Buckner H. Payne

Colonel Buckner H. Payne (August 10, 1799 − June 1, 1883) was an American clergyman, publisher and pamphleteer, labelled a racist by posterity. Under the pseudonym of Ariel, Payne authored a racist pamphlet, offering a counter-argument to the Curse of Ham, suggesting instead that blacks did not descend from Ham (Cham) (and thus not from Adam and Eve), and that blacks had no soul.

Payne was "at one time considered the greatest logician in the South." After his death, Payne's work continued to influence racist authors.

Early life Buckner H. Payne was born on August 10, 1799.

Career Payne was a clergyman and publisher. He was also a member of Payne, James & Co. In it, he suggested that blacks did not descend from Ham, son of Noah, and thus did not descend from Adam and Eve. Instead, he argued that they were Pre-Adamite and they descended from an animal on Noah's Ark.

Payne's pamphlet "created much talk." Meanwhile, a literate former slave from Georgia, Harrison Berry, dismissed the pamphlet as confused and misguided. Nevertheless, Payne was "at one time considered the greatest logician in the South."

Payne was falsely accused of murder in 1868. His case went to the Tennessee Supreme Court.