 He served five 1-year terms during the period of 1861-66 and was well respected by government officials throughout the state and citizens of Augusta, a like.Toward the end of the Civil War, Governor Joseph E. Brown ordered Mayor May to burn the large amounts of cotton stored in the warehouses throughout Augusta to prevent it from falling into the Union Army’s hands.In an open letter to all cotton owners in the city, Mayor May asked that they move their cotton from the city limits, because this would prevent a risk of the entire city being destroyed.