Thomas Mayo Brewer was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 naturalist

Natural history

Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...

.

Mayo is best known as the joint author, with Baird

Spencer Fullerton Baird

Spencer Fullerton Baird was an American ornithologist, ichthyologist and herpetologist. Starting in 1850 he was assistant-secretary and later secretary of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C...

 and Ridgway, of A History of North American Birds (3 volumes, 1874), which was the first attempt since John James Audubon

John James Audubon

John James Audubon was a French-American ornithologist, naturalist, and painter. He was notable for his expansive studies to document all types of American birds and for his detailed illustrations that depicted the birds in their natural habitats...

's (thirty years prior) to complete the study of American ornithology

Ornithology

Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and the aesthetic appeal of birds...

.

Brewer was born in Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

. He graduated from Harvard College

Harvard College

Harvard College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of two schools within Harvard University granting undergraduate degrees...

 in 1835 and from Harvard Medical School

Harvard Medical School

Harvard Medical School is the graduate medical school of Harvard University. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts....

 three years later. He abandoned his career as a doctor after a few years to concentrate on writing and politics, later becoming editor of the Boston Atlas. He then joined the printing firm of Swan & Tileston, which became Brewer & Tileston when he became a partner in 1857.

Brewer spent his spare time contributing to a number of ornithological publications, including John James Audubon

John James Audubon

John James Audubon was a French-American ornithologist, naturalist, and painter. He was notable for his expansive studies to document all types of American birds and for his detailed illustrations that depicted the birds in their natural habitats...

's Ornithological Biography. Brewer was a companion to Audubon, who gave Brewer's name to a duck, a blackbird and a rodent (Brewer's shrew mole) found on Martha's vineyard.

The Brewer family has been prominent in Massachusetts for 200 years, including James Brewer (1742–1806), an early American patriot leader and businessman, Gen. Wilmon Blackmar, a Civil War medal of honor winner, and Wilmon Brewer

Wilmon Brewer

-Early life:Brewer was born in Hingham, Massachusetts, and lived there for most of his life on his family's estate, Great Hill. When he was a young man, the family of his future wife, Katharine Hay More, purchased the property from Brewer's parents. During this time period, he and More fell in love...

, a poet, biographer, and philanthropist.