Contra
Costa County
Biographies
JOSEPH
MAYO
JOSEPH MAYO. Although not a Californian by birth,
Mr. Mayo has spent so much of his life in this state that he is thoroughly
acquainted with its possibilities and intelligently conversant with its
history. Ever since boyhood he has made
a specialty of electricity, and the knowledge he has acquired of this science
easily places him in the front rank of the electricians of his part of the
state. At this writing he supplies
electric lights for his home town of Martinez, as well as the neighboring towns
of Port Costa, Antioch and Crockett, in which four places the list of
subscribers aggregates more than three hundred.
Mr. Mayo was born in Rock Island,
Ill., July 14, 1866, being a son of Henry H. and Agnes (Ingram)
Mayo. When but a boy he came to
California and completed his studies in the San Francisco schools. At sixteen years of age he became an
apprentice in a job printing office, but remained there only a short time. Becoming interested in electricity, he took
up its study and acquired much theoretical knowledge from text books, but
gained an even more valuable practical experience by working as a wire man and
through various other positions until he became manager of a lighting
plant. It was his ambition to acquire a
plant of his own, and this desire was gratified in 1898, when he organized the
Contra Costa Electric Light Company of Port Costa. In 1903 the concern was reincorporated as the
Contra Costa Electric Light & Power Company, and the offices were
transferred from Port Costa to Martinez.
As soon as a plant could be erected, the towns of Port Costa and
Crockett were furnished with an excellent system of lighting, an improvement that
was greatly appreciated by the people.
July 4, 1899, the park at Martinez
was illuminated by electricity through the energetic efforts of Mr. Mayo,
who took this method of convincing the people there of the merits of his
system. Popular appreciation at once
took a practical form. The only facility
for lighting previously consisted of a small gas plant. The people were awake to the need of better
facilities. Applications came to
Mr. Mayo for the lighting of stores and houses, and he now furnishes, in
the streets of Martinez, thirty-five lights of thirty-two candle-power each,
besides three arc lights. In 1901 the
plant was abandoned and since then the current of electricity has been purchased
of the Bay Counties Electric Company.
Promptness is one of Mr. Mayo’s chief characteristics. In the interests of the company and its
patrons he gives faithful service.
Nothing is neglected which will enhance the success of the system and
its appreciation by the people of the four towns to whom a supply is furnished.
By his marriage in 1888 to Louise
Jensen, Mr. Mayo has three children, Agnes L., Herbert J., and
Clarence I. In fraternal relations
he is identified with the Woodmen of the World; also with Sotoyome
Lodge No. 133, F. & A. M., of Healdsburg, Cal., in which he has served
as master. His Masonic connections
further include membership in Martinez Chapter No. 31, R. A. M. of
Martinez, and the Eastern Star, with which his wife is also identified. He is also an active member of the Martinez
Volunteer Fire Department.
Transcribed by Donna Toole.
Source: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Page 922. The Chapman Publishing
Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2016 Donna Toole.
Contra Costa County Biographies