Prof. George A. Payne; Winn Parish, Louisiana Contributed by Greggory E. Davies 120 Ted Price Lane Winnfield, LA 71483 ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** Prof. George A. Payne Teacher at the Winnfield High School In the early days of Winn Parish there were quite a number of strong and decided characters who did much toward moulding and controlling public opinion and conserving public moral. Prominent among them was Rev. J. S. Payne; industrious, decided, forcible, but gentle and considerate. This section will never know what the debt they owe him amounts to. He was born in North Carolina but reared mainly in Georgia. In 1867 he married Miss Mattie S. Weaver in Alabama. They reared a large and active family. He died peacefully in 1905 in Grant Parish; his wife still survives. Mr. Lafayette Payne is a son by a former marriage and is a prosperous merchant in Natchitoches Parish. Prof. Payne, our subject, was born in Montgomery, La., in 1873. He was educated in the common schools and in Keatchi and Mr. Lebanon. He also attended Baylor University at Waco, Tex. He graduated in Mt. Lebanon and has made commendable progress in educational matters since. He was for a period superintendent of the Winnfield school and is now a teacher in its faculty. In due time he married Miss Gertrude Bell, who was also a teacher. They seem well mated in every respect and have a happy home. Prof. Payne is a Baptist deacon and a Mason, is exemplary in life and is evidently in his proper vocation. The Professor thinks our churches and schools are improving rapidly and that no state can excel this in agricultural possibilities. Prof. Payne has just become a candidate for representative of Winn Parish. Motto: "Be what you would have people think you are." (The above article appeared in The Guardian newspaper, Vol. XXVII, No. 8-9, published September-October, 1907 at Winnfield, LA., and was copied from the Watson Memorial Library, Cammie Henry Archives, Northwestern State University, Natchitoches, LA., and was submitted by Greggory Ellis Davies, Winnfield, LA.)