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“Sons & Daughters of Thunder”- Joseph H. Payne, The Lane Rebels, and Abolition in 1834

“Sons & Daughters of Thunder” in WQPT Guide, Quad Cities PBS station.

McMurray Family, Payne Family (Click for Family Tree)

Am I related to Joseph H. Payne? Yes, if you are a descendant of Dr. Edward A. McMurray, Dr. Herbert C. McMurray, or Maude “Midge” (McMurray) Cook. They are the great-grandchildren of Joseph H. Payne. You would also be related if you are a descendant of Cornelia Mary (Payne) Hinckley and her husband, Horace A. Hinckley of Lake County, Illinois. 

Click here to open “Sons & Daughters of Thunder” trailer: https://vimeo.com/380634117

As a part of Black History Month, WPQT, a PBS station in the Quad Cities* will air the program, “Sons & Daughters of Thunder- The Beginning of the End of Slavery in America.” This film is about an event that has been forgotten now but in 1834, it was highly divisive, front page news, incited violence, and a part of the rocky path that led to the Civil War decades later.

Our ancestor, Joseph Hitchcock “J.H.” Payne, was right there in the middle of it all.

The film will be aired tomorrow, Sunday, February 9th, 2020, at 8pm. It is a docudrama, so those with docuphobia can rest at ease, and hopefully enjoy it if they are in the Quad Cities area. The program will be followed by a documentary on Harriet Beecher Stowe from the same producers. Harriet was also there for these events, and was influenced enough by them, along with her travels, to write the novel, “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” This book was a bestseller in its time, and changed the course of our country and our people. Hopefully PBS will pick up these films to air throughout the country, but right now, you can purchase “Sons & Daughters of Thunder” through Amazon or directly from the Fourth Wall Films website. (And let PBS know that you want to see both!) I have not seen these films yet so cannot really say how in depth they go, etc., but the subject matter is so important.

The film profiles the people involved in the Lane Debates that occurred over 18 days in February, 1834. Lane Theological Seminary was a Protestant school in Cincinnati, Ohio, a boom town of about 25,000 people. Although the area was still somewhat a frontier, because Cincinnati was located on the Ohio River, which led to the Mississippi River and down to the Gulf of Mexico, commerce and services for those traveling the river made it one of the largest cities in America at the time. Across the river was Kentucky, a slave state, and many Kentuckians crossed the river to do business in Cincinnati.

Cincinnati, Ohio in 1812, from across the river in Newport, Kentucky. By the 1830s the population had at least tripled. Image: Benson Lossing – “The Pictorial Field Book of the War of 1812,” Cincinnati I, via WikiMedia, public domain. (Click to enlarge.)

Joseph H. Payne, very religiously devout, was a 24 year old student, working toward his Divinity degree at Lane. He had previously attended the Oneida Institute in Whitesboro, New York, and would have met Theodore D. Weld there. Weld was about seven years older than J.H., but the two had many similar ideas. Many Oneida students followed Weld to Lane Theological, as did J.H. Payne. Lyman Beecher, a minister, became the President of Lane, and his daughter , Harriet Beecher (who later married Calvin Stowe), joined him in Cincinnati.

Lane Theological Seminary, about 1830., from WikiMedia, public domain. (Click to enlarge.)

Angelina Grimke, daughter of a Southern slave owner, had left her home in Charleston, South Carolina once old enough to act on her feelings about the immorality of slavery. She married Theodore Weld, so J.H. probably knew her as well. Angelina and her sister Sarah Moore Grimke had become abolitionists, Quakers, and suffragists; they were prohibited from ever returning to the South due to their stance on slavery. Frederick Douglas, the well-known former slave who became a powerful orator against slavery, was another of the cast of abolitionists you will see in this film.

While rhetoric and debate were always important in American higher education, the Lane Debates went too far for the acceptable topics of public debate- the subject was just to controversial. Violence and the loss of business from pro-slavery residents of Kentucky and those traveling the river could be consequences of the persuasive student debates, and the Seminary wanted to avoid being seen as a part of that political point of view. So the administrators of Lane prohibited the students from holding public debates on slavery. The students would not back down, despite the threat of being dismissed from the Seminary. The charismatic Theodore Weld brokered a deal with the financially ailing Oberlin Collegiate Institute (later Oberlin), and on 15 Dec 1834, 51 men signed a thoughtful, respectful statement detailing what had happened and why they were leaving the Seminary and going to study at Oberlin. It was published in William Lloyd Garrison’s abolitionist newspaper “The Liberator,” and read throughout the country. (Well, it probably was used in the fireplace more in the South than read.)

