Descendants of Prosper Payne
Generation No. 1
1. PROSPER1 PAYNE (if you wish to view a more extensive Genealogical report for the Paynes, please refer to the previous page and explore the 6 hyperlinks to Alice Marie Beard's websIte.)
Child of PROSPER PAYNE is:
i. JOHN PAYNE SR., b. 01 May 1776, New York State; d. 10 May 1864, Pontiac, County, Ill.
Generation No. 2
2. JOHN PAYNE SR. (PROSPER1 PAYNE) was born 01 May 1776 in New York State, and died 10 May 1864 in Pontiac, County, Ill.. He married (1) HANNAH EARLE in Orange County, New York, daughter of PETER EARLE and ELIZABETH BULL. She was born 08 Mar 1775 in Orange County, New York, and died 05 Mar 1856 in Vermilion County, Ill. Hannah's grave can be seen here at Songer Cemetery
He married (2) JANE MCCRACKEN 12 Feb 1857.
Children of JOHN SR. and HANNAH EARLE are:
i. SABRINA PAYNE. Born March 14, 1791 in Orange County , NY. She married to Nelson Miles before the family moved to Illinois. Read what little we know about Sabrina and see his gravestone on this page - Songer Cemetery
ii. ELIAS PAYNE. Born Dec.11, 1798 in Orange County NY. He may have died there. No further information is known.
iii. LOCKEY PAYNE. Born September 15. 1800 In Orange County , NY. He may have died there. No further information is known.
iv. DELILA PAYNE. This is the way her name is spelled on her tombstone in Songer Cemetery Born July 6, 1801 in Orange Co. NY. She married Thomas W. Douglass on Feb 18, 1818 at Rising Sun, Ohio Co., Indiana. He is also buried in Songer Cemetery. It is interesting to note that the Douglass family and the Payne family came to Catlin Township in Vermillion County, Illinois about the same time. They both owned land in Section 24 of that Township and must have been friends and neighbors.
v. PETER EARL PAYNE. b. February 9, 1803 in Orange County, New York. He married Elizabeth Ague in 1826 and were purported to have moved to California sometime between 1840 when his family is listed on the 1840 Illinois census and 1850. They are
not listed on that year's census. More can be read about him on the Alice Marie Beard web site.
vi. MORGAN LEWIS PAYNE. Born April 20, 1805 in Orange Co., NY. He married Rebecca Adams July 20. 1826, in Ohio County , Indiana before the family moved to Vermilion county. He divorced his first wife and married Sarah Barkley on Dec. 9, 1849 just after he returned from the War with Mexico. Much is written about Morgan Lewis Payne because he was a a respected war veteran of the Indian/Black Hawk wars of 1831-1832, the US War with Mexico (1846-1847) at age 41, and he served the Union forces honorably during the Civil War (1861-1865) at age 56.
◄ At the left is a great picture of Morgan Lewis Payne. He is shown in his full military regalia consistent with uniforms worn during the War with Mexico. I received this photo as a gift from the Catlin, Ill. Historical Society.
His military leadership ability was recognized early when he was elected a Captain of a Company of Mounted Illinois Volunteers at age 26 in 1831. It is interesting to note that Abraham Lincoln also was elected as a Captain of Mounted Volunteers during the Indian/Blackhawk Wars in 1832. Morgan died in Pontiac, Illinois on April 29, 1878 (age 72). For more information about this faithful "old war horse" and his "close encounters" with Abraham Lincoln, see Morgan Lewis Payne .
vii. ESTHER PAYNE. Born: March 17, 1807 in Orange County, New York . She married twice, the first time to John Thompson in 1823 in Ohio. She died March 17, 1899 and is buried in Springhill Cemetery in Danville, Illinois. According to Beckwith, (Vermilion County Historian) John, before he married Esther in 1824, served as a military courier in the War of 1812 when he was only 16. He crossed into Canada with troops in 1812, helping to seize Queenstown Heights. He had volunteered to go with the assaulting forces and hence had an ugly saber scar on his left arm. He taught school and had traveled over 13 states and British provinces before he was 23. After they were married, they settled on a farm north of Catlin, Ill. He farmed plus he continued to teach, was an assessor, and a Vermillion County Commissioner. He died on Sept 13, 1861. They were parents of 8 children.
