Adam Payne

Adam Payne (1781 – May 23, 1832) was an itinerant minister who enjoyed success preaching among the Potawatomi people in Illinois and was killed by Native Americans during the Black Hawk War of 1832.

Early life Adam Payne was born in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, United States in 1781 and moved to Ohio in 1799. Payne remained in Ohio for about 13 years, after which he emigrated to Kentucky. In 1820 he moved to Indiana, and his fascination with Illinois eventually led him to locate his family there. In the spring of 1831 he relocated to Illinois on a claim five miles (8 km) west of Holderman's Grove near the Fox River.

Description Adam Payne has been described as eccentric and talented in his work as a minister. Physical descriptions of Payne remarked on his long, jet, raven or crow black hair which flowed down onto and covered his broad shoulders. His voice was powerful and booming, and contributed to his success as a preacher among the Native American tribes.

Ministerial career Payne was ordained an Elder in the Schwarzenau Brethren, known as the New Lights or Dunkers, but eventually dissolved his connections with any church to preach independently.

As he traveled toward Chicago, Payne changed his mind, ignored the warnings and turned back toward Ottawa. In the index to his 2006 book, Black Hawk: The Battle for the Heart of America, Kerry A. Trask refers to the incident as the Holderman's Grove raid.

Another 1887 account also indicates Payne was decapitated, emphasizing that while his head was placed on a stake in the ground, his scalp remained untouched. In his 1878 work, Memories of Shaubena, also describes a decapitation. Matson states that after the head was severed the band returned to their camp, head in tow. Upon returning to the camp the band placed the head on the stake, as described by Trask and others, and began dancing around the war trophy. The leader of the band, Mike Girty, was away from the camp with a group of scouts at the time, when he returned he noticed the head on the stake and first assumed it to be a woman. He examined it further, realized it was his old friend Adam Payne, and was immediately overcome with grief and anger. He tried to attack Payne's assailant with a tomahawk but was prevented from doing so by others in the group.