James Henry Mays

James Henry Mays (June 29, 1868 – April 19, 1926) was an American lawyer, businessman, and politician who served three terms as a U.S. representative from Utah from 1915 to 1921.

Early life and education Born in Morristown, Tennessee, Mays attended the district schools. He moved to Kansas in 1883 with his parents, who settled in Galena, Kansas. He worked in the mines and as a lumberman.

He attended the Kansas State Normal School. From 1893 to 1902 he was employed in the life insurance business in Chicago, Illinois, Dubuque, Iowa, and in Salt Lake City, Utah. He graduated from the law department of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in 1895.

Career He was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He moved to Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1896 and to Utah in 1902. Organized several industrial organizations.

Congress Mays was elected as a Democrat to the Sixty-fourth, Sixty-fifth, and Sixty-sixth Congresses (March 4, 1915 – March 3, 1921).

He was not a candidate for reelection in 1920.

Retirement and death He retired to his stock ranch near Wendell, Idaho, and died there on April 19, 1926. He was interred in Gooding Cemetery, Gooding, Idaho.

Legacy His home near Wendell, built in 1920 and known as the James Henry and Ida Owen Mays House, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.

Electoral history