Melissa Amelia Farnsworth (1851 – 1934)

Luther Cummings Payne (1847 – 1909)

 

The Nichols Family Genealogy, published in 1923, indicates that Melissa Amelia Farnsworth was born on November 10, 1851, about a year after her parents the Rev. Calvin David Farnsworth and Lydia (Nichols) Farnsworth moved to Colesburg, Delaware County, Iowa from western New York State.  Melissa was the fifth of ten children and the second daughter born to Calvin and Lydia.  The inspiration for Melissa's name may have come from the name of Lydia's younger sister, Anna Melissa Nichols.  During the 1850's Melissa would have moved around with her father "C. D. Farnsworth," as he was often referred, a Massachusetts-born Baptist missionary preacher and a blacksmith.  Rev. C. D. Farnsworth preached/and or worked in the towns of Colesburg, Delhi, Delaware, and York in Delaware County, Iowa through the decades of the 1850’s.  The four year-old “Melissa A. Farnsworth” can be found listed with her family on page 616 of the 1856 Iowa census living in Delhi County, Delaware County.  At the time of the 1860 Census, the nine year-old Melissa was listed living with her parents, five siblings, and her grandmother Betsey (Damon) Farnsworth in the short-lived town of York, Honey Creek Township, Delaware County, Iowa.

 

In the first half of the 1860’s Rev. Farnsworth moved with his family to Strawberry Point, Clayton County, Iowa.  Official national Baptist church records indicate that Calvin was a preacher without a congregation at the time, and an 1865 Gazetteer Business Register for Clayton County lists C. D. Farnsworth as a blacksmith in Strawberry Point.  Records indicate Calvin preached in the towns of Waukon and Rossville in Allamakee County, Iowa (circa 1864 – 1866) then went to preach in the Plainfield, Bremer County, Iowa area in the late 1860's, and finally settled in Spring Valley, Fillmore County, southeastern Minnesota about 1870. 

 

There is some record that as a teenage girl Melissa Farnsworth went to Bremer County with her parents in the late 1860's.  In a letter from Pastor Robert D. Hanthorn of the First Baptist Church in Plainfield, Iowa to Rebbecca Farnsworth Calderwood, dated April 13, 1989, Pastor Hanthorn provides Rebbecca with a series of references in the old church records of Farnsworth's (all being of the same family, descended from Calvin D. Farnsworth, the founder of the church).  One reference states that Lydia and Melissa Farnsworth were dismissed from the church membership roles by letter in 1879.  Yet by the time of the 1870 Census, Melissa Farnsworth was recorded as a 16 year-old (in error, should have been 18 year-old) country school teacher living on a farm with a Richardson family in Lodomillo Township, Clayton County, Iowa.  This was in close proximity to Strawberry Point, where her older siblings Sarah Farrand and Marshall (recorded as Martin) Farnsworth were living in 1870.

 

 

1870 Census Record taken in Lodomillo Township, Clayton County in northeastern Iowa.  Line 21 lists the school teacher Melissa Farnsworth living with the farm family of Alvah Richardson.  The census-taker mistakenly lists her age as 16 (vs. 18) and gives her birthplace as New York vs. Iowa.

 

In the very early 1870's Melissa Farnsworth moved with her brother Marshall Farnsworth and sister Sarah Farrand's family to rejoin her parents and younger siblings in Spring Valley, Fillmore County, Minnesota.  In 1872 Marshall Farnsworth married a Mary Edith Payne, daughter of a farmer in nearby Sumner Township.  Mary Payne had an older brother Luther Cummings Payne, with whom Melissa would have become acquainted, and on July 3, 1873 Melissa Farnsworth married Luther.  According to Fillmore County wedding records, at the wedding of "Millie" Farnsworth and Luther Payne on July 03, 1873, the witnesses were a "M.L. Farnsworth" (i.e. Melissa's brother Marshall L. Farnsworth) and "S.J. Strut".  The wedding was conducted by Melissa and Marshall’s father, the Reverend C.D. Farnsworth.  The marriage license itself was dated July 2, 1873.  As a young adult Melissa was often referred to as either “Millie” or “Missy” or “Missie” --- names which surface in records such as her wedding record or in census records.

