Frances A Payne

Frances A Payne was a native of the state of Kentucky and was born near Lexington about 1834. Her grandfather was from Virginia and settled in the vicinity of Lexington around the turn of the century. Her father was Sandford K Payne and her mothers maiden name was Cragg. Her father was born near Lexington and her mother, Frances, in Woodford County, Kentucky. When Frances was two or three years of age her father moved to Shelbyville, Kentucky, and there purchased a farm and carried on a hotel and livery stable.

Frances Cragg Payne’s mother died in February, 1841. Following her death, her brother John lived with his sister, Nancy Dorsey near Louisville. He returned to his father in Mississippi after one winter. Whether or not Frances lived with family members during that time is not clear. The family subsequently lived in Yazoo City, Mississippi, where her father married again and carried on a plantation and raised cotton. Her father moved to Millikena Bend, Madison Parish, Louisiana, and Frances lived there till 1848, when they moved to Macoupin County.

Macoupin County census records of 1850 list a number of Payne family members having settled in the Bunker Hill area. The father, Sanford K Payne age 49 and son, John C age 20 are listed as farmers. William L Payne age 23, her old brother, his wife Mary from Maryland and daughter Mary V were also farmers. Nannie C Payne Dorsey, older sister, moved to Illinois in 1844 with her husband Basil H. Dorsey. Nancy was nineteen at the time. When Mr. Dorsey passed away is not known, only that she remarried Jackson Sisson on February 1, 1849. Jackson Sisson was a farmer in the southern part of Macoupin county.

John C married Eliza Cherry on April 30, 1854. John was very successful as seen in the quote from the county history book. “When he commenced farming, he had but scanty means, and was obliged to rely on his own industry and economy to get along as best as he could. His only capital which he had to begin with was a pony, which he traded off, and thus gradually secured money with which to buy his first twenty acres of land. He is now the owner of one of the best stocked farms in Macoupin county, composed of three hundred and twenty-one acres.

Frances and John Rightmyre Newcomb met during this time. They were married on November 5, 1850 in Bunker Hill, Illinois. Their marriage certificate reads:

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, To all who shall See these Presents, Know Ye, That License and permission are hereby given to any regular Minister of the Gospel, authorized to Marry by the Church or Society to which he belongs; any Justice of the Supreme Court; Judge of any Inferior Court; or any Justice of the Peace: to celebrate and certify the Marriage of Mr. John R Newcomb and Miss Frances Payne now both of this County, according to the usual custom, and the Laws of Illinois. Witness, EnochWall Clerk of the County Court of Macoupin County, Illinois, and Seal thereof being herto affixed, at Carlinville this 4th day of November in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and fifty. Enoch Wall,Clerk

THIS IS TO CERTIFY, That on the fifth day of November A.D. 1850, I joined in the Holy Bands of Matrimony, Mr. John R Newcomb and Miss Frances Payne according to the usual custom and the Laws of Illinois. Given under my hand and Seal, this 5th day of November A.D. 1850. Minister of the M.E. Church.

Since Frances was underage her brother wrote a consent note for the father that stated:

State of Illinois-Macoupin County, William L. Payne being duly Sworn Says on oath thus Frances Payne is under the age of Eighteen years and that her father Sandford K Payne consented to her marriage with John R Newcomb, and that he knowing of no legal objection to Said Marriage signed Wm. L Payne Subcribes...to herefore... this 4th day of November, Enoch Wall, clerk

Fortunately, on the back of the 1850 marriage certificate were the signatures of John R Newcomb and Frances Payne. Over the next nine years the family grew to six members. John and Fanny had four children, Sanford (b. 1853), Charles (b. 1855), Sarah (b. 1858), and John (b. 1859). John R Newcomb sold his Illinois farmland in the late 1850s and apparently purchased land in Fannin County, located in north east Texas. Family tradition has him making two trips from Illinois to Texas, the first by himself to see what the new state offered. Whether he bought on the first trip or second is not known. It was on the second trip with the family that Charleys father died. Records give the place of burial as Brownsville, Arkansas, November 10,  1859. During the grave side service someone stole their money hidden in the wagon. Had not Fannie sewn money in her petticoat the family would have been stranded.

The period following the death of John Rightmyre Newcomb is not clear, but census records provide a brief glimpse of the families history through 1880. According to the 1860 census records for Macoupin County, Illinois Frances returned to Bunker Hill. The census list her as a member of her sister Nannie and Jackson Sissons’ household. The four children are not mentioned.

During her stay in Illinois, Fannie remarried a gentleman by the name of John Welch. Illinois marriage records give the marriage date as November 4, 1869. He had two children at the time of their marriage, Charles 14 and Frank 10. I am speculating that Frances still owned the property in Fannin County. Soon after her marriage to John Welch they moved to Bonham, Texas with the family of eight being listed in the 1870 census in Bonham, Fannin County, Texas. John Welch’s occupation was listed as saddler.

Family history had Fannie passing away around 1877. this seems to be in error because the 1880 census list the John Welch family as three. John, wife Mattie/Mollie (name is not clear) and daughter Fannie, age 8. The young girl Fannie Welch would be the daughter of John and Fannie. Speculation would conclude that Fanny may have died in Childbirth in 1872, since records date John Welch marrying Mattie O. Foshee on August 23, 1873.

The same 1880 census of Bonham list the oldest son Sanford Newcomb 27, a farmer, married to Olivia 23, a housekeeper, and his younger brother John 20, a farm laborer. The whereabouts of Sarah remains a puzzle. After the 1870 census records she no longer appears in available documents. Brother John’s last appearance is the 1880 census as a member of Sanfords family. Later, Sanford and his family move to the area of Antlers, Oklahoma. Sanford apparently remarries and remains in Oklahoma until his death.

Following his mothers death, Charlie lives the life of a cowboy. He worked as a hired hand on various ranches throughout the region. His son, Ernest talks of Charlie riding on a number of cattle drives. Life would never be the same for Charlie after he met Lulu Baggett in the late 1880s. Their marriage took place on December 24, 1890.