| Note* | | THOMAS MAYHEW (Matthew4), bapt. 1 Apr. 1593 at Tisbury, Eng., is the Governor, first of the name in this country, whose personal history has been sufficiently detailed in the two preceding volumes. The name of his first wife is not known nor has any clue to the date and place of the marriage been found. Neither is it known when or where she died. [Iris Gardner writes, '1st wife of Thomas Paine Mayhew was Martha Parkhurst b. 1595, d. 1635. Their son was Thomas MayhewJr., who married Jane Gallion.'] He m. (2) Mrs. JANE (Gallion?)* PAINE,wid. of Mr. Thomas Paine, a London merchant, abt. 1634 (Vol. II, p. 90,Annals of E.) [*The name Gallion, if it be correctly given, is very rare in England. Galland is found in Green's Norton where the Paines owned property, and Gallyon in Ramsey, Huntingdonshire.] She was living 15 May1666, but died before her husband. In London the compiler found references to a Gallion family, to which she may have belonged, and hehas many other English notes relative to the Mayhews which he hopes tofollow up in the future. Some interesting additional facts have also been discovered by thecompiler respecting the early life of Gov. Mayhew. It will be recalled(Vol. I, p. 114) that a contemporary writer states that the Governor was'a merchant bred in England, as I take it, at Southampton.' SALE OF WEST CHOP BY INDIANS, ABOUT 1663-4. It is probable that for many years subsequent to the settlement atEdgartown, West Chop, like its opposite neighbor, East Chop, remained uninhabited by whites. The first intimation which we find of thesettlement of English on this territory, which was uniformly called Homes Hole neck, is undoubtedly found in the following letter from ThomasMayhew, Sr., to Gov. John Winthrop, Jr., of Connecticut, regarding apurchase made of the Indian sachems, Poketapace and Pesoonquan, by ThomasLayton and Peter Tallman, two land owners, and possibly residents ofEdgartown. 5-1-64 Uppon the Vyneyard Right Worshipfull Mr John Wynthrop Sir:- I desire youe to resolve me if any man can possesse that he doth purchaseof the heathen, without the leave of the pattentees. Under correction Ithinke not: because the land is absolutely conferred on the pattentees &successours as firm as possible can be, by the state of England & all thepattentees graunt to such ass in freinshipp with them are assured toholld it: so it is in this pattent & in your pattent, as I take it, acoppy whereof I have seene. I suppose your sellfe can tell if any suchliberty to be taken or not, in a word or two by any leave from hisMajestie: to me it annyhilates pattents. Tis my case: I hope to receive aword about it. Thus with my service to your kind and deservedly honoredsellfe I rest Your servant to command Thomas Mayhew. [Mass. Hist. Coll. VII.] What reply Winthrop made to this communication is not known, but theposition stated by Mayhew was unquestionably the proper and legal one.The exigency caused Mayhew to act for the protection of his vestedinterests on the Vineyard, and he called together the principal Indiansof Taakemmy for a council about the sale of lands within their territory,and on Aug. 24, 1664, Papamek and twenty-nine other 'gentlemen and commonIndians' agreed with Mayhew that there 'shall be noe land sold within thebounds of Takemme without the consent of the two sachims - - - - that isWanamanhut (and) Keteanum.' And they further declared 'that JohnPoketapace (and) Mr. Pesoonquam weer never owners of the land sold toPeter Tallman: and we all agree as one man to withstand and reject thatbargain.' [Dukes Deeds, 1.] In 1593, Thomas Mayhew was born in Tisbury to his parents, Matthew andAlice. After his father died when he was 21, Thomas became a merchant inSouthampton. During this time, he met Matthew Cradock, another merchantwho had been active in the colonization of the area of the USA whichwould later become known as New England. In 1631, Mayhew became Cradock'sagent in New England, moving to Medford where he built a 'greate stonehouse'. Until 1646, Mayhew worked for Cradock, but some of the businessaffairs he was involved in didn't work as well as he had hoped, andCradock grew unhappy. Despite this, Mayhew was successful and popular , being elected as aRepresentative to the General Court, and a Magistrate. He also became amiller, merchant and bridgebuilder. Unfortunately, he suffered financialproblems, and had to look for new opportunities. At the time, the islands of (then) Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket werepart of Maine, which belonged to Sir Ferdinando Gorges who acquired itfom Charles the first. However, he wasn't particularly interested in itand, when Mayhew heard about this, he set out to buy both of theislands.On the 13th of October 1641, he signed a contract, and the islandof Nanytucket became his. Ten days later, he added Martha's Vineyard tohis collection. So, by 1642, Thomas Mayhew had become 'Governor' Mayhew,the master of the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. Among thetowns he founded were West Tisbury and Chilmark, both named tocommemerate Mayhew's humble birth in a small Wiltshire village. The following is verbatim copy of a record in the 'Book of FreeCommoners' belonging to the corporation of Southampton: 'Nono die ffebr' 1620 (i.e. 1621) Thomas Mayhew late servant andapprntiee unto Richard Masey of the Towne and countie of Southamptonmrcer havinge well and truely served his spprntiship with his said mrwhoe beinge prsent testified to the same And he the said Thomas Mayhewe(desieringe to be admitted a free commoner of the said Towne to use histrade of a mrcer in this said Towne and his said mr likewise desieringethe same) was therefore this prsent daie admitted and sworren a freecommoner accordingly.' An interesting and important statement is therein found which recalls thestatement of Thomas Macey of Nantucket (who is said to have emigratedfrom Chilmark, co. Wilts), that Governor Thomas Mayhew was his 'honoredcousin' (N. Y. Col. Mss., Vol. 25) and here is found documentary evidencethat Thomas Mayhew was an apprentice of Richard Macey, a Southamptonmerchant. Richard Macey, his master, was a native of Chilmark and in hiswill of 20 Nov. 1633 he provided for his burial in that parish (Arch.Sarum X. 30). Undoubtededly further search would reveal the exactrelationship of this Richard to Thomas Macey, the emigrant, and thus showthe kinship between the families of Mayhew and Macey. Governor Mayhew had the following named children: By First Wife: THOMAS, b. 1620. By Second Wife: HANNAH, b.15 June 1635; m. (1) THOMAS DAGGETT (3); (2) SAMUEL SMITH. BETHIAH, b.6 Dec. 1636; m. (l) THOMAS HARLOCK; (2) RICHARD WAY 1675.[Iris Gardner writes, 'Mary E. Way did astudy of the Way Family of Nantucket, and wrote a book as well, titledThe Way Family. My connection is with Bethiah Mayhew, who married RichardWay. She was the daughter of Thomas Paine Mayhew and Jane Gallion. SimonMayhew was my 13th Great Grandfather.] MARY, b.14 Jan. 1639; Prob. d.y. MARTHA, b. (1642); m. THOMAS TUPPER 27 Dec. 1661. [*From this marriagewas descendant the late Sir Charles Tupper, prime minister of Canada.]1 |