Robert H. May, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

    

Robert H. May

American mayor

Date of Birth: 28-Nov-1822

Place of Birth: Augusta, Georgia, United States

Date of Death: 07-Feb-1903

Profession: businessperson, politician

Nationality: United States

Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius


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About Robert H. May

  • Robert H.
  • May (November 28, 1822 – February 7, 1903) was born in Augusta, Georgia.
  • With his parents, he shortly moved to the neighboring counties of Lincoln and Columbia, where they farmed.
  • In his early teens, May moved back to Augusta, Georgia, where he was apprenticed to be a wheelwright with Hubert & Roll.
  • While working at this trade he eventually became a partner in the business, and in 1852 started his own carriage manufacturing business, named R.
  • H.
  • May & Co.; which soon became a leading manufacture of carriages, buggies and farm wagons throughout the south. On February 27, 1845, Robert May married the former Miss Josephine A.
  • Calhoun, daughter of Rev.
  • David Wardlaw Calhoun and Adeline Augusta (née Dickinson) Calhoun of Augusta, Georgia.
  • The wedding was at the home of the bride and officiated by Rev.
  • Josiah Lewis, pastor of St.
  • Johns Methodist church; which Rev.
  • Calhoun was connected.
  • This union produced four children: Aletha Francis (1846–1916), Elizabeth Adeline (1847–1848), James Thomas (1848–1924) and Josephine (1851–1852). As Robert May's business and family grew, May became active in community affairs.
  • He was a member of the Augusta City Council for several terms before being elected to the mayor's office in 1861.
  • In 1862, on his suggestion, the city council organized and sponsored the Augusta Purveying Association, which distributed funds and goods among the needy citizens.
  • Mayor May gave freely of his own money to help the needy, actions that were remembered in the years ahead when he ran for re-election.
  • He served five 1-year terms during the period of 1861-66 and was well respected by government officials throughout the state and citizens of Augusta, a like.Toward the end of the Civil War, Governor Joseph E.
  • Brown ordered Mayor May to burn the large amounts of cotton stored in the warehouses throughout Augusta to prevent it from falling into the Union Army’s hands.
  • In an open letter to all cotton owners in the city, Mayor May asked that they move their cotton from the city limits, because this would prevent a risk of the entire city being destroyed.
  • As it turned out, the Union Army never came to Augusta; and the cotton was never destroyed, thus saving many of the pre-war buildings. Again in 1879, the citizens of Augusta called upon Robert May to run the city of Augusta and elected him to four 3-year terms as Mayor through 1891.
  • During these years, Mayor May oversaw the expansion of the city and saw Augusta, Georgia become a leading winter resort that attracted giants of industry and sitting U.S.
  • presidents. It has been said that few men in Augusta were more dearly loved or more highly esteemed than Robert H.
  • May.
  • Even in his late 70’s, he was elected to three 2-year terms as Coroner of Richmond County starting in 1898 until his death in 1903. Robert H.
  • May died on February 7, 1903 in Augusta, Georgia at the age of 80 and was buried in Magnolia Cemetery in Augusta.
  • Robert H.
  • May was a man of great intellect, having superb integrity and noble spirit; his years of service were marked as honest and productive.
  • He gave his all to the city and community he loved and served.
  • The park across from Magnolia Cemetery he now rest, bears his name.

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