Robert Burns Mayes (June 28, 1867 – February 18, 1921) was an American jurist. He was a state senator and justice of the

Supreme Court of Mississippi The Supreme Court of Mississippi is the highest court in the state of Mississippi. It was established in the first constitution of the state following its admission as a State of the Union in 1817 and was known as the High Court of Errors and Appe ...

from 1906 to 1912. Leslie Southwick
Mississippi Supreme Court Elections: A Historical Perspective 1916-1996
18 Miss. C. L. Rev. 115 (1997-1998).

Early life

Robert Burns Mayes was born on June 28, 1867, in Gallatin, Mississippi. He was the son of Herman Bowman Mayes, a prominent lawyer, and Charity (Barlow) Mayes. Mayes attended the public schools of

Hazlehurst, Mississippi Hazlehurst is a city in and the county seat of Copiah County, Mississippi, United States, located about south of the state capital Jackson along Interstate 55. The population was 4,009 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Jackson Metropolitan S ...

. He then studied law at the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment. ...

, graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1888. He began practicing law in 1890.

Career

In 1891, Mayes was elected to represent the 11th District as a Democrat in the

Mississippi State Senate The Mississippi Senate is the upper house of the Mississippi Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The Senate, along with the lower Mississippi House of Representatives, convenes at the Mississippi State Capitol ...

for the 1892-1896 term. In 1893, he was made a special agent of the

United States Department of the Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and t ...

and worked in this position until 1895. Mayes then moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, and practiced law before returning to Hazlehurst three years later. In 1900, Mayes was appointed to be the Chancellor of Mississippi's 5th Chancery District by Governor

Andrew H. Longino Andrew Houston Longino (May 16, 1854 – February 24, 1942) was an American politician from Mississippi who served as a United States Democratic Party, Democrat in the Mississippi State Senate, State Senate (1880–1884), the U.S. District Attorn ...

; Mayes was re-appointed by Governor

James K. Vardaman James Kimble Vardaman (July 26, 1861 – June 25, 1930) was an American politician from the U.S. state of Mississippi and was the Governor of Mississippi from 1904 to 1908. A Democrat, Vardaman was elected in 1912 to the United States Senate in ...

in 1904, and served until 1906. On May 10, 1906, Mayes was appointed to replace Jeff Truly as an associate justice of the

. After the resignation of Chief Justice Albert H. Whitfield, Mayes became the Court's new chief justice on April 16, 1910. Mayes resigned from the Court on August 8, 1912, to return to private practice. He then joined the law firm known as Mayes & Mayes. He also became a district counsel for the

Illinois Central Railroad The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, was a railroad in the Central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama. A line also co ...

and the

Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad The Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad (Y&MV) was incorporated in 1882 and was part of the Illinois Central Railroad system (IC). Construction began in Jackson, Mississippi, and continued to Yazoo City, Mississippi. The line was later expanded ...

. He was the President of the Mississippi State Bar Association from 1913 to 1914.

Personal life and death

Mayes was a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

, and he was also a member of the

Knights of Pythias The Knights of Pythias is a fraternal organization and secret society founded in Washington, D.C., on . The Knights of Pythias is the first fraternal organization to receive a charter under an act of the United States Congress. It was founded ...

. He married Annie Lanier in 1892, and they had one son, named John Lanier Mayes. He then married Leila Hart Beatty on February 23, 1900. After Leila's death, Mayes married for a third time to Malvina Yerger in May 1920. Mayes died from complications from surgery at 6 PM on February 18, 1921, in

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson, officially the City of Jackson, is the Capital city, capital of and the List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city is also one of two county seats of Hinds County, Mississippi, ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mayes, Robert B. 1867 births 1921 deaths People from Hazlehurst, Mississippi People from Jackson, Mississippi People from New York City Mississippi lawyers Democratic Party Mississippi state senators Justices of the Mississippi Supreme Court Chief Justices of the Mississippi Supreme Court