Paine Mayhew, Jane

Jane Paine Mayhew was the widow of Thomas Mayhew, Jr. (1621-1657), one of the early puritan settlers on Martha’s Vineyard. Jane’s husband had studied the language of the local Wampanoags and turned his attention to missionary work amongst the local natives. The family was living in abject poverty when the Rev. Henry Whitefield visited in 1650. Thomas Jr.’s reputation as a missionary among the Indians gained him a reputation on both sides of the Atlantic and he received some stipends from English sympathizers.

 

When he died in 1657, Jane was widowed with six children.  In 1658 she sought assistance from the Corporation for Propagation of the Gospel in New England to train three of her young sons to preach to the Indians.  Although the Corporation was hesitant to commit due to their young age and the projected expense, they did see fit to defray the expenses associated with the education of one of her older sons.  For a number of years thereafter the Corporation provided Widow Mayhew with funds for her encouragement and support, in honor of her late husband’s efforts among the Wampanoag. She married Richard Sarson in 1667 and had two more children.

 

ANB, under Thomas Mayhew, Jr.; ODNB, under father-in-law Thomas Mayhew. Pulsifer, Acts of the United Colonies, Vol. 2, pp.203-205, 210, 262, 291, 293, 296, 331.