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|serviceyears=1865–1903 |rank=Captain (USRCS) |commands=USRC ''Rush'' USRC ''Corwin'' USRC ''Bear'' USRC ''McCulloch'' USRC ''Thetis'' |battles= |awards= |laterwork= }} Michael Augustine Healy (September 22, 1839 – August 30, 1904) was an American captain in the United States Revenue Cutter Service (predecessor of the United States Coast Guard).〔 Following U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward's Alaska purchase of the vast region in 1867, Healy patrolled the of Alaskan coastline for more than 20 years, earning great respect from the natives and seafarers alike. After commercial fishing had depleted the whale and seal populations, his assistance with introduction of Siberian reindeer helped prevent starvation among the native Alaskans.〔CGC Healy History, USCGC HEALY (WAGB-20), U.S. Coast Guard〕 Nicknamed "Hell Roaring Mike," Healy has been identified as the first man of African-American descent to command a ship of the United States government. He identified as white Irish American during his lifetime, as he was majority white in ancestry and grew up in Irish Catholic culture.〔Powell, A.D.; "Passing for Who You Really Are: Essays in Support of Multiracial Whiteness", Backintyme Publishers, pp 64–66〕 The author Jack London was inspired by his command of the USRC ''Bear''. Commissioned in 1999, the USCGC ''Healy'' was named in his honor.〔 ==Early life and education== Healy was born near Macon, Georgia, in 1839, the fifth of ten children of Michael Morris Healy, an Irish immigrant planter, and Mary Eliza Smith, his common-law wife, a mixed-race African-American slave.〔"Captain Michael A. Healy, USRCS", Personnel Biographies, U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office〕 The senior Healy was born in 1795 and emigrated from County Roscommon in 1818. By a land lottery and purchase, he eventually acquired of land in Jones County, Georgia, across the Ocmulgee River from the market town of Macon. He became one of the more successful planters, and came to own 49 slaves for his labor-intensive cotton plantation.〔O'Toole, James M.; "Passing Free", ''Boston College Magazine,'' Summer 2003, Boston College website〕 Among them was 16-year-old Mary Eliza Smith (or Clark), whom he took as his wife in 1829. Mary Eliza Healy has been described in various accounts as "slave" and "former slave," and as mulatto and black. Under the ''partus'' principle in slave law, the Healy children were born into slavery by being born to an enslaved mother. They could not be formally educated in Georgia, and their manumission required legislative approval, then nearly impossible to obtain. As the children were majority European, perhaps as much as three-quarters, their father decided to send them North for education and their futures, as did some other wealthy white planters for their mixed-race children.〔 The Healys' common-law marriage was not unusual but violated laws against inter-racial marriage. Healy's wealth and ambition provided for his children's education; most of the children of the Healy family of Georgia, of whom all but one survived to adulthood, achieved noteworthy success as adults. The siblings identified and were accepted as Irish Catholic American at the time, while not denying their multiracial background. In the 20th century, their achievements were also claimed as notable firsts for people of African-American descent. 〔 The oldest son, James Augustine Healy, born in 1830, first went to a Quaker school in New York. His father later transferred him at age 14 to preparatory classes for the College of Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, where his three younger brothers joined him: Hugh aged 12, Patrick Francis Healy aged 10, and Alexander Sherwood Healy aged 8. Michael, then 6 years old, was enrolled at Holy Cross in 1849.〔〔"Healy, Bishop James Augustine (1830-1900)", Online Encyclopedia, BlackPast.org website〕 All four of the older brothers graduated from Holy Cross. Hugh went into business in New York, but died at age 21 after a boating accident. The three older brothers entered the priesthood. After attending seminaries in Montreal and Paris, James was ordained a priest at the Cathedral of Notre Dame in 1854. In the 20th century, he was claimed as the first African-American priest in the Catholic Church. Named the second bishop of the Diocese of Portland in 1875, he was the first Catholic bishop of African-American descent in the United States.〔〔"James Augustine Healy, the Children's Priest", The Registry, African-American Registry website〕 Patrick Healy became a Jesuit and was the first African American to earn a PhD at Saint-Sulpice Seminary in Paris. In 1866 he was named a dean at Georgetown University. At the age of 39, in 1874, he assumed the presidency of what was then the largest Catholic college in the United States.〔"Healy, Patrick (1834-1910)", ''Online Encyclopedia,'' BlackPast.org website〕 Alexander Sherwood Healy was also ordained as a priest, obtaining his PhD at Saint-Sulpice. He became an expert in canon law, and served as director of the seminary in Troy, New York, and rector of the cathedral in Boston. Sherwood, as he was known, was musical and formed the Boston Choral Union. It helped raise funds for a new cathedral. He died early at age 39.〔 All three of Healy's sisters attended parochial schools in Canada and ultimately entered orders. Several years after taking her vows, Martha, the oldest, left her convent and moved to Boston. She married a man of Irish descent there. Josephine joined the Religious Hospitallers of Saint Joseph. Eliza Healy joined the Congregation of Notre Dame in Montreal, where she was known as Sister Mary Magdalen. After teaching in Quebec and Ontario, in 1903 Eliza Healy was appointed abbess or Mother Superior of the convent and school of Villa Barlow in St. Albans, Vermont. She is now known also as the first woman of African-American descent to reach this position.〔Healy, Eliza (Mary Magdalen ) (1846–1918)", Online Encyclopedia, BlackPast.org website〕 In May 1850, the mother Mary Eliza Healy died, followed four months later by the elder Michael Healy, who died of cholera on August 29.〔Strobridge and Noble, p 44〕 This left James Healy as the head of the family. He was unable to convince Michael to follow him into the priesthood. Unhappy and rebellious at Holy Cross, Michael was sent in 1854 to a seminary in France at age 15. The following year he left the school for England, where he signed on with the American East Indian clipper ''Jumna'' as a cabin boy in 1854. Later in his career on merchant vessels, he served as an officer.〔〔〔Strobridge and Noble, p 45〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Michael A. Healy」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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