William Mayo

Background

William Mayo was the son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Hooper) Mayo, was christened at Poulshot, Wiltshire, England, November 4, 1684.

Career

Prior to 1712 he went to Barbados, and made a survey of that island which appears to have been accepted as standard. William Byrd, 1674-1744, attests its accuracy, and in April 1722 the board of trade ordered its secretary to subscribe "for the use of the Board, for one of the maps of Barbados, which Mr. Mayo is about to publish". In about 1723 removed with his family to Virginia. When Goochland County was erected in 1728 he was appointed justice of the peace and county surveyor. In 1728, also, he helped to run the boundary line between Virginia and North Carolina. The task was not easy. At the Great Dismal Swamp the other surveyor "was excused from the Fatigue, in complement to his Lungs, " but Mayo won through. Byrd's high opinion of Mayo, who was appointed major of militia in 1730, led to their being associated in later enterprises. An expedition in 1731 was prevented by Byrd's illness, but Mayo was not idle, the council directing him to run the boundary between Goochland and Hanover counties. In 1733 Mayo accompanied Byrd on his "Journey to the Land of Eden, " and with him "laid the foundation of two large Citys. One at Shacco's, to be called Richmond, and the other at the Point of Appamattuck River, to be nam'd Petersburgh. These Major Mayo offered to lay out into Lots without Fee or Reward". Both sites were shrewdly located at the falls line. Within four years Mayo laid out the city of Richmond in a rectangle eight squares long and four wide. Each square was divided into four lots, which were advertised for sale in the Virginia Gazette, and each lot brought seven pounds Virginia currency. Meanwhile, in 1732, Byrd had been appointed a commissioner for the crown to determine the southern boundary of Lord Fairfax's proprietary, the Northern Neck. Mayo was selected chief engineer, and when the surveyors had completed their work he combined their plats into a general map "in a Masterly Manner, " a comparison with modern surveys demonstrating the almost uncanny accuracy of his work. The duties of the surveyor of Goochland having perhaps grown too onerous for a man of advancing years, in 1739 the council permitted Mayo to employ Ambrose Smith as assistant. Time had prospered him, and his surveys included many broad acres of his own. His will was proved November 20, 1744, and he is said to have died October 20, preceding.

Achievements

• One of the rivers encountered was named in his honor.

Personality

Quotes from others about the person

• "William Mayo endured the same Hardships and underwent the Same Fatigue that the forwardest of the Men did, and that with so much Cheerfulness as if Pain had been his Pleasure, and Difficulty his real Diversion" - William Byrd

Connections

Mayo married in Barbados Frances Gould. His first wife having died, he now (August 1731) wrote to induce Anne, daughter of John Perratt of Barbados, to come to Virginia as his bride; and she consented. He had eight children, four by each marriage.

Father:

Joseph Mayo

17 August 1656 - November 1691

Mother:

Elizabeth Hooper Mayo

1662 - 20 May 1740

Brother:

Joseph Mayo, Jr

23 March 1693 - 1740

Wife:

Frances Ann Gould Mayo

23 May 1693 - 15 June 1731

Wife:

Ann Perratt Mayo

31 May 1701 - 28 November 1773

Daughter:

Sarah Scott Mayo Jones

1714 - 1775

Daughter:

Anne Mayo Carrington

1711 - 15 February 1785

Son:

Joseph Mayo

1739 - 17 June 1802

Son:

Col John Mayo

17 July 1737 - 17 June 1780