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Stephen T. Payne

A man of quiet, gentlemanly demeanor is Stephen T. Payne, farmer of Smithfield township, Fayette county, highly esteemed by his neighbors and fellow citizens of the community, and perhaps none occupy a more favored place in the minds and hearts of the people by whom he is known. His private character is above criticism and he has always aimed to keep his name and reputation unspotted.

Mr. Payne was born in Harlan township, this county, June 22, 1865, and he received his education in the public schools of his native community. He is the son of Allan S. and Melissa A. (Morton) Payne, native of Cattaraugus county, New York, the father having been born on May 14, 1838, and the mother on February 14th of the same year, she being exactly three months his senior. They grew to maturity and were married in New York and lived on a farm there for several years. In 1864 they came to Fayette county, Iowa, and bought a farm in Harlan township, where they made their home until 1888, when Mr. Payne sold out and moved to Fayette, where he makes his home at present. His wife is also living, and they are highly respected by a large acquaintance.

To Mr. and Mrs. Allen S. Payne eight children were born, of whom five are living, namely: Ernest resides at Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Watson lives in Idaho; Stephen T., of this review; Charles S. lives in Otterville, Iowa; Fitch W. lives in Fayette county.

Stephen T. Payne of this review lived on the farm with his parents until twenty-one years of age, when he married and rented a farm in Harlan township, which he worked for a period of five years, during which time he got a good start, and in the fall of 1890 he bought a good place of eighty acres in section 20, Smithfield township, where he has since made his home; he prospered from the first and has added another eighty to his original purchase, in the same section, now having one of the choice farms of the community, which has been well improved and on which stand excellent buildings.

On March 27, 1886, Mr. Payne married Caroline L. Hollister, who was born in Illyria township, this county, in September, 1869. She is the daughter of Henry Allen and Mabel (Talcott) Hollister, the father born in Vermont and the mother in Ohio, and they were married in the last-named state. About 1868 they came from Lake county, Ohio, to Fayette county, Iowa, and located on a farm.

Henry Hollister served his country in the war of the Rebellion, being a sergeant in Capt. Charles J. McDowell’s Company F., One Hundred and Seventy-seventh Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He received an honorable discharge at the close of the war. He held many public offices of trust and was a man of sterling worth and integrity. He died in 1877, at the age of thirty-seven years, respected by all who knew him. Mrs. Payne was one of a family of five children namely: Alice Mabel, the wife of J. F. Cummings, of Alpha, Iowa.  Horace Frederick at the beginning of the Spanish American war, enlisted in Company E, Fourteenth Regiment Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, and was honorably discharged at the close of the war.  He was afterwards killed by a vicious horse at Egan, South Dakota.  Caroline Louisa is the wife of the subject of this sketch. Lua Ellen is the wife of Edwin L. Cline, of Quimby, Iowa. Lydia Belle died at the age of twenty-four years. Mrs. Payne has also a half-sister, Mary Angeline Strickland, the daughter of Orion and Mabel (Hollister) Strickland.

To Mr. and Mrs. Payne seven children have been born, named as follows: Ellen E., who has born November 4, 1887, is the wife of William H. Barnes, of Harlan township; Maude E. was born June 22, 1894; Frank E. was born May 2, 1896; Alice M. was born September 22, 1894; Dorothea M. was born June 19, 1907; Henry A. and Helen A. (twins) were born August 8, 1909.

Mr. Payne is a Republican, but he has not found time to mingle much in political affairs and in political affairs and is no aspirant for public office, though he is always ready to support any measure looking to the general good of his community and county.

~transcribed for the Fayette Co IAGenWeb Project by Mary Aldrich