younger brother of Obadiah ⁶and Hezekiah ⁶. He received the house and land from his brother Hezekiah’s estate in 1845, which he sold to his son, Obadiah that same year.

Obadiah ⁷ Colby (1811 – 1892) was a Trader by profession, and the second son of Captain William and Mary (Long) Colby. In 1845, he purchased the Colby house from his father. In 1885, he deeded the property to his son, William ⁸. Obadiah lived in the house with his son until his death in 1892. 

William ⁸ Colby (1851 – 1909) was a Trimmer. He was the second son of Obadiah and Mary Ann (Patten) Colby. He received his father’s house in 1885, where he lived until 1899. In that year, he sold land west of the house to the Bartlett Cemetery Association, and sold the house to his uncle Moses L. Colby ⁷.

Moses ⁷ L. Colby (1820 – 1901) had an adventurous youth. In 1849 Moses Colby headed for California in search of gold. After his returned to Amesbury, he remained a bachelor, and lived in the old Colby house with his brother Obadiah ⁷ and his nephews. In 1899, he purchased the house from his nephew William ⁸, and then deeded it to the Bartlett Cemetery Association, to be kept as a memorial of the Colby and Macy families and to the people of Amesbury, Massachusetts.

Notable Colbys

Some Notable Colby Family Members Include

Chester A. Arthur 21st President of the United States 1829-1886. Richard Bruce Cheney Vice President of the United States Anthony Colby Governor of New Hampshire 1792-1873 Bainbridge Colby U. S. Secretary of State under President Wilson 1869-1950. Carlos W. Colby Congressional Medal of Honor. Vicksburg 1837-1922 Gardner Colby Colby College & President-Wisconsin Central RR 1810-1879. Harrison Gray Otis Colby Rear Admiral – Commander-North Atlantic Fleet 1846-1926. Stoddard B. Colby Register of the U.S. Treasury 1816-1867. William Egan Colby Director of the CIA1920-1996. Joseph Smith, Jr. Founder of the Mormon Church1805-1844. Laura Ingalls Wilder Author, “Little House on the Prairie” series 1867-1957