John Mayo

The immigrant, from Farthinghoe, Northamptonshire, in New England by about 1638. Foster’s Alumni Oxonienses has “Mayo, John, of Northants, pleb. Magdalen Hall, matric. 28 April, 1615, aged 17”; no degree is listed (the archive.org OCR prints “1645,” but the entry sits among matriculations of the 1580s to 1620s). WikiTree (Mayo-13), citing Nickerson (NEHGR 95), quotes the will of John Mayo of Thorpe Mandeville, 18 Jan 1629/30, leaving “to my sonne Mr. John Mayo . . . a coffer of ash standing over the Kichin,” and reads the “Mr.” as showing the son was already a minister. It also says he lived at North Newington as chaplain to William Fiennes, Viscount Saye and Sele, citing The Diary of Robert Woodford 1637-1641 (2012), p. 138 n.183 (not seen).

Minister at Barnstable and then Eastham. At Barnstable’s thanksgiving in December 1639 the congregation “divided into three companies to feast together, some at Mr. Hull’s, some at Mr. Mayo’s, some at Brother Lombard’s, Senior” (Lothrop’s church record, quoted in Hawes pp. 28-29). The Mr. Hull was the Rev. Joseph Hull, who had brought the Holbrooks over in 1635.

He was ordained the first pastor of the Second (North) Church in Boston on 9 Nov 1655. On 21 Aug 1662 the church voted that “Mr. Mayo should have … sixty-five pounds” a year and 20s weekly from the contribution (Robbins, History of the Second Church, pp. 9, 11-12n). On 27 May 1664 he and Richard Mather ordained Increase Mather, who wrote of “my father and Mr. Mayo imposing hands upon me” (Robbins pp. 21-22). On 12 Mar 1672/3 he sold his Boston house to Abraham Gording for £210 (Suffolk Deeds 9:39, via WikiTree; not seen).

The Second Church record, in Increase Mather’s hand, as quoted by Hawes: in 1672 “Mr. Mayo, the Pastor, likewise grew very infirm, insomuch as the congregation was not able to hear and be edified.” On 15 April 1673 he “removed his person and goods also, from Boston to reside with his daughter in Barnstable where (and at Yarmouth) he hath since lived a private life, not being able through infirmities of old age to attend to the work of the ministry” (Hawes pp. 28-29). Robbins found receipts showing the church kept paying him “up to the time of his death.” Mather wrote that “he was a blessing to his people” (Robbins pp. 10-11).

He died at Yarmouth in May 1676 without a will; his inventory of 1 June 1676 came to £111 4s., beginning “Impr : in silver 35 00 00.” The estate went to “the three surviving Children of the said Mr Mayo,” and the agreement was signed by “John Mayo,” by “Joseph howes,” and by Thomas Huckins “In the behalfe of hannah Bacon.” Nathaniel Mayo, who married Hannah Prence, was also his son, the uncle of Daniel Mayo (b. 1664).

Open questions

• Who was the mother of his son John? Three theories, none proven: a Leiden marriage of 21 Mar 1618, “Jan Meyer” to “Timmosijn Breyck” (Mayo-Rodwick); Margaret Soden, Swalcliffe, 1619; or that the widow Tamasin was a second wife, possibly the widow of William Lumpkin.
• Read Nickerson (NEHGR 95:39-49, 100-108; 103:32-42) and Chauncey Mayo (1927) for his English origin.