Oliver Hazard Payne was an American businessman and philanthropist.
Background
Oliver Hazard Payne was born on July 21, 1839 in Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. He was the son of Henry B. Payne and Mary (Perry) Payne. His mother was a daughter of Nathan Perry, honored pioneer merchant of Cleveland, who had been identified with the city's growth since going there as a fur trader in 1804. Soon after his son's birth the father, already successful in the fields of industry and commerce, entered upon a political career.
Education
Oliver Hazard Payne was educated at Phillips Academy and at Yale University.
Career
In 1861 Oliver Hazard Payne entered the Union army, his father having procured for him a lieutenant's commission in an Illinois regiment. Soon he was advanced to captain and his company took part in the engagements at New Madrid, Corinth, and Booneville, Mississippi. On September 11, 1862, he became lieutenant-colonel of the 124th Ohio Volunteers and on January 1, 1863, he was promoted colonel. He was seriously wounded at Chickamauga, suffered a long convalescence, and rejoined his regiment to take a gallant part in the battles of Resaca and Pickett's Mill, his conduct winning him the brevet of brigadier-general for "faithful and meritorious services. " In depressed mood after the arduous Atlanta campaign, he resigned on November 2, 1864. Apparently his men held their very young colonel in high regard.
Returning to Cleveland and entering business, Payne rapidly gained a place for himself in the iron industry and also in the pioneer field of oil refining. Until the formation of the Standard Oil Company in 1870, Clark, Payne & Company were the largest refiners in Cleveland and the chief of Rockefeller's competitors. Payne, however, became a shareholder in the notorious South Improvement Company (1872), and a few years later allied his oil interests completely with the Standard Oil Company. He was almost immediately made treasurer, which office he held until his removal to New York City in 1884. His holdings in Standard Oil were at one time exceeded only by those of John D. Rockefeller, the Charles Pratt estate, and the Harkness family.
While in Ohio, Oliver Hazard Payne was a heavy contributor to Democratic campaign funds, and through his father was influential in party matters. He also used his wealth to further his father's career and was charged with securing Henry B. Payne's seat in the Senate in 1884 by bribing the Ohio legislature. The charge, though never proved, was the subject of acrimonious dispute for years. In 1886 the Ohio legislature asked the Senate for an investigation and submitted evidence, but the Senate refused to act. During the debates in the Senate over combinations in trade and industry it was frequently charged that Henry B. Payne was there as a representative of Standard Oil. It was also hinted that Payne's support of Cleveland was a factor in the appointment of William C. Whitney, Payne's brother-in-law, as secretary of the navy. After going to New York Payne gradually divested himself of his oil holdings and invested in other fields, becoming a director in various banking firms and industrial corporations.
Oliver Hazard Payne was a dominant figure in the affairs of the American Tobacco Company and its subsidiaries and was influential in the affairs of the Tennessee Coal and Iron Company at the time of its absorption by the United States Steel Corporation. Yachting was his chief recreation, and every summer between 1898 and 1914 he visited Europe in his Aphrodite, which when built was the largest, fastest, and most luxuriously appointed steam yacht in the country. At one time it carried him around the world. He lived a bachelor at his Fifth Avenue mansion in winter, but spent other seasons of the year on estates in Ulster County, New York, or in Georgia.
Oliver Hazard Payne died on June 27, 1917.
Achievements
Interests
Oliver Hazard Payne was a yachtsman and built the steam yacht Aphrodite in 1898.
Connections
Oliver Hazard Payne was unmarried. He had no children.