JOHN COLES PAYNE (1782-1860)

According to W.B. Coles, JOHN COLES PAYNE was born at "Coles Hill, Hanover County, Virginia" (Coles, 1931), before his family's move to Philadelphia in 1783, as confirmed by the White House's website: "In 1769 John Payne took his family [from North Carolina] back to his home colony [Virginia], and in 1783 he moved them to Philadelphia, city of the Quakers." (https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/first-families/dolley-payne-todd-madison/).

JOHN COLES PAYNE married Clara Wilcox (b. ca. 1795 NY), daughter of Charles and Catherine (Ryan) Wilcox. JOHN and Clara and family were at Montpelier with James and Dolley Madison, where JOHN served as Madison's secretary until Madison's death (1836). Sometime afterwards they moved west, first to Newport, Campbell County, Kentucky, then on to Illinois (cf. 1840 Sangamon County U.S. Census), where daughters Dorothea (1838) and Lucy (1839) were married. Their daughter, Anna (Causten), had remained behind in Virginia as a companion to JOHN's sister, Dolley (Payne Todd) Madison.

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Excerpt of letter from Dolley Madison to General James Taylor of "Belle Vue," Newport, Kentucky, December 27, 1841:

"I have recd. yr. kind letter dr friend with feelings of much interest. To find myself still remembered by yr esteemed lady & daughter is gratifying to that attachment I cherish for you & them--& I thank you both for the kindness you have shown to my brother & his family who are in spite of their bad fortune inexpressibly dear to me--I still hope that adversity will not always follow them in their adopted Country & that smiling days still await them--my first wish on their leaving us was that they should stop in Ky. or O. & since they have come to the margin of both states--I trust that William will contribute to their comfort as you dr fd have so amiably done."

(Clark, A. C. (1914). Life and letters of Dolly Madison. Washington: Press of W.F. Roberts Co. p. 306)

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Excerpt of Last Will & Testament of Dolley Madison, drafted February 1, 1841, proved and recorded January 27, 1849:

"I give to my brother John Coles Payne one thousand dollars, to be laid out for his accommodation and comfort. I give to his sons William Temple and James Madison Payne three hundred dollars each, and I give to my niece Anna Payne, three thousand dollars, with my negro Woman and her children one third of my wearing apparel, my forte piano and the furniture of my chamber, with my private papers to burn."

(Source: Encyclopedia Virginia.org/. Transcription Source:

David B. Mattern and Holly C. Shulman, eds., The Selected Letters of Dolley Payne Madison (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2003), 355–356.)

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By 1850, JOHN and Clara and family had moved to Green County, Kentucky, and finally to Logan County, Kentucky, after 1850. The family remained there until sometime after JOHN's death in 1860.

1850 U.S. Census: Green County, Kentucky

John C Pane Male 68 Virginia

Clary Pane Female 52 New York

Mary Pane Female 26 Virginia

Louesa Pane Female 24 Virginia

Susan Pane Female 22 Virginia

James M Pane Male 21 Virginia

John Pane Male 1 Kentucky

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The Last Will & Testament of JOHN COLES PAYNE was proved and recorded April 30, 1860, in Logan County. The date the Will was originally drafted is not indicated. Some or all of the bequests appear to have been contingent as suggested by the first and last Items:

"In the name of God, amen, I John Coles Payne now of the County of Logan and State of Kentucky being of sound mind tho feable in body, do make and declare this my last Will and Testament, hereby revoking and annulling all former Wills and Testaments.

"Item, in case of a certain contingency occurring in the death of Mary C. Cousten [sic: Mary C Causten, granddaughter] before she reaches age of twenty-one, by her farthers [sic] Will he bequeaths me five thousand dollars should I survive her, should this happen.

"Item, I give and bequeath to my beloved daughter Dolley P. Thomas, now of Arkansas one-thousand dollars, requesting her to give five-hundred dollars to her son Benjamin Winston Dudley Thomas when he becomes of age or his going into business for himself. The remaining five-hundred dollars I give to said Dolley P. Thomas in full and __ controlled to me both interest and principal at her pleasure.

