Samuel Bert Payne

As printed in 1914

SAMUEL BERT PAYNE.

A well improved farm of eighty acres on section 28, Jackson township, pays tribute to the labors of Samuel Bert Payne, who has made his home thereon for over a third of a century. He is a native of Indiana, born in Clay county, that state, July 20, 1854, and is a son of James Robert Payne, whose birth occurred in Cumberland, Maryland, in 1830. His mother, who bore the maiden name of Mary M. Devore, was born in Ohio and reared near Findlay, that state. In their family were eight children. James Robert Payne came with a colony to this locality, and he became prominently identified with its development and upbuilding, serving as supervisor of his township for a time. Our subject's grandfather, Benjamin C. Payne, was also one of this colony and for some time conducted a store in Boone, besides owning and operating a farm. Our subject is today the only one living in this county who came with the colony at that time. His paternal great-grandfather was a native of England.

It was on the 5th of November, 1854, when Samuel Bert Payne was only a few months old, that he was brought to this county by his parents, the trip being made in wagons. He here passed the days of his boyhood and youth, attending school in Des Moines township in the second schoolhouse built in Boone county. His first teacher was Jonathan Kellogg. He continued his education at intervals until he attained his majority and in the meantime acquired an excellent knowledge of agricultural pursuits by aiding his father in the work of the home farm. On the 12th of September, 1880, he was united in marriage to Miss Jennie B. Abraham of Boone county, who was born in Canada and is a daughter of James and Maria (Wilson) Abraham. Her father was a native of Ireland, and her mother was born on the ocean while the family were enroute to the new world. It was in 1866 that the Abrahams came to Boone county and settled in Colfax township.

Since 1880 Mr. Payne has made his home upon his present farm and has erected all of the buildings now found thereon. It was wild land when it came into his possession, but the improvements that he has made have been substantial and it today ranks among the best cultivated and most desirable farms of the locality. Mr. and Mrs. Payne have two children, Walter Scott and Allie W. The wife and mother is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and the family stand high in the community where they reside. In politics Mr. Payne is a republican, and he has filled several local offices in a most creditable manner.

As printed in History of Boone County, Iowa (1914). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.