 May was a Democratic member of United States House of Representatives from Kentucky during the 72nd to 79th sessions of Congress.May was born on Beaver Creek, near Prestonsburg in Floyd County, Kentucky, on June 24, 1875.On June 25, 1898, he and his twin brother William H. May graduated from Southern Normal University Law School in Huntingdon, Tennessee (later named Union University, Jackson, Tennessee), and was admitted to the bar the same year, commencing his law practice in Prestonsburg.