Children of Dr. & Mrs. I.B. Payne: Helen Peters
Of the seven children in this family, I've more often mentioned Joel and Brax, the older boys, and Buddy, the youngest of the seven. However, a significant number of descendents of Dr. I.B. Payne came from Helen Halcyon Payne, the oldest of the seven children. These descendents include Dr. George Hearn, the long-time president of the Payne-Foster Reunion and professor of sociology at Louisiana College who died in 2010, and James Paul Peters, former Winnfield coroner and radiologist.
Helen Payne married Isaac A. Peters in 1887 at age 21. For a while this family resided in Dodson and attended the local Methodist church, but later moved they moved east to the Franklin Parish area. Helen's obituary appeared in the Winnfield newspaper in 1931 and reported that her husband had died prior to her and that Helen for the previous eleven years had been partially incapacitated and in a wheelchair due to paralysis from a stroke. Helen was survived at her death in 1931 by two sons, Ira and Paul, and her four daughters, Rose Jane (Mrs. Allen Albert Smith), Verda Virginia (Mrs. Henry Elbert Harlan), Mattie Mae (Mrs. Thomas Watson Hearn), and Gladys Ophelia (Mrs. James E. Boyett).
A niece and daughter of Buddy Payne (LaVerne Simmons) remembered her aunt in her later years as not often visiting the Dodson area, but sending letters and cards to Buddy and Martha from time to time and checking on them. Helen was said to have emphasized the importance of a good education for her children and trying to encourage them in that regard.
Friday, November 18, 2011
Friday, October 7, 2011
Saturday, Oct. 15
This is just a short update on the reunion on the the 15th. We'll start the "meet and greet" about 10 am. Please bring some kind of covered dish treat to share, so we'll have as much variety of choice as we've had before. If we have anyone new attending and they're unsure about the location (Hudson Community Building next to the old tabernacle), please e-mail (steve-payne1@live.com) or call (478-451-9847) me, and I'll give you directions.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Relocation to LA and Upcoming Reunion
It's been a hectic couple of months, but my wife and I have successfully moved from our home in Georgia back to Louisiana. We left Lafayette in 1989, and have returned. For anyone associated with the Payne-Foster Reunion who would like to contact me, please use my new e-mail address. [steve-payne1@live.com]
Just a reminder (and prior to probable mail contact in the next month or so by our Secretary/Treasurer, Patsy Sharp) about the reunion at Hudson in October. This summer, in parts of Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas, where I've been, it's been much hotter than normal. The long drought around the Hudson and north-central Louisiana area has demanded a lot of extra irrigation to keep at least some of my blackberry and blueberry plants living. It hasn't adversely affected my bee hives, though, and the six hives that I've had in a field in Baskin produced about 15 gallons of honey that I extracted last week. Like last year, we'll be offering a couple of jars of this honey as door prizes at the October reunion. Don't know what Patsy has in mind this year as another door prize. The real treat is obviously the food brought and shared at these reunions. Hope we'll see more folks at this reunion -- perhaps as a result of our effort after the last one to update addresses and phone numbers. If you know of a Payne-Foster descendant who hasn't been receiving Patsy's annual invitation and reminder and might like to attend, just let me know and I'll be sure to give that info to Patsy.