The risks the Lane Rebels took in standing up for their beliefs makes them all American heroes, and founders of a movement that led to abolition, women’s rights, and freedom of speech for college students. We will explore these topics in upcoming posts, and are so pleased that this period of history is being presented to new generations of the American public. Watch the film wherever you can, buy the DVD, read upcoming posts, and ask yourself: “Would I have done the same as my ancestor, Joseph H. Payne, and the other ‘Lane Rebels’ and abolitionists?”

 

Notes, Sources, and References: 

  1. Before anything else, a huge thank you to the producers, Kelly & Tammy Rundle and Kent Hawley; Earlene Hawley and Curtis Heeter who wrote the original play; and all the other folks who worked to made this production happen. This is such an important story to share!
  2. Unfortunately we have not been able to communicate with descendants of Cornelia Mary (Payne) Hinckley and her husband, Horace A. Hinckley. Mary, as she was known, was one of three children of Joseph H. Payne. Her sister, Ruby D. Payne, died at age 11 in 1850. Her brother, Edward B. Payne, survived childhood and had one daughter, Lynette “Amino” (Payne) McMurray, who was the mother of the two doctors and daughter “Midge” listed above.
  3. *Moline, East Moline, Rock Island in Illinois, and Bettendorf and Davenport, Iowa are considered the “Quad Cities” even though technically that is 5, not 4, cities.
  4.  IMDb is a movie database that is now owned by Amazon. The link for this movie is https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3835150/?ref_=ttpl_pl_tt
    You can also click for ‘full cast’ but Joseph H. Payne is not listed as a character. This may be because there is very little found of his specific role in the debates, etc. He definitely was, however, one of the “Lane Rebels” as they were called, and upcoming posts with tell more about Joseph.
  5. “Cincinnati”- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cincinnati
  6. “Backstory- In The Beginning There Was a Play… And It Was Good!” Details on the playwright and film adaptation of Sons & Daughters of Thunder. https://docublogger.typepad.com/thunder/backstory/
  7. You can order the film from the producers/Fourth Wall Films at http://www.fourthwallfilms.com/dvds.htm. Although the website states “Not secure” due to new Google requirements, the purchase section of the website opens up a secure window through PayPal. Amazon also offers the film: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B082Z9L8D6?pf_rd_p=ab873d20-a0ca-439b-ac45-cd78f07a84d8&pf_rd_r=A9FVVWY3QW9G3ZCD2JVG
  8. Lane Seminary- “Defence of the Students”: http://www2.oberlin.edu/external/EOG/LaneDebates/RebelsDefence.htm

 

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We would love to read your thoughts and comments about this post (see form below), and thank you for your time! All comments are moderated, however, due to the high intelligence and persistence of spammers/hackers who really should be putting their smarts to use for the public good instead of spamming our little blog.

Original content copyright 2013-2020 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

Family history is meant to be shared, but the original content of this site may NOT be used for any commercial purposes unless explicit written permission is received from both the blog owner and author. Blogs or websites with ads and/or any income-generating components are included under “commercial purposes,” as are the large genealogy database websites. Sites that republish original HeritageRamblings.net content as their own are in violation of copyright as well, and use of full content is not permitted. 
Descendants and researchers MAY download images and posts to share with their families, and use the information on their family trees or in family history books with a small number of reprints. Please make sure to credit and cite the information properly, i.e, reference this blog.
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Wishful Wednesday: A Conversation with Edward Biron Payne

Rev. Edward B. Payne preaching at a Unitarian Church in Brattleboro, Vermont, from the 11 Feb 1881 issue of the Vermont Phoenix, Brattleboro, Vermont, Vol. 48, No. 6, Page 2, Column 8, via Chronicling America, Library of Congress.

McMurray Family (Click for Family Tree)

On this anniversary of the “natal” day of Edward B. Payne (AKA “birthday”) it is only fitting to post this lovely compliment and bit of history.

“Rev. E. B. Payne of Springfield, Mass, formerly a Congregational minister, will occupy the pulpit of the Unitarian church next Sunday. Mr. Payne is a young man recently from California, although a native of Vermont, and a brilliant preacher.”

…a brilliant preacher“- there are those of us who so wish that we could have heard his “brilliant” sermons, or sat at the dinner table with him, or lounged under the trees at Wake-Robin Lodge discussing economics, social movements, literature, and his beliefs and experiences in life. He knew the politicians, religious leaders, movers and shakers, artists and writers of the times, especially when he lived in Berkeley, or at Wake-Robin Lodge with Jack and Charmian (Kittredge) London, or Altruria, the Utopian colony he founded, or Camp Reverie, the adult summer camp in the woods that he and Ninetta (Wiley) [Eames] Payne ran. All these fascinating persons would have been around the table or out on the porch with him in the evening, and the topics would have been very intellectual and far-ranging. Edward B. Payne was a prodigious reader, remarkable author, and profound thinker- and he must have been a fascinating conversationalist.

