John PAYNE (1797-1869)

* father: unknown, possibly William PAYNE. John & Rebecca's marriage record says "In the presence of: William PAYNE and John HARRISON." For now, I will assume that William is John's father.

* mother: unknown, but I do have the name Hannah penciled-in. I cannot remember where I got Hannah from though.

* alternate mother & father: FindAGrave contributor Jim McNamara contacted me saying that a Baptism record exists for a John PAYNE born to a Daniel & Mary PAYNE on November 29, 1797 (which matches the birthday engraved on John's grave marker) who was baptized at The Cathedral Church of Saint Thomas of Cantebury (Anglican) in Portsmouth, (Hampshire), England, on January 3, 1798. (Thank you, Jim)

* siblings: John has at least one known sibling who becomes famous: a younger brother named Daniel C. PAYNE (c.1808-1841) of New York City. Daniel C. PAYNE is the fiancé of the ill-fated "Beautiful Cigar Girl" Mary Cecelia ROGERS (c.1820-1841) of New York City. Mary ROGERS works as a salesgirl in a cigar store near Greenwich Village; some clients and local artists allege that Mary's glances in the shop are flirtatious. On July 25, 1841, Mary tells her fiancé Daniel that she is off to visit her aunt. She then disappears. Three days later, Mary's mutilated body is discovered across the Hudson River in Hoboken, New Jersey. News of Mary's death becomes a national sensation. As Mary's fiance, naturally, Daniel is a suspect, but after investigations, Daniel's name is cleared -- put simply: Daniel was a drunk. Newspapers reprint John PAYNE's account of being with his brother Daniel on July 25th. Mary's death/murder is never solved. Some believe a gang of hoodlums murdered Mary, some believe Mary died after a botched abortion, some believe someone from the cigar store killed her. I read somewhere that Mary's death set a new precedent in how police do investigations. American author Edgar Allen POE lived in Greenwich Village around this time. POE's short story "The Mystery of Marie Rogêt" is based on Mary ROGERS. Daniel PAYNE dies two months later. Daniel crosses the Hudson River, gets strangers to show him where Mary ROGERS' body was found, and drinks himself to death, there, with alcohol and Laudanum.

* John is born November 29, 1797; London, England, United Kingdom.

* April 23, 1826; Saint George's Church (Anglican), Bloomsbury, Camden, Greater London, England
John (28) marries Rebecca NORBROOK (20). Rebecca is the granddaughter of an interracial marriage. Rebecca's paternal grandparents were Henry "Harry" NORBROOK (c.1713-1794) & Hannah (Cooper) NORBROOK (1732-1817) of Tunstall, Suffolk, England. Harry is believed to have been born and raised as a servant on the Norbrook Plantation in Jamaica, then brought to England and given to a reverend & his wife. The reverend passes-away first, the reverend's wife some years later. By her last will & testament, Harry becomes a freeman and inherits the generous sum of one hundred pounds. With his freedom and his fortune, Harry marries and starts a family. Notes written by a vicar in one of the couple's baptism records read, "Hannah Norbrook daughter of Henry Norbrook a negroe and his wife Hannah" and "The reason I have written that Henry was a negroe is so that future generations will be able to see how long it takes for the colour to wear out." Therefore, Rebecca is one-fourth Jamaican, her children are one-eighth, her grandchildren are one-sixteenth, et cetera, et cetera.

* John & Rebecca have ten children on record. The 1865 New York Census records "Of how many children the parent: 10.":

* Five children born in England are:
1.) Emma (Payne) MacKENZIE (1827-unknown/after 1885) is born in London, England. Emma marries William B. MacKENZIE (c.1822-unknown/before 1883); they have three children. William was born in Scotland. William works in dry goods; they live in Pottsville, (Schuylkill county), Pennsylvania, USA. I do not know where William & Emma are buried.
2.) John Thomas PAYNE (1829-1913) works as an importer of corks -- like his father before him -- then as a bookkeeper.
3.) Sarah Rebecca (Payne) PAYNE (1831-1878) is born in London, England. Sarah marries Harry PAYNE (1815-1903); they have two children. Harry was also born in England. I do not know if spouses Harry & Sarah are related at all, i.e. same last names. Harry works as a clerk; they live in Philadelphia, (Philadelphia county), Pennsylvania, USA. Harry & Sarah are buried in Mount Moriah Cemetery in Philadelphia which is the largest cemetery in Pennsylvania.
4.) Harriet PAYNE (1833-1872) is born in Bethnal Green, Tower Hamlets, Greater London, England.
5.) Ellen PAYNE (c.1836-1920)

* July 23, 1836; New York, (New York), New York, USA
John (39) & Rebecca (37) and their five children: Emma (9), Thomas (7), Sarah (5), Harriet (2 years, 6 months), and Ellen (5 months) arrive in New York City having departed from London, England, on the ship "Robert Morris." John works as a cork cutter and/or importer of corks. The 1850, 1855, 1860, 1865, and 1870 censuses record the PAYNE family living in Brooklyn, (Kings), New York, USA, where they house one Irish, female servant in each census.

