• General Notes

  BIOGRAPHY: Portrait and Biographical Record of Montgomery, Parke andFountain Counties:
  Thomas Payton, one of the well-to-do and enterprising agriculturists of Greene Township, Parke County, owns a substantial residence, which he erected at a cost of about $3,000 on his fine farm, which is situated on Section 21. He is engaged in missed farming, keeps a first-class variety of stock of all kinds, raises thorough-bred Poland-China hogs, and has some very good horses. Mr. Payton is much interested in the success of the Democratic Party, has filled the office of Committeeman of the township, and has been a delegate to the state, and also to Congressional conventions. Thomas Payton was educated in the public schools of Parke County, where his birth occurred on the 12th of May 1832. He lived with his father until his marriage, on May 6, 1852, with Miss Martha Ann Stout, who was born in Kentucky September 12, 1833. Her father, James Stout, emigrated to this state form the Blue Grass region in 1834, locating in Union Township, where he resided until his death in May 1889. He entered land of the Government, opened up a farm, and in time became the owner of several hundred acres. His wife was formerly Rhoda Maddox, and by her marriage she became the mother of seven children. Those living are Mrs. Payton; Mary Jane Connolly, who lives in Union Township; William P. and James O., who live in the same place; Sara E., deceased; and Rebecca F., Mrs. John A. Rush, who lives in Iowa. After his marriage, Mr. Payton located in Union Township, where he rented land for five years, and then purchased one hundred acres in the same township. This was in 1858 and he at once moved to the farm on which he lived for seven years, then removing to his present farm. At first he owned one hundred and twenty acres of this place, to which in 1875 he added fifty acres more. For about thirty years he has been engaged in carrying on this farm, which is now one of the most desirable in the township. Mr. Payton is a man of considerable mechanical genius, and in August 1891, he constructed an appliance that, by means of a hydraulic ram and tanks, furnishes water for his stock in all parts of the farm. The pleasant home of the Payton family is one of the best in the county, and, unlike the usual residences of farmers, is thoroughly warmed in all parts of the building during the winter season. Mr. Payton is a member of the Predestinarian Baptist Church, attending Mount Moriah Chapel, to which his wife also belongs. He is quite a musician and leads the singing of the choir. It is safe to say that few men in this region are more honored and respected than is the gentleman of whom this is a brief life record.
  
  BIOGRAPHY: Was secondary executor of father's estate after brother James.
  1870 census - farmer with $8,000 real estate and $2,000 personal estate.
  1885: Owned a large farm in Greene Township.  See story on pages 31&32 in Parke Place, Vol. 2, No. 5, of the Thomas Payton family took in Hattie Lanning and her brothers when they migrated from Iowa back to Parke County.
  1900 census: Retired farmer living in Washington Township.
  Rockville Tribune, September 17, 1909: "HOLLANDSBURG - Thomas PEYTON of Judson passed Wednesday with Mr. and Mrs. W. P. STOUT."
  Rockville Tribune 5-18-1910: “On Thursday, May 12, the friends and relatives of ‘Uncle’ Thomas Peyton surprised him on his 78th birthday with a post card shower. He was the recipient of 156 cards, for which he feels very grateful. The day was made still more memorable by Mrs. George McMurtry, the daughter with whom he makes his home, inviting a few of his older neighbors to take dinner with him. There were present: Mr. and Mrs. Robert Clark, J. C. Strong, J. S. Clark, and daughter, Miss Mary, his eldest daughter, Mrs. Jacob Collings, and Mr. and Mrs. H. L. Britton and daughter, Miss Carrie."
  
  
  
  

Details of Thomas' family with Martha Ann STOUT