Sereno Elisha Payne (June 26, 1843 – December 10, 1914) was a
United States representative
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
from
New York and the first
House Majority Leader
Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives, also known as floor leaders, are congresspeople who coordinate legislative initiatives and serve as the chief spokespersons for their parties on the House floor. These leaders are ele ...
, holding the office from 1899 to 1911. He was a
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
congressman from 1883 to 1887 and then from 1889 to his death in 1914. He was chairman of the House
Ways and Means Committee for 12 years starting in 1899. The
Payne–Aldrich Tariff is perhaps the most significant legislation he introduced during that period. He was known as a staunch
protectionist
Protectionism, sometimes referred to as trade protectionism, is the economic policy of restricting imports from other countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, import quotas, and a variety of other government regulations. ...
.
Payne was born in
Hamilton, New York
Hamilton is a town in Madison County, New York, United States. The population was 6,690 at the 2010 census. The town is named after American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton.
The Town of Hamilton contains a village also named Hamilton, the s ...
, on June 26, 1843. He attended the Auburn Academy in
Auburn, New York
Auburn is a city in Cayuga County, New York, United States. Located at the north end of Owasco Lake, one of the Finger Lakes in Central New York, the city had a population of 26,866 at the 2020 census. It is the largest city of Cayuga County, th ...
, and then graduated from the
University of Rochester
The University of Rochester (U of R, UR, or U of Rochester) is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York. The university grants Undergraduate education, undergraduate and graduate degrees, including Doctorate, do ...
in 1864. A lawyer, he was
admitted to the bar
An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...
in 1866 and practiced in Auburn, rising to become the
Cayuga County
Cayuga County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 76,248. Its county seat and largest city is Auburn. The county was named for the Cayuga people, one of the Indian tribes in the Iroquois Confed ...
district attorney from 1873 to 1879. Payne served in a number of administrative roles for the city of Auburn, as city clerk in 1867–8, supervisor in 1871–2, and president of the board of education from 1879 to 1882. He was appointed a member of the American-British Joint High Commission in January 1899.
Payne was elected as a Republican to the
Forty-eighth and
Forty-ninth Congresses (March 4, 1883 – March 3, 1887). He was elected into the
Fifty-first Congress
The 51st United States Congress, referred to by some critics as the Billion Dollar Congress, was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Rep ...
to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Representative
Newton W. Nutting and was reelected to the twelve succeeding Congresses (December 2, 1889 – December 10, 1914). During his tenure, he served as chairman of the
Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries (
Fifty-fourth and
Fifty-fifth Congresses), chairman of the
Ways and Means Committee (Fifty-fifth through
Sixty-first Congresses), and
majority leader
In U.S. politics (as well as in some other countries utilizing the presidential system), the majority floor leader is a partisan position in a legislative body. (
Fifty-seventh through Sixty-first Congresses). He was reelected to the
Sixty-fourth Congress
The 64th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from March 4, 1915, to M ...
but died before that term began.
He died on December 10, 1914, in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, and was buried in
Fort Hill Cemetery in Auburn.
See also
*
List of United States Congress members who died in office (1900–49)
References
Ways and Means referenceSereno E. Payne, late a representative from New York, Memorial addresses delivered in the House of Representatives and Senate frontispiece 1916
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Payne, Sereno E.
1843 births
1914 deaths
Majority leaders of the United States House of Representatives
New York (state) lawyers
County district attorneys in New York (state)
School board members in New York (state)
University of Rochester alumni
People from Cayuga County, New York
Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state)
People from Hamilton, New York
19th-century American politicians
Deans of the United States House of Representatives
19th-century American lawyers