Mayhew, Thomas, - 1657

Born in Southampton, England, Thomas Mayhew, Jr., was the son of businessman Thomas Mayhew, Sr. The family came to New England in the Winthrop fleet of 1630 and settled in Medford and Waterford, Massachusetts.  In 1642, Mayhew helped establish an English settlement on Noepe (Martha's Vineyard) where became a farmer and trader.  After learning the Wampanoag language, he and his father became missionaries to the local Indian community.  While his missionary efforts were chronicled in The glorious progress of the Gospel (1649), Strength outof weakness (1652), Mayhew and John Eliot wrote Tears of repentance (1653). Mayhew made a fateful trip to London in 1657.  After leaving Boston harbor, the ship was never seen again.  Silverman, Faith and Boundaries, 17-20, 34-36, 54.