Edward Biron Payne was born in Middletown, Vermont, on 25 July 1847, so was not yet 34 when the above was written about him.

Edward B. Payne, circa 1874. Image courtesy of Second Congregational Church, Wakeman, Ohio.
Edward B. Payne, circa 1874, about 7 years before the above newspaper article was written. Image courtesy of Second Congregational Church, Wakeman, Ohio.

After service in the Civil War, graduation from Oberlin College with his degree in theology, and ordination in 1874 as a Congregational minister, E.B. went to Berkeley, California for a time. While there, he felt a need to reexamine the faith he inherited from his father and other ancestors, and Rev. Payne converted to the Unitarian Church.

E. B. then returned to New England in 1880 to visit his parents (Joseph Hitchcock Payne and Nancy S. (Deming) Payne), per some accounts, and decided to stay. His wife, Nanie M. (Burnell) Payne, had gone blind soon after their marriage, and their daughter Lynette Payne (later McMurray) had been born 26 October 1879. The couple would have wanted their family to meet their beautiful babe and likely needed some help at home (Lynette had been born very premature), which was not always affordable on a young minister’s salary.

In addition, it is likely that E. B. may have felt the need to make a clean break with the Congregational church in California. He had been the first pastor at Berkeley Congregational/ First Congregational Church, and it must have been hard to explain to church members why he had changed faiths. He surely wanted a fresh start with his new understanding of religion, so moving to another place, especially a place where there would have been more interaction with ministers of the Unitarian faith, would have been beneficial in coalescing his ideas about God and our world.

Rev. Payne was called to serve as pastor at Unitarian churches in Springfield, Massachusetts; Manchester, New Hampshire; and Leominster, Massachusetts. He “exchanged pulpits” periodically with ministers in other cities, to give his flock as well as himself some variety in his preaching.

Edward B. Payne, of Springfield, Massachusetts, exchanged pulpits with Rev. Mr. Green of Brattleboro, Vermont, from the Wyndham County Reformer, Brattleboro, Vermont, Vol. 5, No. 27, Page 2, Column 9, via Chronicling America, Library of Congress.

Finding new pieces of information about Edward B. Payne such as these helps us to feel a bit of our “Wishful Wednesday” has been granted, though it can never replace what would have been a mesmerizing conversation with this brilliant man.

 

Notes, Sources, and References: 

  1. The day of one’s birth was called a “natal day” back when he was born on 25 July 1847 and the term was also used for many years. In 1893, the Morning Call (San Francisco, California), Thursday, 27 July 1893, Volume LXXIV (74), No. 57, Page 3, Column 2, ‘Chronicling America’ via loc.gov, reported a surprise party “in honor of the anniversary his natal day.” See Mystery Monday: The Birth of Edward B. Payne at heritageramblings.net/2016/07/25/mystery-monday-the-birth-of-edward-b-payne
  2. Interestingly, E. B.’s parents were enumerated on the Federal Census on 29 June 1880 in Waukegan, Lake County, Illinois, living with their other child, Cornelia Mary (Payne) Hinckley, her husband Horace A. Hinckley, and the Payne’s first grandchild, William H. Hinckley, age 11. Nanie’s parents were living in Illinois at that time as well, although a different county, so maybe E. B. and Nanie had gone to New England to visit E. B.’s parents, and then decided they had better opportunities in the Northeast than in the young California town of Berkeley. Of course, the family did move back to Berkeley in 1892, about 12 years after ministering to souls in New England, but that’s another story.

Click to enlarge any image. Please contact us if you would like an image in higher resolution.

We would love to read your thoughts and comments about this post (see form below), and thank you for your time! All comments are moderated, however, due to the high intelligence and persistence of spammers/hackers who really should be putting their smarts to use for the public good instead of spamming our little blog.

Original content copyright 2013-2018 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

Family history is meant to be shared, but the original content of this site may NOT be used for any commercial purposes unless explicit written permission is received from both the blog owner and author. Blogs or websites with ads and/or any income-generating components are included under “commercial purposes,” as are the large genealogy database websites. Sites that republish original HeritageRamblings.net content as their own are in violation of copyright as well, and use of full content is not permitted. 
Descendants and researchers MAY download images and posts to share with their families, and use the information on their family trees or in family history books with a small number of reprints. Please make sure to credit and cite the information properly, i.e, reference this blog.
 Please contact us if you have any questions about copyright or use of our blog material.

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