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I have underlined the places where the Paynes are named in this article.  The writer (unknown), makes one mistake as far as I am able to discern.  Hamilton William Montgomery Payne is John Payne Sr.'s grandson, the son of William Milton Payne and his wife Elizabeth Hamilton Payne.  Hamilton married Mary Guyman, the daughter of Noah and Lura Guyman, who were also early settlers in the Catlin, Illinois area.  It was Lura Guyman who was known as "Grandma Guyman", the earliest doctor the people of Catlin (formerly Butlers Point) had ever known.  In the box below is some substantiated research done on the Guymans by Alice Marie Beard. The confusing thing here is the fact that Noah and Lura have a daughter named Mary who is wed to Hamilton Payne.  Then their son, Franklin Guyman weds a woman also named Mary.  It is their daughter, Sarah, who weds Addison Payne.

 

◄At the left is the gravestone for Hannah Earle Payne.  The words on this stone read:

Hannah

wife of

John Payne Sr.

Died

mar 3, 1855

aged

79 yrs 11 ms 25 ds

 

On the right ►is the stone for Hannah's daughter-in-law, Charity Reynolds Payne the wife of Squire Lee Payne. Her stone reads:

 

Charity

Wife of

S .L. Payne

Died

Jan 10, 1850

  Aged  37 yr 8 m 16 d

◄At the left is the grave marker for John Payne Jr., the father of my great grandmother, Permelia Ann Payne Malcom. His stone reads:

In Memory of

John Payne, Jr.

Mortally wounded in a Riot

August 24, and died

Sept 13, 1863

AGED

48 yrs  5 mos  7 days

 

At the bottom are what appears to be small words that I could not read.  Another source says it reads:

 

"The brave man seeks not popular applause, nor over-powered with arms deserts his cause.  Undaunted, though foiled, he does the best he can.  Force is of brutes, but honor is of man."

The photo to the right ► is the grave marker of John Payne Jr.'s wife, Virletta O'Neal. She died in childbirth with her last child, George, who died

the same day and is buried beside her. Her stone reads: 

VIRLETTA,  Wife of John Payne Jr., Died Apr 24, 1847.  Aged 27 yr 7 mo 17 dy.

◄  About the only thing you can read on the stone at the left is "Nelson Miles" and the word "May".  He died May 14, 1856. He was the husband of Sabrina Payne, who was the first child born to John Payne Sr. and his wife Hannah.
No one knows where Sabrina is buried. She could be in Songer Cemetery marked by a monument that is too difficult to read.  Nelson Miles was born on March 3, 1793 and therefore was 64 years old.  I can only surmise that Nelson was close to Sabrina's family as he is buried amongst them.  His will, probated in 1857, directs the Administrator of his will, who is John Payne, Jr., Sabrina's brother, to sell his land so I am concluding that probably Sabrina was no longer alive at that time.

The beautifully preserved stone below ▼marks the grave of Delila Payne Douglass.  She is the 4th child of John Sr. and his wife, Hannah. Her husband was Thomas W. Douglass, a cousin of Stephen A. Douglas of the the famous Lincoln-Douglass Debates held before Lincoln was elected President.  His branch of the Douglass family were prominent citizens and major landowners of Vermillion County and Danville as were his and Delila's progeny. They had 12 children. Most of the words on her stone are easy to read except her death date which is Oct. 7, 1957. Please notice how her name is spelled on her gravestone.

 

Below ▼is the gravestone of Thomas W. Douglass and despite the fact that he marries again after the death of Delila, he is buried beside her at Songer Cemetery. His stone is also easy to read.  The very small words at the bottom read,

         "Weep not for me dear friend" .

The last gravestone we photographed in Songer Cemetery is that of Sarah Songer, wife of Samuel Songer.  I could not read the death date on this monument. ►

 

Sarah is an important part of our family history.  After the death of Permelia's mother (Virletta), in 1847, her father, John Jr. goes off to fight in the liberation of Texas wars lead by Sam Houston.  All the younger children of John Jr. and Virletta were farmed out to friends and relatives. Permelia was probably farmed out to her Payne grandparents as the 1850 census shows her living with them. But then, her grandmother, Hannah, dies in 1855 and her grandfather remarries as does her father when he returns from Texas. The 1860 census shows she is living with the Songer family before her doomed marriage to Thomas Doyle in 1864 at age 21.

    At this time I would like to guess that Permelia, judging by what the Malcom family remembers about her, is a spirited, independent girl but even so, probably feeling like she has no real home.  She was probably quite a handful.  He father is murdered on the streets of Danville in 1863.  This last must have been quite a blow to her.  Her brothers are either too young or have joined the civil war effort and sisters are also either too young or married with their own families. What a recipe for disaster!

 

The dates I have for her marriage to Thomas Doyle are May 17, 1864 and the birth of their first child, Jan 26, 1864. This means that she has her first child before she is married.  Perhaps both she and Thomas Doyle are forced into marriage.  Not a happy thought.

More about Permelia, Tom Doyle, their children and her marriage to Joseph Malcom, their children and their lives yet to come on the Malcom pages of this website.  See Malcoms here.