The Big Sandy news. [volume] (Louisa, Ky.) 1885-1929, 1914-05-29
JOHN c. c. MAYO.
A Few More Of the Many Tributes
Written About This Lamented
Kentuckian.
JOHN c. c. MAYO.

The Morehead Mountaineer, edited
by Mrs. Cora Wilson Stewart, has the
following tribute:
1.-THE State of Kentucky mourns the
loss of a distinguished citizen, the
mountains a devoted and beloved son.
No marble shaft, however immense or
tall, however bright or shining, can
fifty mark his resting place; but the
whole range of Eastern Kentucky hills,
the land which gave him birth and
which he loved, shall stand as proud
monument to John C. c. Mayo. He 1t
was who ennobled and made the world
to recognize, respect and revere these
very hills, who turned the eye of scorn
and derision into one of admiration for
his country, who silenced SANDER and
ELECTED for 1t the voice Of praise. He
was ours, and the loss-the great, the
irreparable loss is ours. The anxiety
of the watchers at his bedside was
shared by the mountaineers-all of us,
on hillsides, in valleys, in coves, and
in hollows. Day after day among the
hill people the salutation has been,
How is John Mayo today?" and as he
improved or suffered our spirits rose or
fell. 1t has, perhaps, never been given
to a private citizen to be so well or so
universally loved. 1t has. perhaps,
never been given to the wife of pri-
waite citizen to have so many to share
her anxiety, or to the widow to have
so many to share her grief as has Mrs.
Mayo. He was great and true, and we
are clannish; all mountaineers are akin
in time of sorrow and distress. and
this great blow Is indeed our common
sorrow.
John c. c. Mayo was Kentuckian,
a Methodist, Democratic National
Committeeman, Colonel on the Gov
ernors staff, multimillionaire; but
first of all he was a mountaineer, with
all the traits of mountaineer highly
exemplified in his character. To many
he was best known for his marvellous
success as a promoter and organizer
and a financier; but to us he was best
known and most loved for his loyalty
to the people of the hills, and his gen.
erous giving of himself and sharing of
his means in the development and up
building of this country. Wealth new
er spoiled him for a moment, nor
changed in the slightest degree his
plain and simple mountain manner.
He employed his wealth as a means of
lettering conditions in his country
and of elevating its people. Many
church steeple on the hillside and in
the valley tells of his generosity many
q mountain school owes to him its eX-
istence; while an army of mountain
boys, who have become intelligent,
useful men, can testify Of his benefac-
ton, His name has meant to all a
synonym for thrift, industry, courage,
perseverance, honesty and benevolence.
His patriotism was manifested In ev-
cry way. The pictures even which
adorn the walls of his home today
that home completed so recently and
enjoyed by him for so brief spell
are not the worlds famous master
pieces, nor fair scenes of foreign lands;
but they are all pictures of mountain
scenery, the Breaks Of Sandy, the Old
Mayo Farm, jenkins when it was a
trackless forest, and other scenes among
the hills. When the remains of John
C. c. Mayo were conveyed up theSandy
Valley to their last resting place, they
were transported over a railroad that
his own thrift and enterprise has in
yited; from the station at Paintsville
the Cortege marched along a street
paved through his own pride and mum
ficence, and the holy was born to a
church building under his own careful
supervision and largely from his own
contributions-the most beautiful
church in all the mountains. This por
trays but glimpse of the intricate