Cabell County, West Virginia Biography of Edward MAYS This file was submitted by Joyce Vickers, E-mail address: The submitter does not have a connection to the subject of this sketch. This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit organizations for their private use. All other rights reserved. Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other means requires the written approval of the file's author. This file is part of the WVGenWeb Archives. If you arrived here inside a frame or from a link from somewhere else, our front door is at http://www.usgwarchives.net/wv/wvfiles.htm The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume II, pg. 261-262 EDWARD MAYS is now in his second term as county superintendent of schools of Cabell County. He has given wisdom and discretion to the important duties of his office, and his qualifications rest upon his long and active experience in school work, including both rural and graded schools and close touch in his personal studies with some of the best higher institutions of education. Mr. Mays was born in Cabell County, in Grant District, November 25, 1884. His grandfather, Charles H. Mays, was born in old Virginia in 1825 and was one of the early farmers in Cabell County, where he lived until his death in 1900. Charles H. Mays, father of the county superintendent, was born in Cabell County in 1854, and for many years was a successful farmer there. Since 1918 his home has been in Huntington, where he is connected with a tobacco warehouse. He is a democrat and a leading member of the Baptist Church. Charles H. Mays first married Susan Braley, who was born in Meigs County, Ohio, in 1855, and died in Cabell County in 1886. Her only child is Edward Mays. The second wife of Charles H. Mays was Fannie F. Flynn, a native of Cabell County. She is the mother of four children. Alva J., the oldest, now an employee of the Union Transfer Company at Huntington, was a corporal in the heavy artillery during the World war, spent a year overseas in France, and was on duty at the front. The second son, Everett, is also an employee of the Union Transfer Company. The third child is Mrs. Lillie Stewart, whose husband is a painter and decorator at Huntington. The fourth and youngest is Raymond, an employee of the Western Union Telegraph Company and, like his brothers, living with his parents. Edward Mays attended the rural schools of Cabell County, finished a high school course at Milton, and in 1907 entered Marshall College at Huntington, where he has continued his advanced studies at intervals, is now a member of the junior class in the regular college course, and has also taken several extension courses. Mr. Mays did his first teaching in rural schools of Putnam County for two years, and for eight years was a rural school teacher in his native county. For two years he was principal of the graded school at Ona, and in November, 1914, was called to his important task as county superintendent of schools. He began his elective term of four years on July 1, 1915. His second election occurred in November, 1918. His official headquarters are in the courthouse at Huntington, and his supervision extends over ninety-five schools, 132 teachers and a scholarship enrollment of 4, 100. Mr. Mays served a time of the State Grading Board for Teachers, and is a member of the Cabell County Teachers Association and West Virginia Educational Association, and in 1921 was chairman of the County Superintendents Section of the State Association. He was deputy assessor of Cabell County from 1910 to 1914. Mr. Mays is a member of the Baptist Church, is a past chancellor of Milton Lodge No. 106, Knights of Pythias, and was representative to the Grand Lodge of the state in 1914, is a past councilor of Milton Council No. 188, Junior Order United American Mechanics, and representative to the Grand Lodge of the state in 1919-20. He is affiliated with Lewis Temple No. 22, Pythian Sisters; Rainbow Council No. 30, Daughter of American at Milton. During the war he was a "Four-Minute" Man, assisting in all the drives, and was chairman of the Rural Schools Organization of Cabell County Chapter of the Red Cross. Mr. Mays owns his home on Smith Street in Milton. He married August 24, 1909, in Cabell County, Miss Ella Havens, daughter of John W. and Mary (Young) Havens, who still live on their farm near Milton. Mr. and Mrs. Mays have two children: Blaine C. born November 3, 1910; and Bernard H., born January 12, 1913.