559
●
(POLITICS.) PAYNE, CHRISTOPHER HARRISON.
Collection of pho-
tographs of the Payne family (circa 1870s-1910).
Thirty-seven photographs of
various size: cabinet, boudoir, 4 x 6, 5 x 7, and larger; condition varies,
SHOULD BE SEEN
.
Vp, circa 1870’s-1910’s
[4,000/6,000]
A fine, representative collection of photographs of Christopher Harrison Payne and family.
Payne (1845-1925), journalist, pioneer newspaper publisher, minister and politician was born
in Monroe County, West Virginia, the son of free blacks. Educated largely by his mother, he
attended night-school in Charleston and was ordained a Baptist minister. Payne founded three
papers; the West Virginia Enterprise, The Pioneer and the Mountain Eagle. As Southern
West Virginia’s African American population began to swell in the 1870’s and 1880’s, their
vote began to carry more weight in Washington. In 1896 Payne was elected to the West
Virginia Legislature and represented the state’s 3rd Congressional District at the National
Convention three times. He was rewarded with several appointments within the Internal
Revenue Service. In 1903, Theodore Roosevelt named Paybne Consul General to the Danish
West Indies (present day Virgin Islands). When the U.S. acquired the islands, he became pros-
ecuting attorney and police judge.