"Item, I give and bequeath to my crazy the beloved daughter Mary C. Payne now in the asylum near Hopkinsville, one-thousand dollars in full and __ controlled to me both principal and interest at her discretion, hoping her affection for her own children will induce her to preserve and apply it to her own and their use solely. I give to my wife Clara W. Payne the interest on five-hundred dollars and at her death I give and bequeath the said five-hundred dollars to my son James Madison Payne, and as proof of my deep affection and grateful sense of his devotion to me, I give to my said son James M. Payne one-thousand dollars in addition to the five-hundred already given at his mothers death.

"Item, I give and bequeath to each of my nephews James M. Todd and Richard D. Curtts [sic: Cutts] two-hundred and fifty dollars. And I appoint my said son James M. Payne administrator of this my Will and require that the respective shares be distributed as soon as Dr. Caustens bequest is received by my administrator from whom no Security shall be exacted.

"Signed:Jno. C. Payne (Seal)

"Witness:

P. G. H. Goodwin

T. Brezendine

"Logan County set at a County Court held for Logan County at the Courthouse in Russellville on the 30th of April 1860 the foregoing last Will and Testament of Jno. C. Payne, dec'd was produced in open court and proven by the oaths of T. Brizendine & P. G. H. Goodwin subscribing witnesses thereto to be the act & deed and last Will & Testament of the said Jno. C. Payne, dec'd & ordered to be recorded wherefrom the same together with this certificate hath been duly admitted to record in my office.Given under my hand this date above written.

"Signed James E. Wright, Clerk

By C. H. Caldwell, DC"

(https://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/payne/7976)

FINAL REST

The final resting place of JOHN COLES PAYNE is unknown. There is a small family cemetery in Russellville, county seat of Logan County, where Jonathan V. Payne (1774-1845) and some of his family members are buried (see Memorial 56861642). Whether Jonathan V. Payne and JOHN COLES PAYNE might have been related is unknown. There is nothing to suggest that JOHN COLES PAYNE was buried there.

1860 U.S. Census: Logan County, Kentucky

(June 22, 1860)

J M Paine M 32 Va

Clara F 63 NY

William Coles [Paine?] M 6 Ky

"J. M. Paine" (i.e., James Madison Payne), son of John Coles and Clara (Wilcox) Payne, was listed as a "Day Laborer" without property and as head of household with his widowed mother, Clara, and a child, William Coles (Payne?), in the 1860 Logan County Census, in District #1, with post office at South Union (cf. 1860 U.S. Census in Photos). Listed on the same page were "farmers, farm laborers, craftpersons, and merchants," which suggests that as a "day laborer" James was employed in some capacity other than farming. "T. Brezendine," who witnessed the LW&T of John Coles Payne (see above), was a neighbor listed on the same page.

JOHN COLES PAYNE's parents had been convinced Quakers in Virginia, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania, a Christian sect kindred in spirit with the Shakers. Historically, Shakers had emerged from Quaker roots in England. The surname of "Payne/Paine/Pane" has not been found in South Union Shaker membership or (surviving) cemetery records. However, the Shakers did employ nonmembers in their farming and business enterprises. This Payne family may have been living on the vast land holdings of the Shakers at South Union, and son James may have been an employee. Given these circumstances, there is a distinct possibility that JOHN COLES PAYNE could have been buried in South Union Shaker Cemetery even though he was not a recorded member. After the Shaker community came to an end (1922) and the property was sold, all of the original grave markers in South Union Shaker Cemetery were destroyed by the new owner (see Photos).

The date and place of death and final resting place of Clara (Wilcox) Payne are unknown, although it seems likely that she accompanied her son James Madison Payne to Randolph County, Illinois, where he married Louisa Thomas, formerly of Barren County, Kentucky, June 27, 1861 (cf. Memorial 21807091). James and Louisa Payne subsequently made their home in Franklin County, Illinois, and his mother, Clara, might have been buried there, if not in Randolph County.

FAMILY

For a list of and further details about some of the children of John and Clara, see Coles Family pages in Photos and the Memorials linked below.

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(Corrections and Updates Welcomed)