John Barton Payne

His role in the memorial

John Barton Payne financed the Payne family soldiers memorial in Orlean, Fauquier County, Virginia. The monument honors 28 members of the Payne family associated with the American Revolution, War of 1812, and Civil War. Although Payne appears in the connecting family tree as the donor, he is not one of the names commemorated for military service.

Secondary histories identify him as the benefactor, including a 2004 Washington Post account and the 2009 National Register nomination for the Orlean Historic District.

Biographical overview

Born on January 26, 1855, in Pruntytown, then Virginia (now West Virginia), Payne spent part of his childhood in the Orlean area, where his family returned in 1860. He became a lawyer and later a judge of the Superior Court of Cook County, Illinois.

He served as U.S. Secretary of the Interior under President Woodrow Wilson from 1920 to 1921. He subsequently chaired the American Red Cross and remained associated with its leadership until his death on January 24, 1935.

Payne also helped establish the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts through gifts of artwork and financial support. Those activities form part of his wider legacy, but his connection to this website is his role in commemorating the Payne family's military history.

Family connection

Payne is represented in the research tree as VII-112 (Brooke Payne, The Paynes of Virginia, Section C). The selective database includes his parents and several connecting branches; it is not intended to establish every genealogical claim without independent primary records.

Reference in the 1937 genealogy: C VII-112; printed pp. 404, 442–444.