It's been a hectic couple of months, but my wife and I have successfully moved from our home in Georgia back to Louisiana. We left Lafayette in 1989, and have returned. For anyone associated with the Payne-Foster Reunion who would like to contact me, please use my new e-mail address. [steve-payne1@live.com]
Just a reminder (and prior to probable mail contact in the next month or so by our Secretary/Treasurer, Patsy Sharp) about the reunion at Hudson in October. This summer, in parts of Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas, where I've been, it's been much hotter than normal. The long drought around the Hudson and north-central Louisiana area has demanded a lot of extra irrigation to keep at least some of my blackberry and blueberry plants living. It hasn't adversely affected my bee hives, though, and the six hives that I've had in a field in Baskin produced about 15 gallons of honey that I extracted last week. Like last year, we'll be offering a couple of jars of this honey as door prizes at the October reunion. Don't know what Patsy has in mind this year as another door prize. The real treat is obviously the food brought and shared at these reunions. Hope we'll see more folks at this reunion -- perhaps as a result of our effort after the last one to update addresses and phone numbers. If you know of a Payne-Foster descendant who hasn't been receiving Patsy's annual invitation and reminder and might like to attend, just let me know and I'll be sure to give that info to Patsy.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Buddy (I.B.) Payne
Buddy Payne was the seventh and youngest child of Dr. I. B. Payne and his wife Sarah. As a young man, he worked at his brother's (Brax's) sawmill and boarded in the home of John T. and Elizabeth Burnett Young. Buddy married their youngest daughter, Martha Geneva Young, on August 10, 1905. Shortly after his marriage, Buddy Payne completed work on a house for his family. That house, remodeled somewhat over the years by his son-in-law James Bonnette and then his granddaughter Patsy Sharp and her husband, survives today (as does the even older and restored cabin of John T. Young).
Although very busy with his community store, farm, and family, Buddy Payne served in several roles in his community, including a term as a supervisor for the Winn Parish Board of Public Roads. He was also a prime fundraiser each year for the Hudson Holiness Camp Meeting, and he organized and led efforts a couple of times a year to hoe and keep weeds away from the gravestones at the New Hope Church Cemetery grounds. Buddy had a great interest in regional and national politics and would read the newspapers and listen to the radio coverage of the national political conventions. He was a strong supporter of William Jennings Bryan and then later Huey and Earl Long and their efforts to bring roads and schools to rural parts of the state. Another feature of both Buddy of his brother Jim was a love for reading and reciting poetry.
Buddy Payne died December 29, 1970 at the age of 91 years.
Buddy Payne was the seventh and youngest child of Dr. I. B. Payne and his wife Sarah. As a young man, he worked at his brother's (Brax's) sawmill and boarded in the home of John T. and Elizabeth Burnett Young. Buddy married their youngest daughter, Martha Geneva Young, on August 10, 1905. Shortly after his marriage, Buddy Payne completed work on a house for his family. That house, remodeled somewhat over the years by his son-in-law James Bonnette and then his granddaughter Patsy Sharp and her husband, survives today (as does the even older and restored cabin of John T. Young).
Although very busy with his community store, farm, and family, Buddy Payne served in several roles in his community, including a term as a supervisor for the Winn Parish Board of Public Roads. He was also a prime fundraiser each year for the Hudson Holiness Camp Meeting, and he organized and led efforts a couple of times a year to hoe and keep weeds away from the gravestones at the New Hope Church Cemetery grounds. Buddy had a great interest in regional and national politics and would read the newspapers and listen to the radio coverage of the national political conventions. He was a strong supporter of William Jennings Bryan and then later Huey and Earl Long and their efforts to bring roads and schools to rural parts of the state. Another feature of both Buddy of his brother Jim was a love for reading and reciting poetry.
Buddy Payne died December 29, 1970 at the age of 91 years.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Our Payne Ancestry
We usually devote attention at most Payne reunions to our more immediate ancestors, Dr. Isaac Payne, his wife, and their children and grandchildren. We've occasionally gone deeper into our ancestry -- back to the Camden/Kershaw area of SC and the great-grandfather of this Dr. Isaac Payne, a Philip Payne who probably moved there from NC in the 1740s. Tracing back further beyond this Philip's father (probably a John Payne) is very difficult. DNA developments and its usage in the last decade have given us a few clues, though, about the Payne heritage in England. I'll depart from my usual focus on Winn Parish, LA to discuss a little about our roots in England.
