Mayor Jay Holcomb Neff Esq, 33°
(Jul 12, 1855 – Aug 14, 1915)
Member, Temple Lodge #299

1893 - 32° Consistory of Western MO, Kansas City
1905 - Knight Commander of the Court of Honour
1909 - Coroneted 33° Inspector General Honorary

Occupation: Attorney, Publisher, & 1904-06 - Kansas City, MO Mayor
Alumni: Asbury University, Greencastle, Indiana
Interred: Forest Hill Cemetery

Jay Holcomb Neff was a newspaper publisher and Mayor of Kansas City, Missouri in 1904-1905.

Neff was born in Hartford, Indiana. He sold books to pay his way through Asbury College. He studied law and practiced in Peru, Indiana. He moved to Kansas City in 1881 found the city saturated with other attorneys. Without sufficient work as an attorney to support himself, he began working at the Kansas City Daily Price Current and eventually owned the publication which he renamed the Daily Drovers Telegram.

He was to buy similar publications in Omaha, Nebraska and St. Louis, Missouri and eventually rose from humble beginnings to become a dominant force in business circles of the west.

In 1901 an editorial in the Kansas City Drovers Telegram entitled "Call It The American Royal" was to end up causing the Kansas City Livestock Show to change its name to the American Royal. Jay Neff became mayor of Kansas City in 1904 and 1905.

It has been said that an individual cannot be judged by the manner in which  he treats his friends and social acquaintances but by his attitude toward those in  his service. Judged by this standard. Jay Holcomb Neff was a man who in every  way measured up to high ideals. Those in his employ were not part of a great  machine, but were his friends, laboring with him for a given end, and they recognized that at all times they had his kindly interest and could count upon him for  justice and right in all things. He gave hope and courage to many and his life  was ofttimes an inspiration to those with whom he was associated.

After Jay Neff's death his son Ward Andrew Neff bought the Chicago Daily Drovers Journal and all the publications were merged into the Kansas City Drovers. His son also donated money from the estate to move the University of Missouri School of Journalism from Switzler Hall to a new building which was named Neff Hall in in honor of Jay Holcomb. At the time it was the biggest donation in University of Missouri history.