Hollis,

My theory is that my Mayhew line originated somewhere in the Northeast but I cannot confirm it. To date North Carolina is the point of origin for all of the "Free families of color" that migrated to Clinton County, Illinois.

A brief overview:
Daniel Mayhew (1800-1862) married Elizabeth--maiden name unknown (1802-after 1880). Daniel appears on the 1825 state census for Clinton County, Illinois living close to Henry Curtis (another person of color). The children of Daniel and Elizabeth Mayhew were;
1.Henry Mayhew (1822 to 1888) married Eliza Hickman; ordained as a minister in 1852, died in Chetopa, Labette County, Kansas;

2.John William Mayhew (1827-1854) married Tennessee Broner. After his death in 1854 she married James Mayhew (younger brother to Henry and John);

3.Female (born circa 1830) no other information;

4.Sarah Mayhew (1831-after 1900) married Henry Killion--possibly from the Cherokee Freedmen group that fled into Illinois--not all Native Americans went to Oklahoma;

5.Mary Mayhew (1832-after 1870) married Harrison Glass;

6.James Samuel Mayhew (1833 to 1898) 1st married Tennessee Broner-Mayhew; 2nd to Elizabeth "Betty" Hunter; James served in Company B of the 55th Mass; he died in Labette County, Kansas;

7.Edward Mayhew (1835 to 1864) married Elizabeth Graham; Edward served and died as a private in Company B of the 55th Mass.;

8.Daniel Mayhew, Jr. (1837 - 1926) married 1st to Susan Hickman; 2nd to Josephine Hickman; 3rd to Sarah Anderson; he served in Company B of the 55th Mass and died in St. Louis, MO;

9.Elizabeth Mayhew (1839 to after 1900) married William H. Pendergrass;

10.Oliver P. Mayhew (1842 to 1862) married Susan Hickman; died serving in Company D of the 29th U.S. Col'd regiment.

Sorry this is so long. By the way, it is my wife that is the great great grand daughter of Henry and Eliza Mayhew. Photographs of Henry and Eliza clearly show the "tri-racial" heritage. Also death certificates for many descendants list them as negro, colored and white. Census records list them as black, mulatto, Indian and white.