From DNA analysis (and a Q-tip swab of the inside of my mouth in 2002), it seems that our probable ancestor is a John Payn of Wymondham, Norfolk. This John Payn was a chief lieutenant to King Henry IV of England in the years immediately before and after 1400. John Payn had earlier been in charge of handling supplies and provisions for Henry of Bolingbroke in his military campaigns in France before he became King Henry IV. John Payn could not have undertaken such a role without a background in shipping and commerce, and many Paynes in various parts of England before and after 1400 were traders abroad of iron, wine, cloth, etc.
From that time until late in the colonial period (around 1700), many Paynes in England held prominent positions in both Royal governments and in the private sector. What still needs to be determined is how our ancestry goes from this John Payn of Wymondham to our Paynes in the early Carolinas. It will take additional scholarship/research, and probably some luck, to ever be able to chart our particular Payne line all of the way back to this John Payn of Wymondham or his near relatives.
We do know a little, though, about the origin and evolution of the surname Payne. One interesting source for this information that is fairly consistent with other sources is the book Devonshire Wills by Charles Worthy in 1896 (pp. 431-432). Worthy discusses an exodus of certain related families from the old Roman Empire to Normandy in France in the early Middle Ages. These emigrants did not interact easily or well with typical residents of Normandy and confined themselves to certain villages and towns in Normandy. They were known as the "Pagani," which in French was "Payen" or peasant or "Pagan" or infidel. Although in some ways these Pagani or Payen had to hold to the laws and customs of their new homeland, they didn't forget and continued to practice some of their ancient rituals and ways. By the 10th or 11th Century, though, their name alone often remained to distinguish them from others there and from their connection to the Roman Empire. As Normanized Romans, several prominent Payens OR Paganels were key lieutenants of William the Conqueror. One was Ralph Paganel or Paynel, whose immediate descendants were known as the "Fitz-Paynes," and he was Sheriff of Yorkshire, where he held 15 manors in 1087. He also held 15 manors in Lincolnshire, 10 manors in Devonshire, and 5 manors in Somerset. We can see the descendants of this Ralph Paganel or Paynel being called Fitz-Payne, and later still being called Payn or Payne or Paine and their owning considerable land in various parts of England. One branch of this descent apparently fostered John Payn of Wymondham.
We usually devote attention at most Payne reunions to our more immediate ancestors, Dr. Isaac Payne, his wife, and their children and grandchildren. We've occasionally gone deeper into our ancestry -- back to the Camden/Kershaw area of SC and the great-grandfather of this Dr. Isaac Payne, a Philip Payne who probably moved there from NC in the 1740s. Tracing back further beyond this Philip's father (probably a John Payne) is very difficult. DNA developments and its usage in the last decade have given us a few clues, though, about the Payne heritage in England. I'll depart from my usual focus on Winn Parish, LA to discuss a little about our roots in England.
From DNA analysis (and a Q-tip swab of the inside of my mouth in 2002), it seems that our probable ancestor is a John Payn of Wymondham, Norfolk. This John Payn was a chief lieutenant to King Henry IV of England in the years immediately before and after 1400. John Payn had earlier been in charge of handling supplies and provisions for Henry of Bolingbroke in his military campaigns in France before he became King Henry IV. John Payn could not have undertaken such a role without a background in shipping and commerce, and many Paynes in various parts of England before and after 1400 were traders abroad of iron, wine, cloth, etc.
From that time until late in the colonial period (around 1700), many Paynes in England held prominent positions in both Royal governments and in the private sector. What still needs to be determined is how our ancestry goes from this John Payn of Wymondham to our Paynes in the early Carolinas. It will take additional scholarship/research, and probably some luck, to ever be able to chart our particular Payne line all of the way back to this John Payn of Wymondham or his near relatives.
