Sacramento County
Biographies
JUDGE H. A.
MAYHEW
JUDGE H. A. MAYHEW.--The life of some men would, if properly told, fill a volume, and carry with it a lesson which in after years would be of exceeding value and absorbing interest. Among the men of this class we may mention the name of Judge H. A. Mayhew, the subject of this sketch, a brief page from the unwritten history of whose life finds a welcome place in the history of this county, which he has selected as his abiding place while resting from the labors of a very active life. He was born in Summerset (afterward Franklin) County, Maine, December 13, 1821, son of James Mayhew, a New England farmer and a deacon in the Presbyterian Church, a man who left the impress of sterling characteristics in a marked degree as a heritage to his son. The Judge was educated at the Farmington Academy, which was at the time in charge of Jacob Abbott, an author and literateur of eminence. He graduated at the Gorham Seminary in the class of ‘40, read law in the office of Hon. Robert Goodnow (afterward Congressman from the Farmington district), was admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of Maine in 1844, and at once began the practice of his profession in Farmington. At this period of his life, November 7, 1844, he was united in marriage with Miss Mary J. Pike. Three years later he emigrated to Ripley County, Indiana, where he remained engrossed in his professional duties for over thirteen years. He took an active interest in politics, making a personal canvass of the State upon several different occasions, notably in the campaign of 1852, as a Whig; later he became closely identified with the Republican party. He held the responsible office of District Attorney for several terms. Finally, his health having become seriously impaired, he, through the advice of his friends, sought relief in the highlands of Minnesota, going to Austin, where he resided for four years, but without experiencing the relief which had been hoped for. Prior to that, as far back as 1858 (at which time he became an active member of the Presbyterian Church), he was deeply interested in ministerial work; and in 1860, having passed the requisite examination, he was given the charge of a church at Rensselaer, Jasper County, Indiana. From this charge, as above stated, he went to Austin, Minnesota, where he continued his ministerial labors. In 1871 he came to Red Bluff, Tehama County, California, as pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, and here it was that the effects of the balmy atmosphere of glorious California brought relief for the distressing affliction of twenty years’ standing. In 1875 he was elected to the county judgeship of Tehama County, serving for four years in that capacity, until January, 1880, when the new constitution went into effect. He was immediately appointed Superior Judge by Governor Perkins, and took his seat in the spring of 1881. During the two years of his incumbency of that office, many cases of importance came before him for adjudication, notably that of Frank Kessler, the Tehama murderer, now serving a life sentence in the penitentiary; and the case of Winans vs. The Sierra Lumber Company, a lengthy suit, involving a large sum of money. Mrs. Mayhew is a native of Norway, Oxford County, Maine, a daughter of Charles Pike, and granddaughter of Grandfather Woods, who was a Revolutionary officer, and served on the staff of General Washington. With such a lineal inheritance we cannot be surprised that in association with her husband, the Judge, she has been equally prominent, and that together they have stood side by side in all good works. She, as well as the Judge, has always been prominent in church work. As an illustration of her earnestness, while in Austin, Minnesota, where her husband was pastor of the Presbyterian Church, her father presented her with $500, with which to build a home. She not only gave it to the church for the purpose of erecting a suitable building in which to hold services, but went to Minneapolis, bought the lumber, and secured the money with which to pay freight. All the pews was purchased by her with her money and the money she raised. Later she made the pulpit cushions, and cleaned the church, with the aid of her boys. She was one of the first subscribers for the first issue of bonds by the Government at the beginning of the war. Prompted by motives of patriotism, she carried her money to the First National Bank of Indianapolis and subscribed for the bonds, her money being deposited several months before the bonds were ready for issue. Thirty-seven years ago, Schuyler Colfax (who was an intimate personal friend of Judge and Mrs. Mayhew), widely known not only as a statesman and Vice-President of the United States, but as author of the Rebekah Degree of Oddfellowship, conferred this degree upon Judge and Mrs. Mayhew, and they are without doubt the oldest members of this degree in the State. The Judge was made an Odd Fellow in 1845. He held the position of Grand Master in 1870. Mrs. Mayhew is Past Noble Grand of the Rebekah Degree Lodge. Both Mrs. Mayhew and the Judge are active members of the Eastern Star degree of Masonry (the Judge already being a Knight Templar), which was conferred upon them by the eminent Dr. Robert Morris, the author of the degree, both having held the highest offices in the Eastern Star chapter. Mrs. Mayhew is Past Associate Grand Matron of the order, and has been frequently urged to accept the position of Grand Matron. She was chosen Superintendent of Finance of the State Woman’s Christian Temperance Union one year ago, and is prominent in the deliberations of the Independent Order of Good Templars. Mrs. Mayhew has served as Grand Vice-Templar in two different States, and has also been a representative to the Right Worthy Grand Lodge from two different States. For five years she has been a member of the Board of Managers of the Vallejo Orphan Asylum, and was chosen its president. For three years she was its financial secretary, and for three years chairman of the Purchasing Committee, filling these offices with distinguished ability. She was president of the Daughters of Temperance, a co-worker with Mrs. Amanda M. Way and Miss Eliza Richmond, of Indianapolis, whose reputation has been world-wide. She is withal a lady pre-eminently fitted to shine in the domestic circle. Four children, one daughter and three sons, have clustered around the family altar, and live to cheer and comfort their declining years, and to rise up and call them blessed. In 1887 they removed from Red Bluff and purchased property on P street, above Eighteenth, in the city of Sacramento, where we find them surrounded by a large circle of loving friends and acquaintances, enjoying the repose so richly merited.
Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
Davis, Hon. Win. J., An Illustrated History of
Sacramento County, California. Pages 657-659. Lewis
Publishing Company. 1890.
© 2007 Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.