In 1593, Thomas Mayhew was born in Tisbury to his parents, Matthew and Alice. After his father died when he was 21, Thomas became a merchant in Southampton. During this time, he met Matthew Cradock, another merchant who had been active in the colonization of the area of the USA which would later become known as New England. In 1631, Mayhew became Cradock's gent in New England, moving to Medford where he built a 'greate stone house'. Until 1646, Mayhew worked for Cradock, but some of the business affairs he was involved in didn't work as well as he had hoped, and Cradock grew unhappy.
Despite this, Mayhew was successful and popular , being elected as a Representative to the General Court, and a Magistrate. He also becmae a miller, merchant and bridgebuilder. Unfortunately, he suffered financial problems, and had to look for new opportunities.
At the time, the islands of (then) Martin's Vineyard and Nantucket were part of Maine, which belonged to Sir Ferdinando Gorges who acquired it fom Charles the first. However, he wasn't particularly interested in it and, when Mayhew heard about this, he set out to buy both the islands.On the 13th of October 1641, he signed a contract, and the island of Nanytucket became his. Ten days later, he added Martin's Vineyard to his collection. So, by 1642, Thomas Mayhew had become 'Governor' Mayhew, the master of the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. Among the towns he founded were West Tisbury and Chilmark, both named to comemerate Mayhew's humble birth in a small Wiltshire village.
To find out more...
Click here for access to West Tisbury's historical records
or
Click here for West Tisbury's 'Yahoo Regional' Page
(Both open in new windows)