We do know a little, though, about the origin and evolution of the surname Payne. One interesting source for this information that is fairly consistent with other sources is the book Devonshire Wills by Charles Worthy in 1896 (pp. 431-432). Worthy discusses an exodus of certain related families from the old Roman Empire to Normandy in France in the early Middle Ages. These emigrants did not interact easily or well with typical residents of Normandy and confined themselves to certain villages and towns in Normandy. They were known as the "Pagani," which in French was "Payen" or peasant or "Pagan" or infidel. Although in some ways these Pagani or Payen had to hold to the laws and customs of their new homeland, they didn't forget and continued to practice some of their ancient rituals and ways. By the 10th or 11th Century, though, their name alone often remained to distinguish them from others there and from their connection to the Roman Empire. As Normanized Romans, several prominent Payens OR Paganels were key lieutenants of William the Conqueror. One was Ralph Paganel or Paynel, whose immediate descendants were known as the "Fitz-Paynes," and he was Sheriff of Yorkshire, where he held 15 manors in 1087. He also held 15 manors in Lincolnshire, 10 manors in Devonshire, and 5 manors in Somerset. We can see the descendants of this Ralph Paganel or Paynel being called Fitz-Payne, and later still being called Payn or Payne or Paine and their owning considerable land in various parts of England. One branch of this descent apparently fostered John Payn of Wymondham.
Monday, March 28, 2011
THE PAYNE COMMUNITY STORE IN HUDSON
Buddy Payne owned and operated a community store, in addition to his farming activities, from about 1907 to 1937. This grocery and dry-goods store was located on the road linking Dodson and Sikes (now Jake Creel Road) and in front of his house that he built in 1905. The store began from earlier activities by Brack, Jim, and Buddy Payne in contracting for labor and materials associated with the timber business. Small community stores in the Deep South were a sort of community clearinghouse for all types of local news and transactions. Many of the store transactions were by credit or barter, and often customers would bring in chickens and eggs to trade for store merchandise. Buddy Payne would get so many of these chickens and eggs that he would make a weekly trip to Winnfield to sell these to the Winn Hotel and several cafes there. Buddy would also deliver groceries to several sites in the area, such as the turpentine camps where pine trees were cut for this product, and these poor employees, many of them black, had limited transportation opportunities. Martha Payne also worked in the store and would go from her house to the store when customers arrived and Buddy was away or was working in the nearby fields. The Payne approach, whether measuring and cutting cloth or weighing merchandise such as dried beans or rice, was to add a little bit for the customer's sake to the purchased measure or weight. Local farmers and customers would sometimes remain at the store as late as eight or nine o'clock at night, usually discussing some local news or issue with Buddy. Since most of the Payne store sales were based on credit and trust, the continuing Depression of the mid- and late-thirties meant that many customers were unable to pay their debts to the store, and Buddy had to close down the business.
Buddy Payne owned and operated a community store, in addition to his farming activities, from about 1907 to 1937. This grocery and dry-goods store was located on the road linking Dodson and Sikes (now Jake Creel Road) and in front of his house that he built in 1905. The store began from earlier activities by Brack, Jim, and Buddy Payne in contracting for labor and materials associated with the timber business. Small community stores in the Deep South were a sort of community clearinghouse for all types of local news and transactions. Many of the store transactions were by credit or barter, and often customers would bring in chickens and eggs to trade for store merchandise. Buddy Payne would get so many of these chickens and eggs that he would make a weekly trip to Winnfield to sell these to the Winn Hotel and several cafes there. Buddy would also deliver groceries to several sites in the area, such as the turpentine camps where pine trees were cut for this product, and these poor employees, many of them black, had limited transportation opportunities. Martha Payne also worked in the store and would go from her house to the store when customers arrived and Buddy was away or was working in the nearby fields. The Payne approach, whether measuring and cutting cloth or weighing merchandise such as dried beans or rice, was to add a little bit for the customer's sake to the purchased measure or weight. Local farmers and customers would sometimes remain at the store as late as eight or nine o'clock at night, usually discussing some local news or issue with Buddy. Since most of the Payne store sales were based on credit and trust, the continuing Depression of the mid- and late-thirties meant that many customers were unable to pay their debts to the store, and Buddy had to close down the business.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Early Winn Parish
According to Winnfield historian H. B. Bozeman, who wrote a column in the local newspaper for over a decade in the 1950s, the residents in the north central and northeastern parts of Winn Parish had a more difficult struggle for livelihood in the 1800s and early 1900s than the farmers and ranchers to the south and west of them. Most of the larger slaveholders in Winn Parish were in the southern part of the parish and along the Red River. North of Winnfield were the communities of Dodson, Gaar's Mill, and Hudson, as well as Sikes over in the northeastern corner of the parish. The small community of New Hope (near Gaar's Mill and just north of Hudson), appears on some maps and records in the early 1900s with the name of Payne or Grady (named for prominent families in that area). Bozeman describes the hill farmers of Wards 3 and 7 of the parish (1956 issue, #8) as being hard working, thrifty/frugal, independent in thought, and ambitious for their children. Almost all were church members, and usually Baptists or Methodists. The land in these wards was less fertile and more hilly or sandy than land to the west and south in the parish. Farms here were smaller, too, and usually just 40-160 acres.
