Bio. of Lewis Henry Mayne ~ husband of Isabelle (Vandervort) Mayne
IOWA
ITS HISTORY AND TRADITION
VOLUME III
1804-1926
L. H. MAYNE
Lewis Henry Mayne, the present able and efficient postmaster of Emmetsburg,
is a native of St. Lawrence county, New York, where his birth occurred on the
2d day of September, 1858. He is a son of Thomas and Jane (McBroom) Mayne,
both of whom were natives of the north of Ireland. His paternal grandfather,
John Mayne, was a man of much prominence and influence in that country,
having been at the head of the Orangemen's lodge and master of his Masonic lodge.
Thomas Mayne and Jane McBroom were brought to the United States by their
respective parents, the Mayne family coming in 1828 and the McBroom family about five years later. Both families settled in the same locality in St. Lawrence county, New York, and the young couple were married about 1842. There they settled on a farm, which remained the family home until 1864. The mother passed away in 1863 and in the following year the father, with his family, moved to Mendota, Illinois. In 1876 he went to Adair county, Iowa, where he remained until his death in 1893.
Lewis Henry Mayne was educated in the public schools, the Northern Indiana
University, and Eureka College, at Eureka, Illinois. He engaged in teaching
school for about six years in order to earn money with which to pay the
expenses of his college education, which he pursued after he was twenty-one years old, and the following ten years he devoted to educational work and study. In 1889 Mr. Mayne entered the railway mail service, in which he was engaged
until 1892, when he resigned and went to Algona, Iowa, where he bought a half interest in the Algona Republican, his partner being postmaster of that town. Mr. Mayne edited and managed the paper until March, 1894, when he sold his
interest in the paper and, coming to Emmetsburg, bought a half interest in the Palo Alto Reporter. He edited the paper until April, 1898, when he enlisted for service in the Spanish-American war, becoming a member of Company K,
Fifty-second Regiment, Iowa Volunteer Infantry. He was mustered out of the service on October 30th of that year and on his return to Emmetsburg he bought his partner's interest in the Palo Alto Reporter, thus becoming sole owner. In 1920 his son Clifford succeeded him as editor and manager of the paper. In the fall of 1918, and again in 1920, Mr. Mayne was elected to represent his county in the Iowa state legislature, serving in the thirty-eight and
thirty-ninth general assemblies. Mr. Mayne was appointed postmaster of Emmetsburg under President McKinley and served eight years, and he is again serving in that position, although he served some months as acting postmaster before being commissioned. He is giving to the administration of the office the same careful and painstaking attention that he would to private business affairs, and the service rendered under his direction has been eminently satisfactory to the patrons of the office.
On September 2, 1891, Mr. Mayne was married to Miss Isabelle Vandervort, of
Tiskilwa, Iowa, and to them have been born four children, as follows:
Clifford, who is the editor of the Palo Alto Reporter; Hortense, who is teaching
Latin in the high school at Minot, North Dakota; Isabelle V., who is principal
of the consolidated school at Earlville, Iowa; and Winifred, who is a teacher
in the high school at Emmetsburg. The daughters are all graduates of
Cornell College, while the son is graduate of Iowa State University, of the class
of 1915. For his second wife Mr. Mayne chose Miss Florence Mabel Davis, to
whom he was married on July 26, 1907.
Mr. Mayne has been deeply interested in all local public affairs and
rendered effective service as a member of the city council several years.
Fraternally he is a member of Earnest Chapter, No. 108, R. A. M.; Holy Grail
Commandary, No. 70, K. T.; the Independent Order of Odd Fellows; and Palo Alto Lodge, No 252, K. P. He belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church, is a member of the official board and a local preacher. Her served as pastor of the church at Livermore for two years, and for two years at Woden, Iowa, besides which he has at various times filled other pulpits. He is a forceful and effective speaker and his sermons are always interesting and instructive. In every avenue of life's activities in which he has engaged he has been true and loyal and throughout the county in which he lives he enjoys a well deserved popularity.
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