John Henry Mayhew was born on July 14, 1888 in Trousdale, Edwards County, Kansas, to Thomas Henry Mayhew (1858-1940) and Dorothea “Dora” (nee Frenz) Mayhew (1871-1940). He had two sisters, Minnie (1889 – 1919) and Anna (1891 – 1960). John’s father, Thomas, lived in a cabin in Nebraska with his parents Allen and Barbara Mayhew, and many siblings. The family was involved with the Underground Railroad, and Barbara’s brother John Henry Kagi (1835 – 1859) was second in command to abolitionist John Brown - Kagi died in the Harpers Ferry Raid in 1859 at the age of 24.

John Mayhew married his first wife, Eva M Roenbaugh, in 1914, and they had four children together: Delos Gordon Mayhew (1915 - 1979), Thurman Adrian Mayhew (1919 - 1981), Thomas “Tommy” Lee Mayhew (1925 - 2000), and Eunice Larue Greer (1931 – 2007). The family resided in Edwards County until Eva passed away in 1940 at the age of 47. In 1917, John served as the Trousdale School District Treasures, and in the 1920s he served as Edwards County Commissioner. He was the Kansas State House Representative for District 92, mostly representing Wichita, in Sedgwick County, from 1939 to 1949 as a Republican. While serving in the House he chaired the Roads and Highway Committee, served on the Agriculture Committee, and headed the first committee to regulate drilling and irrigation wells in Kansas.

John married his second wife, Patricia Dale Nichols, in 1948. Patricia was born on March 17, 1897 in Lamar, Barton County, Missouri, to James Spillman Nichols and Ruth (nee Dale) Nichols. She was the eldest of six siblings. She married her first husband, Thadeus T Solander, in 1922 and they resided in Osawatomie, Kansas. During her first marriage, she served as the first woman senator in the Kansas State Legislature under the name Patricia Solander, or Mrs. T.T. Solander, representing District 6 including parts of Kansas City, Overland Park, Merriam, and Edwardsville in Wyandotte and Johnson Counties, from 1929 to 1931 as a Republican. Among other accomplishments while serving as senator, she was an information representative of the State Safety Department of the Kansas Highway Commission. Her first husband Thadeus Solander passed away in 1937 at the age of 51.

John and Patricia Mayhew resided in Wichita, Kansas for the duration of their marriage, where John worked as a rancher. Patricia passed away on March 26, 1967 at the age of 70, and she was buried with her first husband at Osawatomie Cemetery. John passed on May 21, 1979 at the age of 90, and he was buried with his first wife at Fellsburg Cemetery in Edwards County, KS. He was survived by his children Delos (spouse Kathryn), Thurman, Thomas (spouse Jackie), and Eunice, as well as several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

[Information retrieved from sState and federal census records, WWII draft cards, findagrave obituaries, Kansas Memory from the Kansas Historical Society, The Parsons Sun from Newspapers.com, the Kansas Department of Transportation, “Kansas Legislators: Past and Present” from the Kansas State Library, and the Mayhew Cabin historic site of Nebrask City's website at https://mayhewcabin.org/history/museum/.]