 

Melissa’s husband, Luther Cummings Payne was born on March 10, 1847 in the vicinity of Stockton, Chautauqua County in western New York.  Luther came from a large family of at least eleven children.  He was the fourth son of the farmer Almon and Mary “Polly” (Reniff) Payne, both born and married in Franklin County, western Massachusetts near where Melissa’s father Calvin Farnsworth was born.  It should also be noted that at the time of Luther’s birth, Calvin and Lydia Farnsworth were living within fifteen miles of Stockton, New York.  Thus it is possible that the Farnsworth and Payne families were acquainted with one another well before meeting in Fillmore County, Minnesota in the early 1870’s.

 

The 3 year-old Luther can be seen enumerated on October 4, 1850 in Stockton, New York along with his father Almon “Pane” (age 35), mother Polly (29), brothers Elliot (11), Franklin (5), and George (2), his paternal grandparents Joseph (88) and Anna (77) “Pane,” and his maternal grandmother “Polly Rinov” (74).  When Luther was a young boy, sometime between 1851 and 1855, Almon Payne took his family “west” to farm an unsettled area of central Wisconsin.  The 1860 Federal Census shows the thirteen year-old Luther Payne living with his parents “Alman and Polly Paine,” seven siblings, and his maternal grandmother “Mary Reniff,” age 83.  Following the death of Luther’s oldest brother Elliot in the Civil War, the family moved 150 miles west in 1864 to farm in Sumner Township, Fillmore County, Minnesota near the town of Hamilton.  Here the 23 year-old Luther Payne, along with a couple of his adult brothers, can be seen in the 1870 census assisting his parents with the family farm.

 

Following his marriage to Melissa Farnsworth, Luther Payne became a businessman in nearby Spring Valley, Minnesota in partnership with his younger brother George Payne in the late 1870's and throughout the 1880's.  A contemporary account makes reference to Luther, while he was living in Spring Valley.  These following references are from the book: "History of Fillmore County Minnesota", printed by the Minnesota Historical Company, published in 1882.  The names of two people listed on the Title page: Rev. Edward D. Neill and Charles S. Bryant:

 

Biography of Luther Payne - Spring Valley township - Page 561

 

"LUTHER PAYNE, who is the son of Almond Payne, is a native of Massachusetts [referring to the father Almon Payne], born on the 9th of October, 1815. He brought his family to this county in 1864, and located in Sumner township. Luther resided with his parents on a farm until after his marriage, which took place on the 3rd of July, 1874 [actual year: 1873], his bride being Miss Melissa Farnsworth.  The following year he came to this place, and under the firm name of Payne Brothers, was in the livery business two years, then established a mercantile house, which is one of the principal business places in the village.  He is also interested in the livery business, the firm name being Payne Brothers & Ashly.  Mr. and Mrs. Payne have a family of four children."

 

Under page 564, Spring Valley Township, under the biography of Cutter Thayer, George and Luther Payne are mentioned singing at the funeral of Mr. Thayer.  An A. Payne is listed serving as one of the pallbearers at the funeral.

The 1880 US Census of Spring Valley shows Luther C. Payne, his wife "Millie", and three daughters --- Maud, Madie, and “Daisy.”  Melissa and Luther Payne would eventually have five children, all born in the town of Spring Valley.  Gathered from census records, Mormon records, and Luther’s obituary, the names and birth dates of the children were as follows:  Maud M. (b. July 1874, married to John F. Lyman), Madie (or Matie) E. (b. September 1876, married to Harry N. Kruse), Lillian Clara (b. February 08, 1880, married to Robert Eugene King), Florice P. (b. November 17, 1881, married to Alfred Benjamin King), and Floyd Elmo Payne (b. June 25, 1885, married to Orpha Verstieg).  The children would have grown up surrounded by numerous Farnsworth and Payne relatives, since both sets of grandparents and most of their aunts and uncles were living in the Spring Valley, Hamilton, and Racine, Minnesota area at the time.

