John Barton Payne (January 26, 1855January 24, 1935) was an American politician, lawyer and judge. He 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 a doctor and farmer, and the former Elizabeth Barton. Admitted to the bar in 1876 in West Virginia, Payne entered politics five years later as the chairman of the

Preston County Preston County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 Census, the population was 34,216. Its county seat is Kingwood, West Virginia, Kingwood. The county was form ...

Democratic Party. He moved to

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, in 1883, and was elected in 1893 to the

Superior Court of Cook County The Superior Court of Cook County was a court in Cook County, Illinois. It was preceded by earlier courts. 1845 saw the creation of the County Court of Cook County. In 1849, this was renamed The Cook County Court of Common Pleas. In 1859, this was ...

, which he served on until resigning from that post in 1898. After resigning his judgeship, Payne was the senior partner in Winston, Payne, Strawn and Shaw. A successor firm,

Winston & Strawn Winston & Strawn LLP is an international law firm. Headquartered in Chicago, it has nearly 800 attorneys in ten offices in the United States and six offices in Europe and Asia. Founded in 1853, it is one of the largest and oldest law firms in Chic ...

, still exists. He was the president of the Chicago's South Park Board from 1911 to 1924. JohnBpayne1910

In 1913 he declined an offer from president Woodrow Wilson to serve as

solicitor general of the United States The solicitor general of the United States is the fourth-highest-ranking official in the United States Department of Justice. Elizabeth Prelogar has been serving in the role since October 28, 2021. The United States solicitor general represent ...

. After the outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Payne went to Washington, D.C., to act as the counsel for the

Emergency Fleet Corporation The Emergency Fleet Corporation (EFC) was established by the United States Shipping Board, sometimes referred to as the War Shipping Board, on 16 April 1917 pursuant to the Shipping Act (39 Stat. 729) to acquire, maintain, and operate merchant shi ...

and was the general counsel of the

United States Railroad Administration The United States Railroad Administration (USRA) was the name of the nationalized railroad system of the United States between December 28, 1917, and March 1, 1920. It was the largest American experiment with nationalization, and was undertaken a ...

Feb. 1918-Aug. 1919. From 1919 through his appointment to Wilson's cabinet in February 1920, Payne served as the Chairman of the

U.S. Shipping Board The United States Shipping Board (USSB) was established as an emergency agency by the 1916 Shipping Act (39 Stat. 729), on September 7, 1916. The United States Shipping Board's task was to increase the number of US ships supporting the World War ...

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

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, or VMFA, is an art museum in Richmond, Virginia, United States, which opened in 1936. The museum is owned and operated by the Commonwealth of Virginia. Private donations, endowments, and funds are used for the s ...

in Richmond in 1911, and he donated 50 paintings to the museum in 1919. Some of his personal papers were given to the Special Collections Research Center at the College of William & Mary.

Personal life

Payne married Kate Bunker on October 17, 1878. She died after a long illness. Payne married his second wife, the former Jennie Byrd Bryan (daughter of the late Thomas Barbour Bryan), on May 1, 1913. Jennie Payne died in 1919, and he remained a widower in office. He died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

after an operation for appendicitis on January 24, 1935, at the age of 79. Two days later, an

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...

obituary ran in the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

''. Payne was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington, D.C., next to his second wife.

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

References

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

William & Mary Libraries Special Collections Research Center - John Barton Payne Papers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Payne, John B. 1855 births 1935 deaths People from Taylor County, West Virginia Presidents of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies American Red Cross personnel United States Secretaries of the Interior West Virginia Democrats Illinois Democrats Lawyers from Chicago West Virginia lawyers American art collectors Woodrow Wilson administration cabinet members 20th-century American politicians Deaths from pneumonia in Washington, D.C. Judges of the Superior Court of Cook County Burials at Oak Hill Cemetery (Washington, D.C.) People from Preston County, West Virginia Deaths from appendicitis