Jesse E. Holmes

Holmes relocated to the Mississippi Gulf Coast with his family and at various times lived in Ocean Springs,[4] Bay Saint Louis, and Gulfport.

He was a much sought after public speaker who would appear at a wide variety of events including fundraisers, blood drives, community forums, and graduations.

[5][6][7] In 1917, as the United States was on the verge of entering World War I, reports were appearing on the Associated Press that questioned African American loyalty to the flag.

H. H. Lowe, pastor of 1st Baptist Church and G. W. Brown, principal of the black public school, spoke at a large assembly at the county courthouse in Bay Saint Louis, which culminated in a resolution declaring that the African American citizens of the community were loyal to the federal government.

During his speech Mayo was advocating among other things that black people should fight for “social equality.” In response to an article published about the meeting in the Biloxi Daily Herald, Rev.

In his obituary, which appeared in multiple area newspapers, it said about him, “He was a builder in the very essence of the word, and his death removes from every day life one of the colored leaders of the State who stood for the industrial uplift and moral development of the colored people.” [3] His funeral was officiated by Bishop Robert E. Jones, who had recently become one of the first two African Americans appointed to that position in the Methodist Episcopal Church.