Many had settled in this area in the early or mid 1800s after traveling from rural areas of the Carolinas, Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama and having passed through Natchez. The city on the Mississippi River was an important junction for both the Three Notch Road and the Natchez Trace from points east and northeast of there. They next traveled to Winn Parish on the Harrisonburg Road which went west from Natchez to Natchitoches (part of the earlier Spanish Camino Real linking San Antonio to St. Augustine, Florida). Often these families traveled west banding together with relatives and friends in twenty to thirty wagon trains. Safety was critical due to gangs and robbers, who preyed on these travelers, and for assistance with wagon repairs on these rough frontier trails (hardly improved from original paths of the Spanish and Native Americans). Highwaymen would occasionally pick off the last trailing wagon or wagons in these convoys by assaulting the ones in wagons having problems or being delayed. Infamous criminals and gang leaders, such as Samuel Mason, the Copeland Brothers, John Murrell, and the John West-Laws Kimball Clan, were actively victimizing travelers and settlers before and after the Civil War period.
From records that I've studied, Dr. I. B. Payne received about a thousand dollars and had two or three slaves that he inherited from the estate of his grandfather (Isaac Mitchell) in 1858 and prior to his move west to Winn Parish. He originally settled or held land closer to Winnfield (near the community of Tennehill), but later settled in the community of New Hope.
According to Winnfield historian H. B. Bozeman, who wrote a column in the local newspaper for over a decade in the 1950s, the residents in the north central and northeastern parts of Winn Parish had a more difficult struggle for livelihood in the 1800s and early 1900s than the farmers and ranchers to the south and west of them. Most of the larger slaveholders in Winn Parish were in the southern part of the parish and along the Red River. North of Winnfield were the communities of Dodson, Gaar's Mill, and Hudson, as well as Sikes over in the northeastern corner of the parish. The small community of New Hope (near Gaar's Mill and just north of Hudson), appears on some maps and records in the early 1900s with the name of Payne or Grady (named for prominent families in that area). Bozeman describes the hill farmers of Wards 3 and 7 of the parish (1956 issue, #8) as being hard working, thrifty/frugal, independent in thought, and ambitious for their children. Almost all were church members, and usually Baptists or Methodists. The land in these wards was less fertile and more hilly or sandy than land to the west and south in the parish. Farms here were smaller, too, and usually just 40-160 acres.
Many had settled in this area in the early or mid 1800s after traveling from rural areas of the Carolinas, Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama and having passed through Natchez. The city on the Mississippi River was an important junction for both the Three Notch Road and the Natchez Trace from points east and northeast of there. They next traveled to Winn Parish on the Harrisonburg Road which went west from Natchez to Natchitoches (part of the earlier Spanish Camino Real linking San Antonio to St. Augustine, Florida). Often these families traveled west banding together with relatives and friends in twenty to thirty wagon trains. Safety was critical due to gangs and robbers, who preyed on these travelers, and for assistance with wagon repairs on these rough frontier trails (hardly improved from original paths of the Spanish and Native Americans). Highwaymen would occasionally pick off the last trailing wagon or wagons in these convoys by assaulting the ones in wagons having problems or being delayed. Infamous criminals and gang leaders, such as Samuel Mason, the Copeland Brothers, John Murrell, and the John West-Laws Kimball Clan, were actively victimizing travelers and settlers before and after the Civil War period.
