Mayo, Jonathan

Born: 1793-03-25 Virginia

Died: 1885-04-22 Edgar County, Illinois

Flourished: Edgar County, Illinois

Mayo arrived in Illinois from Kentucky in 1817, settling in Hunter Township in what would become Edgar County. In 1823, he helped to organize Edgar County. In October 1823, Mayo became clerk of the Edgar County Circuit Court, a position he held for twenty-one years. Abraham Lincoln was involved in many cases in the Edgar County Circuit Court during Mayo's tenure. Mayo also held the offices of recorder, county judge, and notary public. In 1827, he moved to Paris, Illinois. During the Black Hawk War, Mayo served as captain of a company in the First Regiment, Second Brigade of the Illinois Mounted Volunteers. He owned real estate in Paris, Hunter, and Embarrass townships. In 1850, Mayo was a farmer, owned real estate valued at $8,500, and his household included two farm laborers and their families. By 1860, his real estate was valued at $12,000, and he still gave his occupation as farmer. On November 8, 1817, Mayo married Mary Morgan, with whom he had several children. He was a life-long member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Gravestone, Edgar Cemetery, Paris, IL; The History of Edgar County, Illinois (Chicago: Wm. Le Baron Jr., 1879), 225-26, 251, 253, 272, 307, 371-73, 386; Ellen M. Whitney, comp., The Black Hawk War, 1831-1832: Illinois Volunteers, vol. 35 of Collections of the Illinois State Historical Library (Springfield: Illinois State Historical Library, 1970), 1:303-5; Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales, Edgar County, 296:21, 34, 35, 58, 59, 106; 817:73, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Edgar County, IL, 196; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Paris, Edgar County, IL, 26.