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

DePauw University

DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, USA, is a private, national liberal arts college with an enrollment of approximately 2,400 students. The school has a Methodist heritage and was originally known as Indiana Asbury University. DePauw is a member of both the Great Lakes Colleges Association...

. He studied law and practiced in Peru, Indiana

Peru, Indiana

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 12,994 people, 5,410 households, and 3,397 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,815.5 people per square mile . There were 5,943 housing units at an average density of 1,287.7 per square mile...

. He moved to Kansas City in 1881 where he started working 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

Omaha, Nebraska

Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...

 and St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...

.

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

American Royal

The American Royal in Kansas City, Missouri is a livestock show, horse show and rodeo held each year in October and November at Kemper Arena. The Future Farmers of America was founded during the Royal and Kansas City's professional baseball team the Kansas City Royals derive their name from the...

.

After his 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 honor of Jay Holcomb. At the time it was the biggest donation in University of Missouri history.

His residences: 1319 Washington Street, 520 Gladstone Boulevard, 1008 Valentine Road

He is buried in Forest Hill Cemetery.