 

According to his later obituary in the Spring Valley Vidette, “In 1885 Luther Payne moved onto a farm south of Hamilton, where he remained for a time, when he sold out and moved to Welcome, Minn., where he established a hardware business and where he has since resided.”  In the late 1880’s Luther and Melissa Payne made the 115 mile move west to Welcome, Martin County, in southern Minnesota where he became a founding member of the town and a prominent businessman.  In "The History of Welcome, Minnesota" published in 1964, Pauline Welcome states (page 2) that in March, 1890, at a time when the population of Welcome was 176 people, "L.C. Payne" was one of the original signatories of a petition to incorporate the Village of Welcome.  On page 37 of her book she speaks of the early businesses of Welcome, including "the Gohringer and Payne Clothing Store," which appears on some early historic pictures of Welcome.

 

 

1890’s in Welcome, Minnesota.  Luther Payne’s clothing store is pictured at left center.  Luther and Melissa Payne’s daughter Madie would later marry Harry Kruse (fourth band member from right).

 

It wasn’t long before Melissa’s younger sister Julia (Farnsworth), husband Fred Lawrence, and son Charles moved to Welcome, Minnesota.  Julia’s obituary stated that they moved to Welcome from Mower County, Minnesota in 1890.  Initially Fred Lawrence was the Postmaster at Welcome, but later became a farm implement dealer in the village.  A surviving photograph taken of Melissa and her sisters Sarah Farrand and Julia Lawrence in the late 1890’s portrays Melissa as a nice-looking woman with fine facial features.  A distant relative named Grace Luella Smith of Spring Valley recalled her parents and grandparents speaking of Melissa as being a beautiful woman.

 

Melissa’s elderly parents Calvin and Lydia Farnsworth were visiting them on July 1, 1898 when her father Calvin died.  For the next twelve years (until near the time of her death) Lydia lived the majority of her time with her daughters Melissa Payne and Julia Lawrence in Welcome.  At the time of the 1900 Census in Welcome, Manyaska Township, Martin County, Minnesota, Melissa Payne's household includes her 77 year-old widowed mother Lydia Farnsworth, her husband L. C. Payne, and children Lillian, “Florence,”and Floyd.   Melissa and Luther Payne’s daughters all met and married men from the local area, then later migrated out of state: Maude and Lillian to Washington State, Madie to Kossuth County, Iowa, and Florice eventually to New Haven, Connecticut.  In the 1910’s Floyd moved to Washington State where he married and then settled down to farm in Pondera County, Montana.

 

Luther Payne died in Welcome on August 28, 1909.  As a result of him starting early businesses in both Spring Valley and Welcome, obituaries of Mr. Payne appeared in newspapers of both communities.  The obituary that appeared in the first days of September 1909 in Welcome contained the following:

 

"PAYNE.

 

“L. C. Payne, one of the leading men of Welcome, died about two o'clock Saturday morning [August 28, 1909] from a stroke of apoplexy, with which he was stricken after the supper hour on Friday.  He did not regain consciousness after being stricken.  Mr. Payne suffered a similar stroke two years ago while in the city of Minneapolis, but recovered, although he suffered several lighter strokes since that time.  Of late his health seemed unusually good and the swift summons came as a great shock to the family and friends.

 

“Mr. Payne was one of the first merchants in the town of Welcome.  He started in the general merchandise business there something like 20 years ago in partnership with Mr. Gahringer.  Later they sold out, and Mr. Payne engaged in the hardware business alone, in which he continued until his death.

 

“He is survived by a wife and 5 children, four daughters and a son.  The daughters are Mrs. Lyman, Mrs. Harry Kruse, Mrs. Robert King and Mrs. Alfred King.  Three reside in the state of Washington.  The son, Floyd is at home and engaged in business with his father.

 

“The funeral was deferred until Wednesday to enable the daughters to arrive.  Burial will be made at Hamilton, Fillmore county, the old home of the deceased.

 

“Mr. Payne was a man who commanded the highest respect in the community and took an active part in public affairs.  He was about 62 years of age."

 

The obituary that appeared in the September 3, 1909 edition of the Spring Valley Mercury Vidette gives a more comprehensive record of his earlier life:

 

"LUTHER PAYNE

 

“Luther Payne was born in Massachusetts [error: New York], Oct. 9, 1845 [error: 1847].  He accompanied his parents and their family to Minnesota, settling on a farm in Sumner township, Fillmore county, in 1864.  He resided with his parents on the farm until after his marriage to Miss Melissa Farnsworth July 3, 1874 [error: 1873].