* Four children born in New York, USA, are:
6.) Eliza (Payne) DELAFIELD (c.1839-1898) is born in Brooklyn, (Kings), New York, USA, and marries Civil War Veteran, U.S. Army, New York 12th Sappers and Miners, Engineers Company, Private, Clarence DELAFIELD (1831-1927); they have three children. Clarence works as a civil engineer; they live in Staten Island, (Richmond county), New York, USA. I do not know where Eliza is buried. Clarence may be in Hampton National Cemetery in Hampton, Virginia, USA.
7.) Alfred Daniel PAYNE (1840-1873) is born in New York City, (New York), New York, USA, and marries Mary Augusta (Ebbets) PAYNE (1840-1889); they have two sons. Mary is second-cousins with Charles Henry "Hercules" EBBETS, Sr. (1859-1925) who owns the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team and Ebbets Field (completed in 1913, demolished in 1960) from 1897 until his death in 1925. Mary and Charles, Sr. are both great grandchildren of Daniel J. EBBETS (1752-1842) & Elizabeth (Kip) EBBETS (1752-1837) of New York City. Alfred may have served in the U.S. Navy from the age of twenty-one until his death; one Navy roll-call sheet lists an Alfred PAYNE with the letters "A.D.P." tattooed on his forearm.
8.) Jane Elizabeth PAYNE (c.1846-1894) is born in New York City, (New York), New York, USA.
9.) Mary L. PAYNE (c.1848-unknown) is born in Brooklyn, (Kings), New York, USA.
10.) (unknown child) PAYNE (is born and dies before 1865)

* 1863; John Payne & Son, 51 Fulton Street, New York, (New York), New York, USA.
John (66) pays $6.67 tax on a $25,000 valuation as a retail dealer.

* John dies November 6, 1869; possibly in Brooklyn, (Kings), New York, USA.
Æ 71 years, 11 months, 8 days
Religion: unknown, possibly Anglican
Cause of death: unknown
Late residence: 27 South Oxford Street, Brooklyn, (Kings), New York, USA

* John is buried November 9, 1869; Green-Wood Cemetery, Willow Avenue, Brooklyn, (Kings), New York, USA.

* John's last will & testament is proved in December of 1869. His will was written in 1849. Notes written into the proving of the will reveal that John had suffered a severe stroke some time between 1849 and his death in 1869; after his stroke, John could no longer sign his own name. Notes tell that John's estate is worth less than $20,000.

* Section 175, Lot 19110
Buried together are:
1.) John PAYNE (1797-1869)
2.) wife, Rebecca (Norbrook) PAYNE (1805-1892)
3.) son, John Thomas PAYNE (1829-1913)
4.) daughter, Harriet PAYNE (1833-1872)
5.) daughter, Ellen PAYNE (c.1836-1920)
6.) daughter, Jane Elizabeth PAYNE (c.1846-1894)
7.) grandson, John Payne MacKENZIE (1858-1922)
8.) granddaughter-in-law, Margaret L. (unknown) MacKENZIE (1868-1924)
9.) great granddaughter, Emma Norbrook (MacKenzie) TRASK (1889-1953)
10.) great grandson-in-law, Walter Jerome TRASK, Sr. (1884-1953)
11.) 2nd great grandson, Walter Jerome TRASK, Jr. (1918-1969)
12.) unknown relation, Ida MacKENZIE, buried July 12, 1951
13.) unknown relation, William MacKENZIE, buried December 30, 1947

* Other PAYNE burials -- who may or may not be related -- in other areas of Green-Wood are:
Section 156, Lot 21446
1.) PAYNE, Alice; February 20, 1874
2.) PAYNE, John (1of2); February 20, 1874
3.) PAYNE, John (2of2); February 20, 1874
4.) PAYNE, John E.; March 26, 1884
5.) PAYNE, John T.; June 28, 1880
6.) PAYNE, Susanna E.; May 12, 1888

Section 206, Lot 21264
7.) PAYNE, John; February 20, 1874

Section 206, Lot 21059
8.) PAYNE, Eliza; May 17, 1873
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SECTION 206, LOT 21264
7.) PAYNE JOHN 1874-02-20

SECTION 206, LOT 21059
8.) PAYNE ELIZA 1873-05-17

* Note: the 1870 U.S. Federal Census does list John (72) as the head of house. For now, I am going on the assumption that the census taker made an error -- possibly the census taker first spoke with the PAYNE's servant who announced the family to the census taker as "the house of John PAYNE" or something like that. Hopefully, a photo of a PAYNE grave marker will clarify this. Hopefully, there is a grave marker.
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