viii. WILLIAM MILTON PAYNE. William Milton Payne was Sheriff of Vermilion County when his brother John Jr. was shot on the streets of Danville during a riot between Northern and Southern sympathizers in 1863. Much more about W. M. Payne here.
ix. SQUIRE LEE PAYNE. Born, Jan 29, 1811 and died Feb 7 1884. He is buried at Payne Cemetery, Eppards Point, Township in Livingston Co. Ill. His first marriage was to Charity Reynolds who is buried in Songer Cemetery. Squire Lee served as a Sergeant under his brother, Capt. Morgan Payne in the Black Hawk War of 1832. He at one time held the position of Highway Commissioner of Danville Township, Vermilion County , ill. Beckwith, in his History of Vermilion County, states that Squire L. Payne was operating a large stock farm near Chenoa, Ill. in 1879. I recently (March 2008) acquired some new information about one of the daughters of Squire Lee Payne, Albertine Payne who was a daughter by his second wife. For full genealogical details, please refer to the Alice Marie Beard site found on the previous Payne page. This information is from Greg Clingan, Albertine's great grandson.
Albertine is the daughter of Squire Lee Payne. She was born I believe in Catlin or Chenoa. She later moved to Catlin in about 1895 when she married William Hawkins who lived SW of Catlin. He was with Sherman in the Civil War when they burned the South according to the Catlin Clack newspaper which is in the Catlin Genealogy website. Albertine is buried in Songer Cemetery next to William Hawkins. Her daughters Clara Richardson and Hattie Shelton are also buried in Songer. Thanks, Greg Clingan
x. CYNTHIA PAYNE. Born Sept. 15, 1813 in Ohio. No further information is known.
xi. JOHN D. PAYNE JR., Born 06 Apr 1815, Hamilton County, Ohio and died 13 Sep 1863, Danville, Illinois. (our Ancestor) He and his wife Virletta are buried at Songer Cemetery. For more about John Payne, Jr., please click here.
xii. MARTIN PAYNE, b. 25 Jan 1817 in Dearborn, Ohio. Died July 2, 1900 in Albany , Oregon. He married Mary Price on April 19, 1838 in Vermilion County.
Generation No. 3
3. JOHN D. PAYNE JR. (JOHN PAYNE2 SR., PROSPER1 PAYNE) was born 06 Apr 1815 in Hamilton County, Ohio, and died 13 Sep 1863 in Danville, Illinois. He married (1) ViRLETTA O'NEAL 17 Jan 1836 in Vermilion County, Illinois, daughter of WILLIAM O'NEAL and MELINDA GRIMES. She was born 08 Sep 1819 in Indiana, and died 25 Apr 1847 in Vermilion County, Ill.. He married (2) PRISCILLA NIXON BEEZLEY (WIDOW) 31 Aug 1854. She was born 1824 in Ohio.
Children of JOHN JR. and VERLETTA O'NEAL are:
i. WILLIAM O'NEAL PAYNE, born 02 Apr 1837, Danville, Illinois; died 29 Dec 1888, Vermilion County, Ill. We know a great deal about William O. Payne as his great granddaughter is none other than Alice Marie Beard, well known genealogist for the Payne family. However, when my husband, Greg, and I visited Vermilion County this past summer (2007) we were able to pick up some tidbits about him which you can see here.
ii. ALONZO GRIMES PAYNE, b. 20 May 1838, Vermilion County, Ill.; d. 04 Mar 1905, Pekin, Ill. near Peoria. Click on the " Go Back to Payne Page" button at the top of this page or here, Captain Alonzo Grimes Payne, to learn more about 'Great Uncle Lon".
