SHEBOYGAN HISTORY

George C Mayhew, Page 268

GEORGE C. MAYHEW, a prosperous farmer of the town of Greenbush, residing on section 27, belongs to one of the early families of that town.  He is a son of Leander Mayhew, who lives on section 11.  The latter was born in the town of La Fayette, Onondaga County, N. Y., August 9, 1818.  His father was Levi Smith Mayhew, also a native of the Empire State, and an early settler of Onondaga County.  He married Polly Gannett, a native of Massachusetts, and unto them seven children were born, three sons and four daughters.  The sons and two of the daughters are still living.  The former are:  Leander; Alonzo, of the town of Greenbush; and Levi Smith Mayhew, who owns and occupies the old homestead in New York.  The sisters are Mrs. Sibyl Thomas, of Onondaga County, and Mrs. Mariette Webb, of Ripon, Wis.  Mrs. Phoebe Ann Whitney, the third sister, died in Fayette County, Iowa, January 29, 1881; and the other sister, Mrs. Sarah Burnham, died August 16, 1874, near Ripon.

    Leander Mayhew grew to manhood in his native State.  In 1838, he went to the State of Illinois, where he remained two years.  Returning to New York, he was married, on the 12th of November, 1840, to Polly Kinney.  In 1844, they removed to Wisconsin with their two children, and settled in what is now the town of Lisbon, Waukesha County.  In 1849, they removed to what is now the town of Osceola, Fond du Lac County, and in 1853 to the town of Greenbush, which has since been their home.  Since coming to the West, Mr. Mayhew has been located on five new farms, and has done his share toward improving the country.  Two of the farms were in Waukesha County, one in Osceola, Fond du Lac County, and two in Sheboygan County.  His first place of residence in the latter county was on section 36, and the second on section 27, where his son George C. now lives, and where he located in 1856, both in Greenbush Township.  On the latter place he lived until 1885, when he removed to his present place, near the village of Greenbush, where he has a few acres and is living, comparatively, a retired life.

    Mr. Mayhew built, and conducted for a number of years, a cheese factory near the present residence of his son George C., who succeeded to the business in 1881.  Since he assumed control of the factory it has been enlarged and extended, greatly increasing its capacity.  The factory was burned May 31, 1890, and immediately rebuilt, being in operation within twelve days.  The output was one hundred thousand pounds in 1892, and one hundred and twelve thousand pounds in 1893.  This factory is supplied with milk from thirty-four farms; thus it furnishes a ready market to the farmers in this section of the country, and is doing an increasing business.

    Mr. and Mrs. Leander Mayhew have three surviving children:  Mrs. Martha Williams, of the town of Rhine; George C.; and Melvin L.  They lost a daughter, Mary, at the age of twenty-three years.  Both husband and wife are members of the Free-Will Baptist Church.

    George C. Mayhew, as seen above, owns and operates the homestead where the parents lived from 1856 to 1885.  He was but a lad when his father settled here.  Then the country was new and wholly unimproved.  Here he grew to manhood, and on May 20, 1870, was married to Miss Jane Angus, daughter of James and Alice Angus, pioneers of the town of Mitchell, where they settled in 1846.  James Angus was born in Albany, N. Y., July 23, 1815, and his wife in Saratoga County, of that State, January 19, 1816.  The family, with a number of others, emigrated to Wisconsin from Sodus Point, on Lake Ontario, Wayne County, N. Y.  The father died in the town of Mitchell, in December, 1879.  The mother, whose maiden name was Alice Griffin, survives her husband.  They were the parents of five children, all of whom are natives of this county, and all are yet living except Kate.  Mrs. Mayhew is the eldest, and was born at what is known as Spring Farm, where the family lived before making a permanent settlement.  Her birth occurred July 2, 1848, she having been one of the first white children born in that township.  Kate, the second of the family, died at the age of twenty-three years; Oscar resides in Oshkosh; Volnew is a resident of Medina, this State; and John lives in Greenbush Township.

    Mr. and Mrs. George C. Mayhew have eight children, three sons and five daughters, namely:  Cora B., Ada A., Kate, Grace J., Angus, Ernest B., Annie M. and Joseph O.