John C. C. Mayo
| John Caldwell Calhoun Mayo | |
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| Born |
September 16, 1864 Gulnare, Kentucky |
| Died | 11 May 1914 (aged 49) New York, New York |
| Cause of death | Bright's disease |
| Occupation | Entrepreneur, Teacher, Politician |
| Net worth | US $20 million at the time of his death (equivalent to approximately $478,205,980 in 2016 dollars) |
| Political party | Democrat |
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John Caldwell Calhoun Mayo (September 16, 1864 – May 11, 1914) was an American entrepreneur, educator, and politician. He is known for attracting corporate interest in the coal deposits of Eastern Kentucky and Southwestern Virginia, leading to the development of commercial coal mining in the region.
Mayo was born in Gulnare, Kentucky to Thomas Jefferson Mayo and Mary E. Leslie Mayo. His family moved to Johnson County, Kentucky in 1870 from Pike County, Kentucky where they established their home in Paintsville. Mayo attended subscription schools until he enrolled to Kentucky Wesleyan College in Millersburg. He graduated class of 1879 and began teaching school in Paintsville at the age of 22. While attending college, Mayo had realized the potential of coal and other mineral deposits in the Big Sandy Valley.
During his teaching tenure, Mayo began to buy land and mineral rights in using his teaching salary. He would in turn sell the land or the rights to the land to eastern iron and coal companies at a considerable profit, while convincing them to invest in exploration and mining of the region. Mayo formed a real estate company in 1888 that specialized in acquiring land and mineral rights in Eastern Kentucky and Southwestern Virginia. In 1889, the company became known as the Paintsville Coal and Mining Company. Within two years, the Paintsville Coal and Mining Company owned nearly all of the Elkhorn Creek Coalfield.
Mayo's land began to increase in value in 1893. After he displayed coal from his land at the Chicago's World Fair, a wealthy businessman named Peter L. Kimberley purchased $10,000 in the company's holdings. This money was used to further expand the land and mineral rights owned by the Paintsville Coal and Mining Company. In 1901, Mayo founded the Northern Coal and Coke Company and transferred his landholdings in Johnson, Floyd, and Lawrence counties in Kentucky into the company. This greatly increased Mayo's wealth as he received $250,000 and 25% in company stocks. The Northern Coal and Coke Company controlled 130,000 acres (530 km2) in the Elkhorn Coal Field when it sold the company sold its land holdings and mineral rights to Consolidation Coal Company in 1909.
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