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Philander W. Payne


By D.D. Banta - History of Johnson County, Indiana. Chicago, IL: Brant & Fuller, 1888

PHILANDER W. PAYNE, M. D.
     Among the leading and older members of the medical profession of Johnson County, Ind., is Philander W. Payne, physician and surgeon of Franklin. He was born at Bedford, Ohio, on March 9, 1832, and came with his parents to Jennings County, Ind., in 1839. At the age of sixteen years he left the farm and entered Jennings County Seminary, where he attended for three years, occasionally teaching school, the income from which occupation was necessary for paying expenses at school. Upon leaving the seminary he taught school for two years, and then commenced a regular collegiate course at Wabash College, at Crawfordsville, Ind. On account of a disease of the eyes he was compelled to leave college before completing the full course, but the degree of A. M. was afterward conferred on him by the faculty of the college. Choosing the medical profession, he began reading medicine with Dr. A. Parks, of Vernon, Ind., and in 1855 he entered the medical department of the Ann Arbor University, Michigan, from where he entered Jefferson Medical College, at Philadelphia, from which school he graduated in 1858. He afterward attended the College of Physicians and Surgeons, and also Bellevue Hospital College, New York City. He then began practicing in Franklin, and has continued up to the present. In 1863 he was appointed by Governor Morton, one of the special surgeons for the relief of Indiana soldiers at Stone River, Tenn., and spent some time in the service. By efficient and faithful practice he has established an enviable name and standing in professional circles, and as a citizen, has earned a place in the front rank. He was one of the original founders of the Franklin Gas Works, and helped that enterprise from an experiment to a solid and flourishing industry. He was for a time trustee of Franklin College, and held a similar responsible position in the Indiana College of Physicians and Surgeons, at Indianapolis.
    He was married May 4, 1862, to Mary A. Forsythe, the daughter of a well known merchant of Franklin, and to this union three sons and four daughters have been born. Politically, he is a republican, and religiously is a Methodist Episcopalian. His father was George M. Payne, who was born at Lebanon, Conn., on January 9, 1791, and was the son of Stephen Payne, who was a native of Connecticut, and a descendant from several families who emigrated from the mother country at a very early date, and located in the New England and Southern States. George M. emigrated to Ohio, in 1814, and thence to Jennings County, Ind., in 1839, and came to Johnson County in 1854. He died in Franklin, January 24, 1883, in his ninety-third year. The mother of our subject was Susan Holcomb, who was born at Panton, Vt., August 9, 1794. She was the daughter of Benjamin Holcomb, a native of Connecticut, who served for eight years in the Revolutionary War, entering as a captain, but rising at once to a colonelcy, and serving as such most of the time of his service. He was with the Continental Army at Valley Forge, and present at the capture of Trenton. The mother died at Queensville, Ind., December 12, 1866. To the parents, who were married at Madrid, St. Lawrence County, N. Y., January 16, 1815, seven children were born, of whom our subject is the only surviving one. The children were as follows: Livonia; born at Newburg, Ohio, September 12, 1816, and died at Queensville, Ind., on March 31, 1861; Leland, born at Newburg, Ohio, October 26, 1818, and died at Franklin, Ind., in 1884: Minerva P., born at Newburg, Ohio, June 12, 1821, died at Vernon, Ind., February 2, 1849; George J., born at Newburg, Ohio, April 26, 1824, died at Vernon, Ind., September 15, 1850; William N., born at Newburg, Ohio, March 26, 1827, died at Vernon, Ind., March I5, 1846; Rollin, born at Bedford, Ohio, November 21, 1829, died at Harrodsburg, Ind., November 2, 1854. Upon emigrating to Ohio, George M., the father, located on a farm, which ground is now in the Sevententh Ward of Cleveland. He followed merchan-dising principally in Ohio, and farming in Indiana, up to his removal to Franklin, when he engaged in the furniture business, and continued until about fifteen years previous to his death.

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