John Barton Payne

John Payne
27th United States Secretary of the Interior
In office March 15, 1920 – March 4, 1921
President	Woodrow Wilson
Preceded by	Franklin Lane
Succeeded by	Albert B. Fall
President of the United States Shipping Board
In office 1919 – February 1920
President of the Chicago South Park Board
In office 1911–1924
Judge on the Superior Court of Cook County
In office 1893–1898
Personal details
Born	(1855-01-26)January 26, 1855 Pruntytown, Virginia, U.S.
Died	January 24, 1935(1935-01-24) (aged 79) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Resting place	Oak Hill Cemetery
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Kate Bunker Jennie Byrd Bryan ​ ​ (m. 1913; died 1919)​
Signature

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.

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]

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.

• John B. Payne, Ex-Member of the Cabinet, Dead, Chicago Tribune, p. 1, Jan. 24, 1935
• American Red Cross website^{[permanent dead link‍]}
• Fauquier County Public Library - Library History

Wikimedia Commons has media related to John Barton Payne.

• 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 Archived 2007-03-10 at the Wayback Machine
• Finding aid for the John Barton Payne Papers
• William & Mary Libraries Special Collections Research Center - John Barton Payne Papers