This Thomas Massie was born (in either
Virginia or
Cheshire,
England) to Peter Massie (1639/40–1719) and his wife, the former Penelope Cooper. His mother was rumored to be the illegitimate daughter of
Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury. Peter Massey came from the Liverpool/Mersey River area that separates Lancashire and Cheshire, and was probably distantly descended from Hugh of Coddington. He emigrated to the
Virginia colony during the tobacco boom of the mid-17th century, possibly in 1680 (a possible elder brother or more distant relative Alexander Massey emigrated to the colony in 1635 and received 400 acres in
Accomac County for transporting 8 persons to the new colony). The Massies (spelling not having been standardized in that era and some were educated in Scotland which prefers the "Massey" spelling) were nephews of
Edward Massey. Peter Massie's family included older sons (this man's brothers) John and George Massey (who may have remained in England, or died young, hence this man's inheritance by primogeniture) and younger brother Charles Massey (1686-17XX) whose son
Nathaniel Massie would become a surveyor on the frontier as well as the first speaker of the Ohio legislature after the Revolutionary war), as well as sisters Lucretia and Penelope. Peter Massie established the Windsor Forest Plantation located near the
Chickahominy river after receiving two land grants totaling 1,155 acres in 1690 and 1700 for paying transportation expenses to the colony for eighteen and six people, respectively. In addition to his farming business, Peter Massey began the family's social rise in the colony by serving as surveyor of the highways in New Kent County from 1708 until his death in 1719. ==Career==