From records that I've studied, Dr. I. B. Payne received about a thousand dollars and had two or three slaves that he inherited from the estate of his grandfather (Isaac Mitchell) in 1858 and prior to his move west to Winn Parish. He originally settled or held land closer to Winnfield (near the community of Tennehill), but later settled in the community of New Hope.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
More Winn Parish and Payne History: Hudson Holiness Camp Meeting & College
The Hudson Camp Meeting started in 1899 on 40 acres donated by Rev. W.M.D. Garr and J.B. (Brax) Payne. W.M.D. Garr was a talented preacher, educator, successful businessman and the largest native, individual landowner in Winn Parish at that time. Brax OR Braxton Payne was one of the sons of Dr. I.B. Payne and Sarah Foster Kidd, and he was also a community leader and sawmill owner/operator. Other Payne brothers, such as Buddy, had a share, too, in helping build the camp meeting site (as described in an interview of Buddy in a July 24, 1966 article in the Monroe Morning World) .
The centennial 1952 issue of the Winn Parish Enterprise describes a visit to the Ebenezer Camp Meeting near Montgomery by Garr and Payne and their subsequent intention to create a tabernacle and camp meeting in their part of Winn Parish. During the early days of the Hudson Interdenominational Camp Meeting, people prepared tents and shelters on the camp meeting grounds in order to stay for all or part of the two weeks of the annual camp meeting. In later years and after improved transportation means, some people just came and left each day, while others stayed nearby in the Hudson Holiness College's dormitory rooms (that served as a hotel). The August 30, 1912 issue of the Dodson Times (p. 5) relates that Robert E. Young (brother-in-law of Buddy Payne) "will have charge of the hotel during the Hudson Camp Meeting now in progress at that place. He will also handle feed stuff and will be glad to serve all who need anything in his line." Camp meeting attendance was estimated at times to reach as high as 1500 people.
J.L. (Jim) Payne, brother of Brax and Buddy, was the camp meeting secretary for over twenty years, starting in 1915. He also wrote hymns and poems, such as "Beulah Heights," that was published in the Dodson Times on May 5, 1904. Payne in-laws, such as Morris Simmons and James Bonnette, later assumed this camp meeting secretary role. Buddy Payne made the trip south to Winnfield each year to visit business owners and collect donations to help fund the camp meeting. Even now, the old camp meeting continues through several Payne descendants filling leadership positions (Robert Leach and Patsy Sharp).
Major construction of the Louisiana Holiness College was not completed until about 1907. The publication, Legends and Legacies of Winn Parish (Vol. 1, Issue 4, 1998, p. 138), tells about construction in 1906 of one of the three-story buildings there with its 26 rooms, including offices, classrooms, music and recitation areas, as well as a dining hall. Faculty taught courses such as literacy, business, stenography, typewriting, music, and theology. Rail service linked this college and Dodson, and dormitory rooms at the college were available for students. The Louisiana Holiness College opened in 1906 as an expansion and enhancement of the earlier Hudson Training School and College (started in 1896 at that site). W.M.D. Gaar, a minister of the Protestant Methodist Church, was the president of the LHC, and he and his family and friends were able financially to give the college a good start.
