The Pye Plate: Thomas Mayhew 1593-1682

Thomas Mayhew 1593-1682

Thomas is my 9^th great grandfather. He was b. Mar 31, 1593 and then baptized on Apr 1, 1593 in Tisbury, Wiltshire, England. His father was Mathew Mayhew and his mother was Alice Barter.

He married first, Abigail Parkhurst about 1620, who died c. 1633. His second marriage, in 1634, was to Jane Gallion (Galland) Paine. The widow of Thomas Paine, a London merchant. They joined The Great Migration to the colonies in 1632, on the Griffin, and settled first in Medford MA. Later they moved to Watertown MA.

Thomas and Abigail Parkhurst had two sons, Thomas and Robert. With his 2^nd wife, Jane, four daughters were born, Hannah, Bethiah, Mary and Martha. Martha is the 7^th great grandmother of singer Taylor Swift. Jane also had two children by her 1^st marriage with Thomas Paine, Thomas Paine and Jane Paine.

Thomas Mayhew Sr. had received a grant of the islands off the southeast coast of Massachusetts from William, Earl of Sterling and Sir Ferdinand Gorges, as shown by the records in the secretary’s office in Albany NY. Nantucket belonged to NY until 1690. He established the first English settlement on Martha’s Vineyard in 1642. Thomas Sr. removed to Martha’s Vineyard in 1647. His assistant Peter Foulger (Folger) is said to be the grandfather of Benjamin Franklin. To secure his ownership of the islands, Thomas paid William Alexander, 2^nd Earl of Sterling, 40 pounds and 2 beaver skin hats. There was a conflicting title with Sir Ferdinand Gorges, who was also paid to clear the ownership.

Thomas’ son, also Thomas (called Jr. here for clarification), who was a minister, established strong and equitable ties with the native population. The Wampanoags were treated with dignity and respect. No land was to be taken from them without their consent or without fair compensation. This was so successful that even during King Phillip’s war, the Wampanoags of the islands did not engage in the conflict. They lived with the colonists in peace and without bloodshed.

The aboriginal name was Noë-pe, where “Noë” means ‘in the middle of’ and “pe” means waters. Thus the name means ‘in the middle of the waters’. They were the Pokanuaket Indians, part of the Algonquian family of many tribes that ranged the northern part of the eastern coast of North America, from Hudson Bay to the warmer regions in the south.

In 1657, Thomas Mayhew Jr. sailed for England to make an appeal for more missionary funds. After leaving Boston, the ship was never heard of again. Thomas Jr. was thirty-six. Thomas Sr. made repeated efforts to find a replacement for his son’s ministry to the Indians. No one knew the language or desired to learn it and live on an island. Thomas Sr., at the age of 60, took over his son’s duties as missionary and continued for the next 25 years, traveling many miles by foot to preach, once a week.

In 1659, the patent for the island was still in the Mayhew’s possession. But during the year the sale of the island was accomplished. Thomas Mayhew confirmed the sale of the island by giving a deed to Tristram Coffin, Richard Swain, Peter Coffin, Stephen Greenleaf, William Pike, Thomas Macy (cousin to Thomas Mayhew), Thomas Bernard, Christopher Hussey and John Swain, who became the First Governor of Martha’s Vineyard. Thomas Macy is the ancestor of the Macys who founded the dept. store.

Thomas Sr. assumed the title Magistrate and, in general, the Island’s population became dissatisfied with his autocratic ways. In 1671, Thomas was given the title of Governor for Life by the agent for the Duke of York. His reign ended with his death in 1682. At this point, his grandson, Matthew Mayhew, had himself appointed Chief Magistrate and wielded as much power as the Governor had.

My descent is from Thomas Mayhew Jr., who was lost at sea in 1657. His youngest child, Jedidah, married Benjamin Smith, Attorney for Edgartown for the years 1687-1692. Benjamin’s parents were John Smith and Susanna Hinckley. His father was a minister from Dorsetshire, England who arrived in the colonies before 1643. John married Susannah and settled in Sandwich, MA. There they had 13 children, Benjamin being the ninth child. Benjamin died in 1720 and Jedidah in 1736. Their third child, Jedidah Smith, married Rev. Samuel Osborn, who was born in Ireland of Scottish parents. He was the minister at Eastham MA, for nearly 20 years, but was eventually ejected for not being sufficiently Calvinistic.

Jedidah and Samuel Osborn’s daughter, Elizabeth, b. c. 1714, married first William Myrick who died at Louisburg, secondly she married William Paine and thirdly, she married Edmond Doane. They had seven children. In 1761, Edmond, Elizabeth and several of their children left Orleans, MA and sailed from the Nathaniel Mayo Landing in Orleans to Barrington NS. Elizabeth’s father Samuel Osborn, and his 2^nd wife, Experience Scudder, also made the voyage to Barrington. Samuel did not resume his minister’s role while there and returned to Boston in 1770. He died there in 1774.