Joseph Mayhew (1709/10 – 1782), eldest son of Deacon Simon and Ruth Mayhew, graduated from Harvard in 1730. His career included being a tutor of John Adams at Harvard, a Preacher, and Chief Justice of Dukes County, Massachusetts. Joseph Mayhew resigned in July, 1755 and returned to Martha's Vineyard. He never married but was a leader of the patriots in the American Revolution. He died in 1782 and is buried in Abel's Hill Cemetery on Martha's Vineyard near the grave of his uncle Experience Mayhew.