The web site "The People's Story of the Southern Nazarene University" describes the LHC and other early colleges in the South that had Nazarene religious ties or support. Leaders in the LHC at Hudson appealed to the Nazarene Church for union with or adoption by the church to help meet its increasing financial needs after 1910 or so. "Garr came to realize ... that meeting the demands of maintaining the College single-handedly was impracticable. Also, most students from the hardscrabble area in north central Louisiana found it impossible to meet the small charges that were assessed. Failing to achieve Nazarene affiliation, and the help that was expected from it, the leaders came to the painful decision to close the school. Final closure came at the end of the 1912 academic year." The buildings on the LHC campus after it closed were used as temporary housing purposes for the camp meeting and for Sunday school classes.
The Hudson Camp Meeting started in 1899 on 40 acres donated by Rev. W.M.D. Garr and J.B. (Brax) Payne. W.M.D. Garr was a talented preacher, educator, successful businessman and the largest native, individual landowner in Winn Parish at that time. Brax OR Braxton Payne was one of the sons of Dr. I.B. Payne and Sarah Foster Kidd, and he was also a community leader and sawmill owner/operator. Other Payne brothers, such as Buddy, had a share, too, in helping build the camp meeting site (as described in an interview of Buddy in a July 24, 1966 article in the Monroe Morning World) .
The centennial 1952 issue of the Winn Parish Enterprise describes a visit to the Ebenezer Camp Meeting near Montgomery by Garr and Payne and their subsequent intention to create a tabernacle and camp meeting in their part of Winn Parish. During the early days of the Hudson Interdenominational Camp Meeting, people prepared tents and shelters on the camp meeting grounds in order to stay for all or part of the two weeks of the annual camp meeting. In later years and after improved transportation means, some people just came and left each day, while others stayed nearby in the Hudson Holiness College's dormitory rooms (that served as a hotel). The August 30, 1912 issue of the Dodson Times (p. 5) relates that Robert E. Young (brother-in-law of Buddy Payne) "will have charge of the hotel during the Hudson Camp Meeting now in progress at that place. He will also handle feed stuff and will be glad to serve all who need anything in his line." Camp meeting attendance was estimated at times to reach as high as 1500 people.
J.L. (Jim) Payne, brother of Brax and Buddy, was the camp meeting secretary for over twenty years, starting in 1915. He also wrote hymns and poems, such as "Beulah Heights," that was published in the Dodson Times on May 5, 1904. Payne in-laws, such as Morris Simmons and James Bonnette, later assumed this camp meeting secretary role. Buddy Payne made the trip south to Winnfield each year to visit business owners and collect donations to help fund the camp meeting. Even now, the old camp meeting continues through several Payne descendants filling leadership positions (Robert Leach and Patsy Sharp).
Major construction of the Louisiana Holiness College was not completed until about 1907. The publication, Legends and Legacies of Winn Parish (Vol. 1, Issue 4, 1998, p. 138), tells about construction in 1906 of one of the three-story buildings there with its 26 rooms, including offices, classrooms, music and recitation areas, as well as a dining hall. Faculty taught courses such as literacy, business, stenography, typewriting, music, and theology. Rail service linked this college and Dodson, and dormitory rooms at the college were available for students. The Louisiana Holiness College opened in 1906 as an expansion and enhancement of the earlier Hudson Training School and College (started in 1896 at that site). W.M.D. Gaar, a minister of the Protestant Methodist Church, was the president of the LHC, and he and his family and friends were able financially to give the college a good start.
The web site "The People's Story of the Southern Nazarene University" describes the LHC and other early colleges in the South that had Nazarene religious ties or support. Leaders in the LHC at Hudson appealed to the Nazarene Church for union with or adoption by the church to help meet its increasing financial needs after 1910 or so. "Garr came to realize ... that meeting the demands of maintaining the College single-handedly was impracticable. Also, most students from the hardscrabble area in north central Louisiana found it impossible to meet the small charges that were assessed. Failing to achieve Nazarene affiliation, and the help that was expected from it, the leaders came to the painful decision to close the school. Final closure came at the end of the 1912 academic year." The buildings on the LHC campus after it closed were used as temporary housing purposes for the camp meeting and for Sunday school classes.
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