Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1914-05-14

OdlnOuH mdyOs utilOCTdJlc ndJlODd
committeeman from Kentucky, die
here this afternoon at the hotel wher
he had been i'll since April 25. Col
onel Mayo was brought here TO
further treatment, after blood trans
fusion at Cincinnati had ia led. Hi
fortune made within the last Is year
by investments in mountain Goa
lands, is estimated at $4,000, 900
He was only 45 years old and leaves
wife and two children.
The death of John c. Calhoun
Mayo, the mountaineer who did more
than all Kentucky to develop the
hidden resources of his native noun.
tains, causes universal sorrow in the
State. All that science could do was
done to save his life but to no avail.
Mr.. Mayo's first severe attack was
one year ago last March at the Wal
dorf-Astoria. He got better, made
a trip to Europe and, seemingly, was
greatly benefited. The present at
tack began about three months ago.
Washington Mayo submitted to a
third operation last Thursday for the
TRANSMISSION of blood, but it was too
late, pericarditis had set in. The
aged mother of Mr.. Mayo was not
able to make the trip here.
Physicians say Mr.. Mayo broke all
records known to science by the man.
ner and length of time in which he
held out against the ravages of
Bright's disease. He was born Sep
TENDER 16, 1864, in johnson county,
near the Pike county line. His par
ents had come from Virginia and set
tied in johnson county. The elder
Mayo had nothing save the little
farm from which he wrested a living.
John c. Calhoun Mayo grew up on
the farm, assisting in the farm work
and securing as much education as
the schools of the Kentucky noun |
tains afforded. He decided to be-
come a school teacher, equipped him
self for this calling, and procured a |
teachers certificate at an early age. |
All through his youth and early man.
hood Mayo taught school. There
were not many teachers in the noun
tains, and the young Kentuckian was
able to keep continuously employed
during the school season. He trav-
lied from place to place, and gained
IN intimate knowledge of the Ken {
ucky mountains.
1t was while thus engaged that G
layo saw and took advantage of the
pportunity that brought him mil e
ions. He had some knowledge of t
Geology, and in his travels through n
he mountains he saw that the lands o
7ere rich with coal and mineral +
wealth. At that time there had been n
% development, but Mayo knew t
hat some day the country would S
eed the coal and the resources of K
he Kentucky mountains, and that t
ne man who possessed the land h
would come into a fortune. I
1t happened that the title to mil o
ons of acres of the mountain lands n
vas uncertain. They were included h
n the Virginia grants" which had e
cen made in the closing years of t
he eighteenth century. N
These lands were never settled and ,
ny unclaimed until settlers took .
barge of them. The Virginia !.
rants" however, affected the title u
0 the land. and made them of little y
alue. They were not of much worth D
S farm land, and no one cared to "
'uy them when the title was not =
N
artain. d
Mayo found that he could buy OPP
ions on these lands at nominal valu. A
tons for small sums in cash. The n
squatters" did not feel sure that ;.
he land they occupied belonged to !.
hem and money was scarce in the
fountains. Consequently for S5 in n
ash they were perfectly will ng to T
i've an option on immense tracts of Il
and. Year after year he taught :,
chool, did not spend cent that was "
ct necessary, and put ever dollar he v
ould accumulate into options on
fountain lands. AS he grew more
he enlisted his friendsl