 

“The following year he came to Spring Valley and with his brother, George, became one of the business men who in those days pushed Spring Valley to the front.  They established a livery business here in the location now occupied by Knight & McFarland.  They also ran a grist mill just north of the C., M. & St. Paul R. R. track, and west of Section avenue.  In 1877 they went into the general merchandise business, which they continued for several years.  In 1885 Luther Payne moved onto a farm south of Hamilton [MN], where he remained for a time, when he sold out and moved to Welcome, Minn., where he established a hardware business and where he has since resided.

 

“His health failed him three years ago, and death called him on Tuesday, Aug. 31, 1909 [in error: actual date was August 28, 1909].  His remains were brought to Spring Valley Wednesday for burial.

 

“Thus, one by one, the pioneers are passing away, but their sturdy character, enterprising progressive spirit has left a lasting impression on the character of the generations which follow them."

 

Circa 1905  Welcome, Minnesota Fire Department with Floyd Payne at the back of the fire hose.  Floyd was the only son and youngest child of Melissa and Luther Payne

 

Melissa was a widow for twenty-five years.  Following the death of her husband Luther in 1909, Melissa moved around quite a bit (Minneapolis, White Plains (NY), New Haven (CT), and Tacoma), staying with her children --- her youngest daughter Florice, in particular.  The 1910 US Census shows Melissa and her son Floyd living at 1423 Monroe Street in Minneapolis with Florice and Alfred B. King and their children (ED 160, Sh. 20B, lines 84 - 88).  At the time of the 1920 Census Melissa was staying with Florice and Alfred King in White Plains, New York (ED 188, Sh. 18B, lines 73 - 79), and ten years later they were found living at 70 Marvel(?) Road in New Haven, Connecticut (ED 97, Sh. 19B, lines 85 - 91).  At the time of her death in 1934, Melissa (Farnsworth) Payne was either staying or visiting with her daughter Maude and her husband John Lyman in Tacoma, Washington.

 

The November 1, 1934 article of the Spring Valley [MN] Tribune gives the following obituary for Melissa:

 

"FORMER RESIDENT IS BURIED HERE

 

“Mr. and Mrs. J. A. Lyman of Tacoma, Wash., arrived last Thursday with the body of her mother, Mrs. L. C. Payne, who died at Tacoma, October 21 at the age of 83 years.  Funeral services were conducted the same afternoon at the home of her brother, James Farnsworth, Rev. J. F. Souders officiating.  Interment was made in the Spring Valley cemetery beside her husband.

 

“Mr. and Mrs. Payne lived here years ago when Mr. Payne was proprietor of a grocery store.  Mr. Payne preceded his wife in death thirty years ago.

 

“She is survived by four daughters, Florice of Massachusetts, Matie of Algona, Iowa, and Lillian and Maud of Tacoma, Wash., one son Floyd of Tacoma, Wash., one sister, Mrs. F. J. Lawrence of Fairmont, and one brother, James Farnsworth, of Spring Valley."

 

According to her great-niece Grace Luella Smith of Spring Valley, Minnesota, when Melissa (Farnsworth) Payne died, her body was brought by train from Tacoma to Spring Valley where the funeral was held in the home of Melissa’s youngest brother James Farnsworth.  As a very young girl, Grace remembers peering into the parlor of her grandfather James Farnsworth's home to see the casket of her great-aunt Melissa.

 

Luther and Melissa (Farnsworth) Payne are buried in the Spring Valley Cemetery on either side of a Payne family monument that was erected in honor of Luther’s younger brother Francis Payne who died in 1885.  Within the Spring Valley Cemetery, the Payne graves are located just a little north of where Melissa’s parents, Calvin and Lydia Farnsworth, and her brother James E. Farnsworth are buried.

 

 

                                                                       

 

 

 

Payne Family Monument in the Spring Valley (MN) Cemetery as it appeared in May 2003.

The grave markers of Melissa (Farnsworth) and Luther Payne flank the monument.