John Barton Payne

John Barton Payne
27th United States Secretary of the Interior
In office March 15, 1920 – March 4, 1921
President	Woodrow Wilson
Preceded by	Franklin Knight Lane
Succeeded by	Albert B. Fall
Personal details
Born	(1855-01-26)January 26, 1855 Pruntytown, Virginia (now West Virginia), U.S.
Died	January 24, 1935(1935-01-24) (aged 79) U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Jennie Byrd
Profession	Politician, Lawyer, Judge

John Barton Payne (January 26, 1855 – January 24, 1935) was United States Secretary of the Interior from 1920 through 1921 under Woodrow Wilson.

Life and career

Payne was born in Pruntytown, in what is now West Virginia, the son of Elizabeth Barton (née Smith) and Amos Payne. Payne was an attorney and longtime Chicago Democratic politician. Admitted to the bar in 1876 in West Virginia, Payne entered politics five years later as the chairman of the Preston County Democratic Party. He moved to Chicago in 1883, and was elected as a local judge in 1893. After resigning from that post in 1898, he was a senior partner in Winston, Payne, Strawn and Shaw. (A successor firm still exists today.) He was president of Chicago's South Park Board from 1911 to 1924, when Edward J. Kelly, later mayor of Chicago, succeeded him. He married Jennie Byrd in 1913. (She died in 1919.) After the outbreak of World War I, Payne went to Washington, D.C., to act as counsel for the Emergency Fleet Corporation and the national railroad administration. From 1919 through his appointment to Wilson's cabinet in February 1920, Payne was chairman of the U.S. Shipping Board. From October 1921 until his death, Payne was chairman of the American Red Cross. In May 1921 he pledged funds for a permanent structure for the [Warrenton Library][1] in Fauquier County, Virginia. He died of pneumonia, following an operation for an appendicitis at 1:06 a.m. January 24, 1935, two days before his 80th birthday — just early enough for an Associated Press obituary to run in the Chicago Tribune.

Known for his work for the Red Cross, Payne's use of the South Park Board to solidify the position of the Chicago Democratic Party has much less noted. Payne tried to bring volunteers and paid staffers of the American Red Cross, and also sent the organization in a new direction, organizing it to support local welfare efforts during both the deflationary period after World War I and the early years of the Depression.

Payne's donation of 50 paintings in 1919 and $100,000 in 1932 led to the founding of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, Virginia. Some of his personal papers were given to the Special Collections Research Center at the College of William & Mary.

In World War II, the United States liberty ship SS John Barton Payne was named in his honor.

Sources

• John B. Payne, Ex-Member of the Cabinet, Dead, Chicago Tribune, p. 1, Jan. 24, 1935
• American Red Cross website
• Fauquier County Public Library - Library History

External links

• American President.org - Secretary of the Interior: John B. Payne (1920 - 1921)
• Fauquier County Public Library - Library History
• International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement History - John Barton Payne 1922-35
• Finding aid for the John Barton Payne Papers

Political offices
Preceded by Franklin Knight Lane	U.S. Secretary of the Interior Served under: Woodrow Wilson March 15, 1920 – March 4, 1921	Succeeded by Albert Fall
Non-profit organization positions
Preceded by Henry Davison	Chairman of the International League of Red Cross Societies 1922-1935	Succeeded by Cary Travers Grayson
Awards and achievements
Preceded by James M. Beck	Cover of Time Magazine 12 May 1923	Succeeded by René Viviani