8629 i.
Elizabeth MAYO.17258. Rev. John MAYO
was born on 2 Apr 1598 in North Newington, Oxfordshire, England or Cattistock,
England. He was educated matriculated Magdalen Hall, in 1615 in Oxford, England.
He emigrated in 1638 from New England. He died on 3 May 1676 in Yarmouth, Barnstable
Co. Massachusetts. The surname Mayo is of Norman origin, and is a variant of
the Biblical "Matthew" or Mayhew (Cornish "Mayow"). Perhaps
John is son of John Mayo of Thorpe Mandeville (6 miles NE of Banbury), Northampton
County, England? John arrived in Massachusetts by 1639 and became a freeman of
Barnstable. By 1643 he was a teacher at Nauset (now Eastham). On 9 Nov 1655 he
was installed first pastor of the North Church in Boston, serving with Increase
Mather. He moved back to Barnstable in 1673 because of infirmity and age. In
the Old State House, Boston, now a museum, a tile is displayed from Pastor Mayo's
house. See "History of Andover, N.H., 17551-1906." At the time of his
death he resided at Yarmouth with his daughter Elizabeth. His son, Nathaniel,
b. ca. 1627, married Hannah Prence, dau. of Gov. Thomas Prence and wife Patience
Brewster (dau. of Elder William Brewster). This tribute was shared by an Internet
correspondent, 1/97: He was born while Elizabeth I was Queen, and a boy during
the reign of James I, he went to Magdelen College, Oxford University, in 1615,
but did not graduate. He wed and had all his children in Northamptonshire. He
was a Protestant minister in a time when the harrassed clery were obliged to
disguise themselves and to use assumed names. The whole family came to the Colonies
in 1638. "on March 3, 1639/40, in New Plymouth, at a General Court, Wm.
Bradford, Governor, Thomas Prence, Miles Standish.... assistants Mr. John Mayo
of Barnstable, Mass., and Job Cole admitted Freemen in this court and Sworn,"
(the term Freemen connotes men of peaceable conversation, orthodox in the fundamentals
of religion). He was a "pious and learned minister." He was steady,
reasonable and patient. He served the congregation at Nausett (Eastham) as a
"teaching elder" and moved there from Barnstable in 1646. In 1654,
they moved again, to Boston, so that he could become the first pastor of the
Second Church of Boston, "transplanted from the smallest town on Cape Cod
to the largest in the Bay, the 'Metropolis of America'. Was he not quite a person?
He was, humanly speaking, one who has done the impossible!" He was an overseer
at Harvard College, and he attended the graduation of the son of a fellow overseer,
Increase Mather, who became Pastor after John. He was paid 65 Lbs. as his salary.
He resigned his pastorate April 15, 1672/73, after 33 years in the pulpit. The
North Church pensioned him, not because he was needy, but for all the good he
had done. He was a sincere 17th century religionist. He was a resourceful man
whose mentality was far above average. He helped to found two towns and three
churches. He "never lost a friend except by death." "I have always
supposed that Mayo was quite a person. I dare say he has not had his justice
from the historians, quiet people who mind their own business seldom do."
Mariah Lawson (3506A Fairmont Blvd., Knoxville, TN 37917) shared 2/97 without
proof that John is son of the Rev. John Mayo, Sr., b. 1565 in West Orchard, Shaftsbury,
England, died by 17 Feb 1635 in Cattistock, England and buried at Cattistock
(wife perhaps Elizabeth ___). See "Builders of the Bay Colony," by
Samuel E. Morrison; "Description of New England", John Eliot (May,
1650); "History of Boston," by Snow; "History of the Second Church"
(1852)[formed 1649 and led by a layman until John Mayo was installed 9 Nov 1655;
27 Mar 1664 the church ordained as associate pastor Increase Mather, father of
Cotton Mather, because John Mayo's "voice was so enfeebled by age that his
parishioners could scarcely hear his messages."]
He was married to Thomasine.
17259. Thomasine
died on 26 Feb 1682 in Yarmouth, Barnstable Co. Massachusetts. Children were:
8629 i.
Elizabeth MAYO.
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