John Payne (1788 - 1854)

Letitia Whiteman (1794 - 1852)

John Payne was the second child and oldest son born to Deval Payne and Hannah Innes Brent.  He moved with his parents from Virginia to Fayette County, Kentucky in 1789.  His father, Devall Payne, had served in the Kentucky legislature, was a State Senator from 1807-1811, and was a presidential elector in 1813, 1817, and 1825.  Devall was tall, with dark and piercing eyes; a very commanding personal appearance.  

John Payne removed to Mason County in 1792, and lived his entire married life in Augusta.  He received his degree in law from Transylvania University at Lexington in 1806, was admitted to the Kentucky Bar in 1809, and was later clerk of the Circuit and county courts in Bracken Co., Kentucky, until 1851.  He was a presidential elector in 1836.

John Payne first served in the War of 1812 as a private in Capt. Robert Smith's Company.  He was a First Lieutenant in the Kentucky cavalry commanded by Capt. Smith.  In 1813, at the request of General Harrison, he organized a company of light dragoons, which joined the Regiment of Col. Johnson on 22 May 1813, with John Payne as Major.  He retired from service as a Brigadier General of the Kentucky militia.

Letitia Whiteman was, herself, the daughter of a military man.  Benjamin Whiteman, losing his parents in early boyhood, he was taken care of by his oldest sister, Mrs. Wood, and removed with the Woods to Limestone [Maysville], Mason County, Kentucky, at age 13.  He married Catherine Davis in 1793 in Kentucky and moved his family in the Fall of 1799 to Beavercreek, Greene Co., Ohio.  Letitia was the first of their nine children.  Benjamin had been an Indian fighter with Daniel Boone in Kentucky and involved in Ohio’s earlier “border wars.” He was appointed Brigadeer General of Ohio’s Third Brigade in 1805 and Major General of the Fifth Division of the Ohio Militia during the War of 1812.

John Payne was twice married.  His first wife, Eliza Sprigg, died in 1810, less than two years after their marriage.  He married Letitia three years later.  They raised a family of ten children in Augusta, Kentucky.  Letitia Payne died there 0n 23 September 1852 and her husband on 18 Jan 1854.  Presumably, they are buried in Augusta.