John Barton Payne was an American lawyer, politician and judge. He was a secretary of the interior and chairman of the American Red Cross.
Background
John Barton Payne was born on January 26, 1855 in Pruntytown, Taylor County, West Virginia, United States. He was the son of Dr. Amos and Elizabeth Barton (Smith) Payne. He was next to the youngest of ten children. His father, a country physician and farmer, was the grandson of Francis Payne, who served as an ensign in the War of the Revolution. On the eve of the outbreak of the Civil War, the family moved to Dr. Payne's old farmstead at Orleans, in Fauquier County.
Education
John Barton Payne attended school until he reached the age of fifteen. The family's income was small, and his early life was one of many hardships. From his father, who was generous in giving medical help without compensation to indigent neighbors, he acquired the philosophy of service that played so important a part in his later career.
Career
In 1870 John Barton Payne went to work as a clerk in a general store in Warrenton. His salary was fifty dollars the first year, and $150 the second. On January 1, 1873, Maj. Robert F. Mason hired him as manager of a general store, freight, and express office at Thoroughfare Gap, Prince William County, Virginia. After nine months, young Payne decided that the undertaking could not be made profitable and so advised his employer, who released him. He then entered the employ of Adolphus Armstrong, clerk of the county and circuit courts at Pruntytown, and in the evenings he studied law. In 1876, at the age of twenty-one, he was admitted to the bar, and began practising in Kingwood, Preston County, West Virginia. He also published a paper, the West Virginia Argus, and served as chairman of the Preston County Democratic committee.
In 1880 John Barton Payne was appointed a special judge of the circuit court of Tucker County, and in 1882 he was elected mayor of Kingwood. Seeking a wider professional field, he moved to Chicago in November 1882 and won immediate success in legal practice in that city. In 1893 he was elected judge of the superior court of Cook County. As a judge he was noted for his speed in dispatching the business of the court, his alertness on the bench, and the incisiveness and clarity of his decisions. Desiring to take a more active part in public affairs and in the practice of law, he resigned from the bench in 1898, before the completion of his first term. In partnership with Edwin Walker he then began a vigorous career as a trial lawyer. Later, he became a member of the law firm of Winston, Payne & Strawn, later Winston, Payne, Strawn & Shaw.
As president of the board of South Park commissioners (1911 - 1924), John Barton Payne was largely instrumental in establishing Chicago's largest playground system. He turned over his salary as president to a fund used for the purchase of mural decorations and pictures for the park's recreation and field houses. In 1913 President Wilson offered him the post of solicitor general of the United States. This, however, he declined. Following the entrance of the United States into the First World War in 1917, he was asked to serve as arbitrator in ship-building strikes on the West coast. He immediately accepted, and soon afterwards he gave up his Chicago law practice and moved to Washington. During the Wilson administration he held many offices. In 1917 he was appointed general counsel of the United States Shipping Board, Emergency Fleet Corporation, and in 1919 was named chairman of the board. At the request of President Wilson, he drafted the legislation under which the government took over the railroads, and from May 1920 to April 1921, served as director general of railroads.
In February 1920 he was appointed secretary of the interior, serving as a member of the cabinet to the end of the Wilson administration. As secretary he devoted particular attention to the development of the national parks, and to the conservation of the navy's petroleum reserves. On October 15, 1921, President Harding appointed him chairman of the American Red Cross. He accepted on the stipulation that he should serve without compensation and that he should pay his traveling and other expenses out of his own pocket. Presidents Coolidge, Hoover, and Franklin D. Roosevelt reappointed him to the same post. Under his chairmanship the Red Cross was called upon to undertake relief operations after many major disasters. These included the Mississippi Valley floods of 1927, the Florida hurricanes of 1926 and 1928, the West Indies hurricane of 1928, and the drought of 1930 - 1931.
In 1922 Payne was made chairman of the board of governors of the League of Red Cross Societies, which had its headquarters in Paris, France. In 1923 President Harding asked him to serve, with Charles B. Warren, as commissioner for furthering better relations with Mexico. This mission lasted four months. His humanitarian work brought him decorations and other honors from many foreign governments. In 1934 he went to Japan to preside over a meeting of the International Red Cross in Tokyo. On his return to the United States he resumed his usual duties at Red Cross headquarters, but soon thereafter his health began to fail, and following an operation for appendicitis he died on January 24, 1935. Funeral services were held at St. John's Church, Washington, on January 26, which would have been his eightieth birthday.
Achievements
Religion
John Barton Payne's religious affiliations were with Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church.
Interests
A lover of the fine arts, John Barton Payne was a man of broad and cultivated tastes.
Connections
John Barton Payne was twice married: first, October 17, 1878, to Kate Bunker, daughter of Judge Edward C. Bunker and second, May 1, 1913, to Jennie Byrd, daughter of Thomas B. Bryan.