Albion Village President, 1861. Educator and author. Ira was the first president of the Business Educator's Association of America, organized in New York in the early 1880s. He was appointed by President Abraham Lincoln as the official Internal Revenue collector for the 3rd District of Michigan in 1862, and served until 1865. He was State Superintendent of Public Instruction for Michigan 1845-49, and 1854-59. When the Republican Party was organized in Jackson, Michigan "Under the Oaks" on July 6, 1854, Ira's name was included on the very first Republican Party Ticket, for the office of State Superintendent of Public Instruction, which he won in the fall election. Ira served as the third principal of the Wesleyan Seminary and Collegiate Institute in Albion, Michigan in 1853-54. He was the founder and president of the Albion Commercial College 1860-69, and the Mayhew Business College in Detroit 1869-1883. The latter was merged to form the Detroit Business University. He issued "College Scrip" currency which is collected in the numismatic world today, as well as a Civil War token dated 1863.
He was the author of the standard business textbook used extensively in both public and private schools in the U.S. and Canada entitled "Mayhew's Practical Book-Keeping." First published in 1851, the book was so popular that by 1875 it was in its 90th edition. He was also the author of other books, including "Popular Education for the Use of Parents, Teachers and Young Persons of Both Sexes (1850)," Means and Ends of Universal Education (1857)," "Manual of Business Practices," "University Bookkeeping (1868), and "Mayhew's Reference Book of Business Knowledge (1889)."
Parents: Wadsworth & Anna (Cooper) Mayhew. His wife was Adeline Sterling of Adams, N.Y. and the couple had three daughters: Ellen, Emma, and Fannie.