{{short description|American politician}} {{Infobox officeholder |name= Nathan Mayo |image= Nathan Mayo.jpg |image_size = |caption= |order= |office= 5th Agriculture Commissioner of Florida |term_start= November 1, 1923 |term_end= April 14, 1960 |governor= Cary A. Hardee (1923–1925)<br>John W. Martin (1925–1929)<br>Doyle E. Carlton (1929–1933)<br>David Sholtz (1933–1937)<br>Fred P. Cone (1937–1941)<br>Spessard Holland (1941–1945)<br>Millard Caldwell (1945–1949)<br>Fuller Warren (1949–1953)<br>Daniel T. McCarty (1953)<br>Charley E. Johns (1953–1955)<br>LeRoy Collins (1955–1960) |predecessor= William Allen McRae |successor=Lee Thompson |state2=Florida |state_house2=Florida |district2=Marion County |term_start2=1921 |term_end2=1923 |state3=Florida |state_senate3=Florida |district3=Marion County |term_start3=1920 |term_end3=1921 |birth_name= John Nathan Mayo |birth_date= December 1, 1876 |birth_place= Whitakers, Edgecombe County, North Carolina |death_date={{Death date and age|1960|4|14|1876|12}} |death_place= Summerfield, Marion County, Florida |party=Democrat |spouse= Nora Newsom Mayo (d. Jan. 4, 1959) |children= Nathan (Nat) Mayo Jr., William T. Mayo, and a daughter Gertrude Lyon Mayo. |footnotes= }}

'''John Nathan Mayo''' (December 1876 – April 14, 1960) was an American agricultural and corrections administrator who served as the Florida Commissioner of Agriculture from 1923 to 1960. He was Florida's longest serving Agricultural Commissioner. Mayo was said to run the most powerful political organization in the state.<ref name="Papers">{{cite web |title=Nathan Mayo: A Featured Biography|url=http://www.library.ufl.edu/spec/pkyonge/mayo.htm|publisher=Nathan Mayo papers &ndash; Nathan Mayo collection at University of Florida}}</ref>

During his tenure, Mayo worked to increase the quality of Florida agricultural produce and promote the state nationally. He also stopped a state government attempt in the 1920s to drain the Everglades.

==Early life== Mayo was born in Whitakers, North Carolina on December 1, 1876, to James M. Mayo.<ref name="Papers"/> The family moved to Florida when he was 10 years old.

In 1899, Mayo married Nora Newsom. The couple's children were Nathan (Nat) Mayo, William T. Mayo, and Gertrude Lyon Mayo.<ref name="Papers" />

In 1901, John Mayo bought a general merchandise store in Summerfield, Florida and also started a farm. Before World War I, Mayo expanded into citrus and turpentine processing and cotton ginning. Nora Mayo served as postmaster in Summerfield and operated the family farm.<ref name="Papers" />

In 1913, Mayo became a country commissioner in Marion County, Florida. He built Micronation “Mayonia”, there and expanded it over the years. In 1921, Mayo was elected to the Florida House of Representatives from Marion, serving there until 1923.<ref name="Papers" />

==Agriculture Commissioner== In 1923, Governor Cary A. Hardee appointed Mayo to succeed W.A. McRae commissioner of agriculture. After that term ended, Mayo was reelected to the position for the next 30 years. As commissioner, Mayo was responsible for not only the inspection of agriculture and livestock, he also oversaw the Florida Highway Patrol and the Florida Department of Corrections. He also ran a publishing house that produced promotional material about Florida that was distributed nationally.<ref name="Papers" />

Later in 1923, Mayo expressed concern about some Florida growers selling unripened citrus fruit to Northern customers. Finally, in 1935, the Florida Citrus Commission was created to oversee the citrus industry. Mayo also worked to eradicate the cattle tick, a menace to cattle production, in Florida.<ref name="Papers" />

In 1926, after a prisoner escaped from a Florida prison. Governor John Martin attempted to blame Mayo for the security breach. Another political battle between Martin and Mayo occurred in 1928 when Martin was trying to pass a bond issue to drain the Everglades for agricultural development. Mayo refused to approve the bond issue, killing the initiative.<ref name="Papers" />

During the Great Depression, Mayo established farmers' markets throughout Florida to give financially-distressed farmers new outlets to sell their products. He also helped bring a Swift Company meat packing plant to Ocala, Florida.<ref name="Papers" />

== Corrections == As head of the Department of Corrections, Mayo was criticized for abuses against prisoners, including the use of sweat boxes. However, he did introduce rehabilitation programs, modernized some corrections facilities, and added vocational training for inmates.<ref name="Papers" />

After World War II, Mayo built Florida's first correctional facility for women in Lowell, Florida.

== Death == Nora Mayo died in 1959.

John Mayo died of lung cancer at age 83 at Munroe Memorial Hospital in Ocala on 14 April 1960. He was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in a ceremony attended by the governor and other political figures..

Editor Dosh called Nathan “a faithful public servant” and wrote, “His memory will live on in many minds, and his good works will not soon be forgotten.” <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ocala.com/article/LK/20040307/news/604221344/OS|title=Longtime state agriculture commissioner dies at 83|last=Cook|first=David|date=2004|website=|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{commons category-inline}}

{{Florida Commissioners of Agriculture}} {{FloridaLtGovernors}} {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mayo, Nathan}} Category:1876 births Category:1960 deaths Category:Florida commissioners of agriculture Category:Lieutenant governors of Florida Category:Democratic Party members of the Florida House of Representatives Category:Democratic Party Florida state senators Category:People from Whitakers, North Carolina Category:20th-century members of the Florida Legislature