James Spriggs Payne

James Spriggs Payne (December 19, 1819 – January 31, 1882) served as the fourth and eighth president of Liberia, from 1868 to 1870 and from 1876 to 1878. He was the last president to belong to the Republican Party.

Early life Payne was born in Richmond, Virginia, in 1819 to free mixed-race parents. Payne grew up in a deeply religious Methodist family and was a devout Christian. His father, David M. Payne, was a Methodist minister and was ordained a deacon by the Virginia Conference in 1824. Payne was noted for having a rather light complexion, with some estimates claiming that he was indeed an octoroon—having seven-eights European ancestry and one-eighth African ancestry. When Payne was ten years old, his family emigrated to Liberia on the brig Harriet, the same ship as Joseph Jenkins Roberts, Liberia's future first president, under the auspices of the American Colonization Society.

Aside from religion, the young Payne showed interest in politics and economics. He later became a successful writer in these areas. gaining recognition from Denmark and Sweden but struggling to maintain Liberia's economy as both Europe and the United States began to industrialize.

Later life and family Payne married three times in his life. He was widowed twice. He had nine children in total. On leaving political office in 1878, Payne continued his lifelong involvement in church work. In 1880, he was the Liberian delegate at the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Cincinnati, Ohio. The next year, he was elected president of the Methodist Annual Conference of Liberia. James Spriggs Payne died in Monrovia in 1882.

Legacy and honors In January 1882, he was awarded an honorary doctor of divinity degree by Liberia College (now University of Liberia) for his life achievements. Spriggs Payne Airport in the Monrovia area is named after him. Besides Payne's descendants in Liberia, the Krio branch of the Blyden family are descended from Payne through his granddaughter Anna Erskine, who was the partner of Edward Wilmot Blyden.