Individual Details

Gov. Thomas MAYHEW

(Abt 1592 - 1681)

“I am monarch of all I survey. My right there is none to dispute.”
Governor for Life, Thomas Mayhew

Thomas Mayhew Creates a Feudal Manor on Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard

Thomas Mayhew arrived at the Plymouth Colony circa 1632, looking to make a bit of money for himself. It soon became clear, though, that his business ventures were less than successful.

But, there was still opportunity . . . Thousands of other persons immigrated to New England in the two decades following the landing of the Pilgrims and new colonies were sprouting all over New England. The Council for New England, which had been charged with the development of English New England, dissolved itself in 1630 and divvied up the various lands among its members. Notably, Sir Fernando Gorges was given the Province of Maine and Lord Stirling was given New York including Long Island.

In 1641, an agent of Lord Stirling convinced the 50-year-old Mayhew that ownership of some offshore islands, now called Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, was the way out of his financial problems. Mayhew purchased the islands.

Due to the vagueness of the land grants, it was possible that the Maine grant to Fernando Gorges also included the islands. So, Mayhew purchased the rights from Gorges also. The price was probably small because the islands were small in comparison with the Maine grant, uncolonized, and apparently of little value. Attending to every detail, Mayhew also negotiated with the sachems (chiefs) of the islands’ Indians to secure their rights to the land. (In fact, Mayhew’s treatment of the Indian population of the islands was exemplary, avoiding many of the problems that occurred on the mainland.)

In 1641, Mayhew made grants of land to five friends so that they might begin building a town on Martha’s Vineyard, even though Mayhew himself did not live on the island for another five years.

When the population of the islands was small, we can imagine that Mayhew served as an arbiter. As the settlement grew, though, Mayhew made no attempt to create a class of “freemen” or to provide voting rights to others. It became clear that Mayhew intended to establish a medieval, hereditary aristocracy over the islands. Following the sale of Lord Stirling’s grants to the Duke of York, Mayhew was acknowledged as the Governor for life, Chief Justice of the Courts and Lord of the Manor of Tisbury, and his son was appointed as the customs collector. His cronies occupied other key positions of government.

When the Dutch briefly recaptured New York, some of the islands’ inhabitants seized the opportunity to rebel and demanded Mayhew’s abdication. When he refused, they appealed to Massachusetts, which declined to intervene. Mayhew crushed the rebellion by fining individuals so heavily that they were financially ruined. In 1674, the Dutch settled the claim to New York in favor of the English. The re-instated Governor Edmond Andros, probably believing that the rebels had been allied with the Dutch, promptly empowered the 81-year-old Mayhew to enact all penalties short of execution or banishment. Mayhew’s rule continued until his death 8 years later whereupon his son, Matthew, was named as Chief Magistrate. The governance of Martha’s Vineyard was changed to convert it into a feudal manor with the son as Lord of the Manor of Tisbury.

Fate intervened in the form of the “Glorious Revolution” in England, deposing the Catholic monarch. The various royal appointees in the New World were discharged and, in 1692, the islands of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket were detached from New York and added to a rechartered Massachusetts colony. Gradually, the grip of the Mayhew family was relaxed and the islands granted more typical governance. A great-great grandson Micajah Mayhew attempted to assert rights of the manor as late as 1750, but the locals declined to recognize him.

Gov. Thomas Mayhew is Jim’s 9th great-grandfather.
One of the rebels, Nicholas Norton, is Jim’s 8th great-grandfather.

This account is based principally upon:
Banks, Charles Edward. The History of Martha’s Vineyard, Dukes County Massachusetts in Three Volumes. Vol. Volume 1: General History. 3 vols. Boston: George H Dean, 1911.

Events

Birth	Abt 1592	Tisbury, Wiltshire, England
Birth	31 Mar 1593	Tisbury, Wiltshire, England
Birth	31 Mar 1593	Tisbury, Wiltshire, England
Baptism	1 Apr 1593	Tisbury, Wiltshire, England
Baptism	1 Apr 1593	Tisbury, Wiltshire, England
Marriage	Bef 1618	Tisbury, Wiltshire, England - Abigail "Anna" PARKHURST
Marriage	Bef 1620	[unknown] [UNKNOWN]
Marriage	Bef 1621	Dukes, Massachusetts Bay, British America - Abigail "Anna" PARKHURST
Marriage	1621	United States - Abigail PARKUS
Arrival	1630	Massachusetts, United States
Arrival	1632	Medford, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay, British America
Removed	Bef 1634	Watertown, Massachusetts Bay, British America
Marriage	Abt 1634	Medford, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay, British America - Jane GALLAND
Religion	Bef 14 May 1634	admitted to church membership (an implication of freeman status) - Watertown, Massachusetts Bay, British America
Civil	14 May 1634	became a freeman
Residence	1637	Watertown, Massachusetts Bay, British America
Property	1640	purchased both land and sovereignty from Gorges (Maine), Stirling (New York) and the local Indians - Marthas Vineyard, British America
Removed	Bef 1647	Dukes, Massachusetts Bay, British America
Residence	1647	Dukes, Massachusetts, United States
Religion	1657 - 1673	was pastor - Congregational Church, Tisbury, Dukes, Massachusetts Bay, British America
Death	1681	Edgartown, Dukes, Massachusetts, United States
Will	16 Jun 1681	Edgartown, Dukes, Massachusetts Bay, British America
Burial	1682	Tisbury Village Cemetery, Dukes, Massachusetts Bay, British America
Death	25 Mar 1682	Edgartown, Dukes, Massachusetts, United States
Death	25 Mar 1682	Edgartown, Dukes, Massachusetts, United States
Probate	28 Mar 1682	Edgartown, Dukes, Massachusetts Bay, British America
Alt name		Thomas MAYHEW (Governor)
Occupation		steward, magistrate
Residence		Medford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States

Families

Spouse	Abigail "Anna" PARKHURST (1600 - 1634)
Child	Rev. Thomas MAYHEW (1620 - 1657)

Spouse	Jane GALLAND (1595 - 1666)
Child	Hannah MAYHEW (1635 - 1723)
Child	Bethia MAYHEW (1636 - 1678)
Child	Mary MAYHEW (1639 - )
Child	Martha MAYHEW (1642 - 1717)

Spouse

[unknown] [UNKNOWN] ( - )

Spouse	Abigail PARKUS ( - )
Child	Rev. Thomas MAYHEW (1620 - 1657)

Father	Matthew MAYHEW ( - )
Mother	Alice BARTER ( - )

Individual Details

Gov. Thomas MAYHEW

Events

Families

Notes

Endnotes

Individual Details

Gov. Thomas MAYHEW

Events

Families

Notes

Birth

Marriage

Burial

Death

Endnotes