Mungo Mackay (April 1, 1740 – March 29, 1811) was a Scottish seafarer from the Orkney Islands who made a fortune in the Boston shipping trades in Massachusetts.
Mungo was a highly regarded ship master, successful privateer owner and bonder, and operated a store on Long Wharf in Boston.
The silversmiths Paul Revere I and II made a pair of silver sauce boats for the couple.
[6] Mungo stated in his own words the following description:I Mungo Mackey, of lawful age testify and say That on the evening of Tuesday 5 September instant, between seven and eight o'clock, being in the street near the front door of the coffeehouse in Boston, hearing an unusual noise in the coffee-room, I went in and saw a crowd of people, in the middle of which I perceived a man hustled back by the crowd towards the door in the entry, but soon saw the same man advance towards the middle of the room, with his arms up, as though he was striking as some person, which person I then knew not, but afterwards heard his name was Robinson.
The person who was hustled by the crowd was bare-headed, and I observed a number of sticks at least three, over his head, and the blood running; and as I approached nearer I found it to be James Otis, Esq; I saw two officers of the navy talking together, one of whom said "You have come too late to see your friend Otis have a good drubbing" to which he replied "I am very glad of it, he deserved it" I saw William Burnet Brown in the room with a whip In his hand, who came up to Capt.
In November 1775 Massachusetts enacted a law which authorized the issuance of commissions for privateers and provided for the establishment of prize courts.
The proprietors were Paul Dudley Sargent, James Swan, Thomas Adams and Mungo Mackay.
[9] In March 1777 Mungo Mackay appeared in prize court on behalf of William Brown, commander of the Boston.
In 1779 Mungo and his partners outfitted Adventure, Harlequin, Mifflin, Jason, Tartar, Hazard, Revenge, George, General Washington and Sally.
In addition, his brother Alexander Mackay received a portion of the profits of captured cargo and vessels as he was a member of the crew of some of Mungo's ships.
In 1786 Alexander ran an advertisement in the Boston papers for his Wine-Cellar and Store at Town Dock where he offered a general assortment of wines in their original purity, both wholesale and retail also Jamica Spirits, Brandy, West-India and New England Rum and all kinds of Groceries, cheap for cash.
Even though Cornwallis had surrendered in late 1781, the privateers continued their efforts to capture and bring British cargo ships into port.
[13] With the end of the revolution and the creation of the United States, business development started to take Mungo Mackay's time.
Mungo and Alexander participated in the outfitting of the new American Navy that was ready for duty in response to the Quasi-War with France.
On September 3, 1798, Mungo received $627.08 for 1050 pounds of gunpowder that he sold to Henry Jackson, Naval Agent for the United States, for outfitting the USS Constitution.
Some of the original stockholders included Mungo Mackay, Francis Dana, Oliver Wendell, James Sullivan, Henry Jackson, William Wetmore, Harrison Gray Otis, Perez Morton, Samuel Parkman, Charles Bulfinch, Joseph Blake, Henry Prentiss, John Derby, Caleb Davis, John Winthrop and Jon Austin.
At that time Mungo was one of the wealthiest land and building owners in the town with numerous sites having a total value of over $37,000.
[17] Mungo went with members of the Boston Marine Society to Quincy and met with President John Adams in September 1798 regarding French interference in American shipping, known as the Quasi-War.
After the Quasi-War ended there was a period of peace at sea, but in 1806 and 1807 the American merchant fleet became a target of the British, primarily HMS Leopard.
[19] Mungo Mackay died at his mansion house on Cambridge Street in Boston on March 29, 1811, age 71.