Payne Family

The Lawrence County, Ohio Payne Family

From the late Drusilla Payne Mogavero Collection

Ohio’s Paynes

This is to give you a glimpse and some knowledge of the Ohio Payne’s.

In 1803 Ohio gained its statehood, and shortly thereafter, William Payne crossed the Ohio River and settled in Mason Township in Lawrence County.

In 1810 he was listed as one of the first settlers. His brother, Ellis Payne, was also named as being there simultaneously. However, he did go to Tennessee and brought back his wife, Mary Ragland, and month-old son, John B. He returned to Ohio in 1815.

In 1818 William was granted land in Mason Township, Lawrence County, Ohio. A John Payne was granted land nearby in 1816. Were they brothers or cousins? They all came from Bedford County, Virginia – there was also an Elliott Payne.

William Payne went from Bedford County, Virginia, shortly after his marriage in 1806, to Tennessee; he returned with 40 head of cattle and 15 horses and stayed a little while in Greenbrier County, Virginia, then onto Ohio. Whether there were children yet, I do not know. He and Diana had eleven children.

In an 1887 Atlas of Lawrence County, a map shows a cluster of Payne’s – all farmers living near each other.

Glenna Kingery Roach wrote in her “Pioneer Days”:

“In a span of one and one-half miles, more or less, there were 14 log houses. There was a settlement of Payne’s. I do not know who the first Payne family was, but there was — Payne — lived in a two– with his wife Samantha, who lived just below them in a frame cottage. All my parents’ neighbors were Payne’s.”

As a Sunday School was organized, Dora Payne and Mr. and Mrs. Sheridan Payne (her brother) were among those who helped.

“Dora Payne was a school-teacher-never married and spent all her adult life teaching children – she was well-liked.” (This is from the book, “Symmes Creek” by Wayne Ingles.) She was the granddaughter of Ellis Payne of Bedford County, Virginia.

Burlington was the first county seat, and the county commissioner was Thomas F. Payne. (from Henry Howe’s “Travels over Ohio.”)

Joseph McMillan Payne was also an early schoolteacher and Justice of the Peace.

One of Williams’s sons was “Captain” Uriah – he was in two wars – the Mexican and the Civil. He recruited his own company of 60 men – among them was his brother, William H. He was also a Justice of the Peace. He received 160 acres of bounty land for his service in the Mexican War.

Wilgus was a thriving pioneer settlement, and most early Payne were born there (My Father, Curtis, in 1884).

Fairview was their church – Baptist – and Fairview Cemetery is full of Payne’s and their related families. The first person buried there was Milton Payne (1871), son of the first Ellis Payne.

When Dr. Alva Justin Payne died, he was buried in Fairview Cemetery and on the family farm. They had the fence moved so that some of their lands would be used to enlarge the cemetery. Dr. Justin was the… Dr. William Payne was a practicing physician and the Health Commissioner of Lawrence County, Ohio.

There is now in Ironton Dr. Burton Payne, a physician, and Dr. Paul Payne, a dentist. Both are sons of Dr. Justin Payne. Ironton is now the county seat of Lawrence County., Ohio.

Jonas Payne died at 94 and was on the County Fair Board for 53 years. He was a farmer.

There is also at Lecta, Rev. William Payne, a minister of the Lecta Church.

Then there was Alpha Payne, known as “Shoe-Doc.” He had a shoe repair shop right across from the Courthouse. It was said that because so many congregated there to swap stories, more politics and affairs of the world were settled there than at the Courthouse.

When Dr. Will heard that my father had a heart ailment, he stopped by our farm in Madison County, Ohio (130 miles from Ironton) and examined him with his stethoscope in the barn where he was working.

He said, “Yes, you have a problem, but it won’t kill you.” He was Father’s first cousin.

I could go on and on with anecdotes, but this is enough for you to read. I’m telling you this because I know we stem from the same family source. I know that Elizabeth Payne, daughter of John & Sarah, was married at the home of Ellis Payne’s Father in Bedford County, Virginia (1799). Ellis stated when Elizabeth filed for bounty land for her husband, James Moorman’s service in the War of 1812.

We know that she had some connection. I wish that I could solve this enigma.

Signed by Drusilla Payne Mogavero,  great, great-granddaughter of William and Diana (Wilson) Payne

Gertrude Payne Deater’s Comments from her letters – Typed from the left photo above

• Moses Payne, Jr. had bright red hair.
• His brother John had read hair – a little darker – auburn
• They all had bright blue eyes
• Their mother had 14 children – 7 died in infancy.
• Sarah (Sadie) had black hair.
• Jim was the oldest son. He was in the Civil War. His wife was Isabelle – no children.
• Uriah was a lawyer, a Methodist preacher, and a father of 8 children. Dr. Will Payne was his eldest son.
• John was next to Miranda – he married Miss Niebert. They moved to Missouri. They had a daughter, Molly. John was a great singer fine voice. He came back once and sold his Ohio farm.
• Aunt Lou Sagers lived in Ironton and had three children. She died in 1902.
• Sadie (Mrs. John) passed away Oct. 1901.
• Amos and Dr. Will Payne were brothers.
• James Roscoe Payne died March 31, 1946, and is buried in Pleasant Cemetery, Mt. Sterling, Ohio (Madison County), the son of Moses Payne, Jr.

My note: Gertrude Deater was my father’s first cousin. She was born at Wilgus and lived in Kokomo, Indiana, and Chicago, Illinois. Marinda was her mother.

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I did not type the middle letter from the above photo. It is almost the same as the first letter, with a few notes-mm

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Gertrude Payne Deater’s Excerpts from her letters – Typed from the right photo above

• My relatives – old friends. I like people and especially elderly people, for I loved my Grandma Payne dearly. “(This was Marinda Justice Payne – mother of the 14 children). “Also, I love little ones if they are good – not rude or saucy.
• Amos Payne was Dr. Will’s brother.
• When you need comfort or help desperately, recite the Twenty-third Psalm.
• My note: Gertrude wrote to Florine Payne Timmons, daughter of James Roscoe Payne, and to me. Lewis Curtis Payne was my father. Curt and Ross were brothers of Moses Marion Payne, Jr. and Sarah Roberts Payne.
• Gertrude Payne Deater was my father’s 1st cousin. Her husband died in 1914. She was only married for 11 years. She had a son, John Deater, and a daughter, Audrey Deater. She lived in Kokomo, Indiana, and later, Chicago, Illinois. In 1951 she was 77 years old – the last I heard from her. She worked in a department store and supported her mother, a widow, and her two children.
• Told me: John Deater went to flying school in a class of 12 – 7 and was killed learning. Among the five who graduated were John and Charles A. Lindbergh (the famous one.) On John’s 1st solo flight with his Mother looking on, he hit a tree when landing and broke his leg. His first passenger was his Mother. She flew all over the world on trips arranged by her son. When she came to my home in Columbus, Ohio, for a several days visit, she brought the Payne ancestral data gathered by Amy Gretchen Edwards, a University City, Missouri lawyer and descendant of Elizabeth Payne Moorman. I sat up and night and copied it word for word. I’m glad that I did. I have passed it on to others.
• John Deather became a top executive of Eastern..(I do not have the rest of these notes)