Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1914-05-14
COL. JOHN c. CALHOUN MAYO
DIES OF BRICHT'S DISEASE
Kentucky Millionaire SuccumbS To Fatal Malady In New
York After a Long Illness

" his nrSJ Dig zeal ana pant MS 100
4 firmly on the ladder of fortune. Thi
e was when he brought about the or
: ganization of the Consolidation Goa
r Company of Baltimore This com
: pany was to develop coal lands Of
S which Mayo also held the rights, anC
5 Mayo received for his share $3.50, 00I
! in cash and fourth interest in tn,
. company.
5 With the $250,0O0 cash Mayo re
turned to Kentucky. He owed al
this time about $4,000 for money
borrowed to develop his propertie;
or to buy options. He paid this and
closed options for all the land in
sight that he considered worth hav.
ing. Then he proceeded to organize
more companies, and three times
within the next year he repeated his
achievement of the Consolidation
Company. Thus, in 1902, Mayo had
made his first million.
The greatest part of his present
fortune was, however, still uncer-
tain. The development of the noun
tains had attracted the attention of
capitalists to the possibilities there,
and companies had been formed
which had bought options on the
lands from those who claimed them
under the Virginia grants" Thus
test law became necessary. In
January, 1911, the Supreme Court
handed down a decision, which af-
firmed the decision of the Kentucky
courts, and held that the title of the
"squatters," who had been living on
the land and paying taxes on it, was
genuine.
This decision of the Supreme Court
confirmed beyond any question
Mayo's options on the immense tracts
of coal lands he had been acquiring
for twenty-five years. Already the
possessor of millions through his de-
velopment of mining properties and
the Consolidation Coal Company, his
fortune was Immediately multiplied
many times. and the johnson county
school teacher stepped into the ranks
of the wealthiest men of his country.
And hehad the satisfaction of know
ing that his fortune was clean, that
none of it was made by depressing
or grinding down others. that all his
deals had been conducted in the
open, and that his millions came from
lis own foresight and his long years
# self-denial and patient waiting
The outside world which has form :
d its picture of the Kentucky noun
aineer through the feud stories,
nay gain a new idea of the real men
f the mountains from Mr.. Mayo.
lis rise from poverty to wealth did
lot change him at all. He stayed
rue to the mountains with his home
till at Paintsville. Johnson county,
ly., although he had a residence
here decidedly different from the
umble dwelling Of his boyhood.
he Mayo residence at Paintsville is
ne of the most palatial homes in
1t cost in the neighbor-
God of 100000, and it is construct
d in large part from stone that was
aiken from the Kentucky hills where
lr. Mayo found his fortune.
Mrs. Mayo is Paintsville girl.
he was Miss Alice Meek, the daugh.-
err of Mr.. Green Meek, who con-
ucted the hotel at Paintsville in the
ears when Mayo was a struggling
chool teacher. Mayo fell in love
Nth the hotelkeeper's pretty daugh-
err. Hiswoolng was successful, and
S soon as he was started on the road
o success they were married.
There are two children, John &C. i
iayo, Jr., aged sixteen, and Mary I
largaret, aged eleven. These child
en- are heirs to what is probably the
argest fortune in Kentucky.
Mr.. Mayo considered Paintsville
he finest town on earth to live in.
he first thing he did after receiving
he $3.50, 1000 from his first deal, was
0 establish bank at Paintsville
nth $4,000 capital. This capital
'as increased regularly on St. Pat