American politician and judge
John Barton Payne
(January 26, 1855 – January 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
[
edit
]
Payne was born on January 26, 1855, in
Pruntytown
,
Virginia
, the son of Amos Payne, who was a medical doctor and farmer, and the former Elizabeth Barton.
[1]
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
Chicago, Illinois
, in 1883,
[
citation needed
]
and was elected in 1893 to the
Superior Court of Cook County
, which he served on until resigning from that post in 1898.
[2]
Payne notably oversaw the
Patrick Eugene Prendergast
's unsuccessful appeal to his conviction for assassinating Chicago Mayor
Carter Harrison Sr.
[3]
After resigning his judgeship, Payne was the senior partner in Winston, Payne, Strawn and Shaw. A successor firm,
Winston & Strawn
, still exists. He was the president of the Chicago's South Park Board from 1911 to 1924.
In 1913 he declined an offer from president
Woodrow Wilson
to serve as
solicitor general of the United States
.
[5]
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 general counsel of the
United States Railroad Administration
Feb. 1918-Aug. 1919.
[6]
From 1919 through his appointment to Wilson's cabinet in February 1920, Payne served as the Chairman of the
U.S. Shipping Board
.
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
[7]
in
Fauquier County, Virginia
.
Payne was a founder of the
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
in
Richmond
in 1911, and he donated 50 paintings to the museum in 1919.
[8]
Some of his personal papers were given to the
Special Collections Research Center
at the
College of William & Mary
.
[9]
Personal life
[
edit
]
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
after an operation for
appendicitis
on January 24, 1935, at the age of 79. Two days later, an
Associated Press
obituary ran in the
Chicago Tribune
.
[
citation needed
]
Payne was buried in
Oak Hill Cemetery
in
Washington, D.C.
, next to his second wife.
[10]
In World War II, the United States
liberty ship
SS
John Barton Payne
was named in his honor.
Sources
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
|
---|
International
| |
---|
National
| |
---|
Other
| |
---|