John Barton Payne

John B. Payne
Judge John B. Payne
27th United States Secretary of the Interior
In office March 15, 1920 – March 4, 1921
President	Woodrow Wilson
Preceded by	Franklin K. Lane
Succeeded by	Albert B. Fall
Personal details
Born	(1855-01-26)January 26, 1855 Pruntytown, West Virginia, United States
Died	January 24, 1935(1935-01-24) (aged 79) Washington, D.C., United States
Resting place	Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington, D.C., United States
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Kate Bunker Payne Jennie Byrd Bryan Payne
Profession	Politician, Lawyer, Judge

John Barton Payne (January 26, 1855 – January 24, 1935) was the American politician, lawyer and judge. He was served as the United States Secretary of the Interior from 1920 until 1921, under Woodrow Wilson's administration.

Early life and career

Payne was born on January 26, 1855 in Pruntytown, West Virginia, the son of Amos Payne, who was became as the doctor and the West Virginia farmer, and the former Elizabeth Barton Payne. Payne was the attorney and was the longtime from 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 the Chicago, Illinois in 1883, and was elected from the local judge in 1893. After resigning from that post in 1898, Payne was the senior partner in Winston, Payne, Strawn and Shaw. (A successor firm still exists today).

He was the president of the Chicago's South Park Board from 1911 to 1924, when Edward J. Kelly, from later mayor of Chicago, Illinois to succeeded him.

After the outbreak of World War I, Payne went to Washington, D.C., to act as the counsel for the Emergency Fleet Corporation and was the national railroad administration. From 1919 through his appointment to Wilson's cabinet in February 1920, Payne was to served as the Chairman of the U.S. Shipping Board.

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

From October 1921 until his death, Payne was served as the Chairman of the American Red Cross. In May 1921, Payne was the pledged funds for the permanent structure for the [Warrenton Library][1] Fauquier County, Virginia.

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

Personal life

Payne married from the first wife, Kate Bunker on October 17, 1878. She died, after the long illness from earlier years. Payne married from the second wife, the former Jennie Byrd Bryan on May 1, 1913. Jennie Payne died in 1919, and he remaining the widower in office.

He died of pneumonia, a following from the operation for the appendicitis at 1:06 a.m. on January 24, 1935, at the aged of 79. Two days later, before his 80th birthday, just before early enough for an the Associated Press obituary to run in the Chicago Tribune. Payne was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington, D.C., from next to his wife, the former Jennie Byrd Byran.

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