Donald McKay
Donald McKay (September 4, 1810 – September 20, 1880) was a Canadian-born American designer and builder of sailing ships. He was born in Jordan Falls, Shelburne County on Nova Scotia's South Shore. In 1826 he moved to New York, working for shipbuilders Brown & Bell and Isaac Webb. In 1841, he opened his first yard in Newburyport and moved to East Boston in 1845, building substantial packet ships for the Atlantic emigrant route. McKay later designed and built some of the most successful clippers ever built. His house in East Boston is on the National Register of Historic Places. He was the great-grandfather of the American actor, author, and artist Gardner McKay (1932–2001).