At the right is a photo Alonzo Grimes Payne taken early in his military (Cavalry) career. ►►► I received this photo from the Catlin, Illinois Historical Society courtesy of the kind ladies who work as volunteers there. He looks like a stalwart young man.
iii. MALINDA PAYNE, b. 1840, Livingston Co. County, Ill; d.
before 1911. No further information is known.
iv. ABEL WATKINS PAYNE "WAD", b. Jun 1841, Vermilion County, Illinois; d. 08 Mar 1923, Buried at National Cemetery, Danville, Vermilion County, Ill. He first marries (1) Harriet Balser on 10 Oct 1865. They have one son, Thomas L Payne. He divorces Harriet two days before he marries his brother William's widow, (2) Elizabeth Ann Oliver on 16 Oct 1889. Again, you will find a nicely written, complete, and factual account of Abel W. Payne's life and service record by going to the web site of Alice Marie Beard found on the Payne Family Page of my website. (Click on the " Go Back to Payne Page" button at the top of this page.) Even More stuff about Abel.
v. PERMELIA ANN PAYNE, b. 07 Jun 1843, Danville, Illinois; d. 14 Dec 1935, Oto, Iowa, buried at Peiro Bethel Cemetery. Read here some family biographical information about Permelia written by her grandson, Donald Humphreys Malcom. Also, read here arguments for the veracity of Permelia's many claims of her "close encounters" with Abraham Lincoln. You can read more about Permelia's plight leading up to her ill fated marriage to Thomas Doyle (AKA Frank Reed) at the bottom of this page Songer Cemetery.
vi. ADDISON C. PAYNE, b. Feb. 1844, Vermilion County, Ill; d. Jan 24, 1909, Ringgold County, Iowa. This is the sum of information I have about Addison. A mystery. Since Permelia's first son was named after him, her younger brother, it seems odd that more is not known about him.
New Information about Addison C. in the box below provided by Alice Marie Beard, May 2008.
Alice's writing is in black . My comments are in dark blue.
Alice took the time to research this information and send it to me along with all the pertinent census records that substantiate the information. I wish to thank her for helping me fill in a "piece of the puzzle" with further information about the Paynes. Permelia and Addison were probably very close as children growing up as they were so-called "Irish twins", born only 8 months and an unknown number of days apart. Adams County is the next county east from where Permelia and Joseph Malcom settle near Red Oak, Montgomery County, Iowa, about 1869. They appear to be still close. (More information about Addison C. Payne and the Guymans can be found here on this page: Songer Cemetery.
Alice Marie Beard continues to collect new information on the Payne Family and faithfully keeps me updated. Below is another box containing new found information about Addison C. that Alice sent me in March 2011. This is an indication as to why genealogy is so compelling. There is always one more piece of history yet to uncover. Thanks, Alice Marie. Click here to view 2011 Updatevii. GEORGE PAYNE, b. 25 Apr 1847, Vermilion County, Ill.; d. 25 Apr 1847, Vermilion County, Ill. Died with his mother in child birth.
Children of JOHN JR. and PRISCILLA BEEZLY (WIDOW) are:viii. MARY ANN BEEZLY., b. 1851; d. 1939.ix. JAMES BUCHANAN PAYNE, born 1857, Vermilion County, Ill; died 1939; married HETTIE O. WARNER. MORE about James Buchanan Payne. This is a good storyx. CARRIE HARRIET (HATTIE) PAYNE, born 1859, Vermilion County, Ill; died 1892, Vermilion County, Ill; married JAMES M. BARROW, MD. We believe she is the child who innocently pins the the Butternut Pin to her father's lapel which signified to many at that time that he was a "Southern Sympathizer." This is what Permelia, her half-sister related was the cause of his being shot on the streets of downtown Danville in 1863. For more information about this event read: John D. Payne. Jr. above. "Hattie" is buried in the cemetery plot of James Buchanan Payne and his family in Potomac, Illinois. Why?, is unknown. See her grave.xi. MARY A. PAYNE, b. 1862. No further information is known about her.
