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History happened here — Louis Frisbee Payn
By Andrew Amelinckx
Hudson-Catskill Newspapers
GHENT — The 1880 Republican convention, which was held in Chicago, saw Ulysses S. Grant vie for an unprecedented third term as president of the United States. Over the course of 36 ballots 306 delegates stuck by the ex-president. In the end, Grant lost to James Garfield, who would become our 20th president and the second to be assassinated in office.
One of the “306,” as Grant’s supporters became known, was a Columbia County man who led the county Republicans for 68 years.
Louis Frisbie Payn, a wealthy businessman born in Ghent in 1835, sat in every Republican convention from 1864 to 1920 — from Abraham Lincoln’s nomination to that of Warren G. Harding.
He became interested in politics with the formation of the Republican Party, then a small group who supported an anti-slavery position, in the 1850s. According to Charles Elliott Fitch, writing in 1916, he was an “ardent supporter of its principles.”
Payn wielded great political power within the party and according to Fitch, he “made the political fortunes of many.”
Called a corrupt political hack by his enemies, he was a loyal party member who served New York state in various capacities, but never in public office.
Payn served as deputy sheriff for Columbia County beginning in 1856. He was appointed harbor master for the Port of New York in 1866.
He was appointed by Grant as United States Marshal of the Southern District in 1877. He later served as state superintendent of insurance from 1897 to 1900. He was appointed to that position by Gov. Frank Black.
Black’s successor, Teddy Roosevelt — who was also a Republican — replaced Payn with Francis J. Henrick, which caused a political furor within the party.
Jacob A. Riis, writing in 1904’s “Theodore Roosevelt, the Citizen,” said of the affair, that “it was politics for fair, for all the power of the [Republican political] machine...was opposed to the Governor in his determination to displace this man.”
Roosevelt won and for his trouble was pushed into running for vice-president of the United States with William McKinley in the 1900 election, which they won.
Republican boss and New York state Sen. Thomas Collier Platt authored Roosevelt’s bid for vice-president in order to get him out of New York state politics.
Payn grew up in Chatham. He was educated there and began his career as a businessman.
He built a paper mill in Chatham in 1872 and later manufactured boxes.
Over the years he had his hand in many industries, including oil development in West Virginia, and silver mining in Colorado.
He owned the Chatham and Lebanon Valley Railroad with a consortium of other businessmen, including former Gov. Black.
Payn also founded the Chatham Republican newspaper, a weekly that was published from 1886 to 1918.
He married Margaret Stafford in 1857, and after her death in 1898, remarried. In 1902, when he was 67, he married Marion Heath.
Payn died in 1923 at 88 years old and is buried in the Chatham Rural Cemetery.
His name now graces a retirement home, the Louis F. Payn Foundation Retirement Residency, in Chatham.
To reach reporter Andrew Amelinckx please call 518-828-1616, ext. 2267, or e-mail aamelinckx@registerstar.com.
GHENT — The 1880 Republican convention, which was held in Chicago, saw Ulysses S. Grant vie for an unprecedented third term as president of the United States. Over the course of 36 ballots 306 delegates stuck by the ex-president. In the end, Grant lost to James Garfield, who would become our 20th president and the second to be assassinated in office.
One of the “306,” as Grant’s supporters became known, was a Columbia County man who led the county Republicans for 68 years.
Louis Frisbie Payn, a wealthy businessman born in Ghent in 1835, sat in every Republican convention from 1864 to 1920 — from Abraham Lincoln’s nomination to that of Warren G. Harding.
He became interested in politics with the formation of the Republican Party, then a small group who supported an anti-slavery position, in the 1850s. According to Charles Elliott Fitch, writing in 1916, he was an “ardent supporter of its principles.”
Payn wielded great political power within the party and according to Fitch, he “made the political fortunes of many.”
Called a corrupt political hack by his enemies, he was a loyal party member who served New York state in various capacities, but never in public office.
Payn served as deputy sheriff for Columbia County beginning in 1856. He was appointed harbor master for the Port of New York in 1866.
He was appointed by Grant as United States Marshal of the Southern District in 1877. He later served as state superintendent of insurance from 1897 to 1900. He was appointed to that position by Gov. Frank Black.
Black’s successor, Teddy Roosevelt — who was also a Republican — replaced Payn with Francis J. Henrick, which caused a political furor within the party.
Jacob A. Riis, writing in 1904’s “Theodore Roosevelt, the Citizen,” said of the affair, that “it was politics for fair, for all the power of the [Republican political] machine...was opposed to the Governor in his determination to displace this man.”
Roosevelt won and for his trouble was pushed into running for vice-president of the United States with William McKinley in the 1900 election, which they won.
Republican boss and New York state Sen. Thomas Collier Platt authored Roosevelt’s bid for vice-president in order to get him out of New York state politics.
Payn grew up in Chatham. He was educated there and began his career as a businessman.
He built a paper mill in Chatham in 1872 and later manufactured boxes.
Over the years he had his hand in many industries, including oil development in West Virginia, and silver mining in Colorado.
He owned the Chatham and Lebanon Valley Railroad with a consortium of other businessmen, including former Gov. Black.
Payn also founded the Chatham Republican newspaper, a weekly that was published from 1886 to 1918.
He married Margaret Stafford in 1857, and after her death in 1898, remarried. In 1902, when he was 67, he married Marion Heath.
Payn died in 1923 at 88 years old and is buried in the Chatham Rural Cemetery.
His name now graces a retirement home, the Louis F. Payn Foundation Retirement Residency, in Chatham.
To reach reporter Andrew Amelinckx please call 518-828-1616, ext. 2267, or e-mail aamelinckx@registerstar.com.
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