Representative John B. Macy

John B. Macy (March 25, 1799 – September 24, 1856) was a U.S. Representative from Wisconsin, a town founder, and an early promoter of railroad development in the Upper Midwest. He was born in Nantucket, Massachusetts, where he received a liberal education that prepared him for a career in business and public affairs. Details of his early family life are sparse, but his subsequent movements and enterprises reflect the broader westward expansion and commercial development of the United States in the first half of the nineteenth century.

In 1826 Macy left Massachusetts and moved to New York City, then rapidly emerging as a national commercial center. Later that same year he relocated to Buffalo, New York, a key port on Lake Erie that was growing in importance with the completion and use of the Erie Canal. His activities in these cities placed him at the intersection of expanding trade networks and frontier settlement. By the early 1840s he had moved further west, residing in Cincinnati, Ohio, from 1842 to 1845. During this period he became one of the founders of Toledo, Ohio, participating in the establishment and early development of that community at the western end of Lake Erie, an area of strategic importance for transportation and commerce.

Macy’s business interests extended beyond town development into the emerging railroad industry. He became one of the proprietors of the Rock River Valley Union Railroad, a line projected from the state line to Fond du Lac, in what was then the Wisconsin Territory. This railroad enterprise formed part of the beginnings of the Chicago and North Western Railway, which would become one of the major rail systems in the Midwest. His involvement in such projects placed him among the early advocates of rail transportation as a means of linking new western settlements with established markets in the East.

In 1845 Macy moved to Fond du Lac in the Wisconsin Territory and engaged in the real estate business at a time when the area was undergoing rapid settlement and development. He acquired land from Philip Hone, the prominent New York City merchant and former mayor, indicating the breadth of his commercial connections between the East Coast and the western frontier. Through his land dealings and civic engagement, Macy became a notable local figure; several street names in Fond du Lac, including Macy Street, were given in honor of him and members of his family, reflecting his role in shaping the community’s early growth and layout.

By 1850 Macy had moved with his family to the nearby town of Empire, Wisconsin, near Lake de Neveu. There he established a substantial residence near what later became Highway 45. The home, which still stands, is notable not only as a surviving example of a mid-nineteenth-century settler’s dwelling but also for its original outbuildings, including a distinctive hexagonal library. This property illustrates both his relative prosperity and his interest in learning and culture, as suggested by the construction of a specialized library building on the grounds.

Macy entered national politics as a member of the Democratic Party. He was elected to represent Wisconsin’s 3rd congressional district in the Thirty-third Congress and served from March 4, 1853, to March 3, 1855. His term in the U.S. House of Representatives coincided with a period of intense national debate over slavery, territorial expansion, and sectional tensions, although specific details of his committee assignments and legislative positions are not extensively documented. In 1854 he was an unsuccessful candidate for re-election to the Thirty-fourth Congress. After his defeat, he returned to Wisconsin and resumed his former business pursuits, continuing his involvement in real estate and local development.

Macy’s life ended tragically in one of Wisconsin’s deadliest transportation disasters. On September 23, 1856, the sidewheel passenger steamer Niagara, one of the so‑called “palace steamers” that carried travelers on the Great Lakes between 1844 and 1857, departed Sheboygan, Wisconsin, bound for Port Washington on Lake Michigan. On the afternoon of September 24, at around 4 p.m., fire broke out on board while the vessel was several miles offshore, near Port Washington. The blaze quickly disabled the steam engines and the ship’s large paddlewheels, leaving the Niagara adrift and rapidly engulfed in flames and smoke. As panic spread among the passengers, efforts to launch and board the lifeboats were chaotic, and many people jumped into the lake, where the water was reported to be too cold for survival. Despite rescue attempts by nearby vessels and shore-based efforts, more than 60 people lost their lives. Macy was among those who perished; he was last seen on board exclaiming, “We’re lost! Oh God! We’re lost!” His body was never recovered. The wreck of the Niagara now lies in approximately 55 feet of water about one mile off Belgium, Wisconsin, a submerged reminder of the disaster that claimed the life of John B. Macy.