One of the latter was Augustus H. F. Payne, a native of Mason County, Kentucky, where he was born on April 4, 1807. In early life, he became a Baptist, being baptized by “Raccoon” John Smith, when Smith was a Baptist preacher. But by 1830, under the preaching of Barton W. Stone, Payne united with “the Christian church.” In 1836, he and his family went on a wagon train to Liberty, in northwest Missouri. The following year, he began preaching the gospel in homes and barns of Clay, Platte, and Clinton Counties, “never with any assurance of financial support.” He was associated with Moses E. Lard, Thomas M. Allen, Jacob Creath, Jr., and others in evangelizing Missouri before the war.<\/p>\n
A man of great courage, Payne was not frightened into ceasing his ministry to his brethren and others by the presence and decrees of Federal forces. Kenneth L. Van Deusen, in his biography of Moses E. Lard, gives an account of Payne’s activities during the war. “When most of the churches were ordered closed and ministers were warned not to conduct weddings, funerals, baptisms, Bible studies, or communion services, Payne defied the edicts and continued as if such orders had never been given. With the church buildings locked and under government seal, he went from house to house riding his horse to preach, teach, edify, and comfort his brethren. He buried their dead, performed their marriages, baptized many converts, and, to the best of his ability, courageously helped to keep their faith alive. More and more threats were made against him, but he would not be intimidated.”<\/p>\n
Van Deusen vividly describes the results of Payne’s courageous efforts to “obey God rather than men:’ His modest cabin home was about three miles south of Plattsburg. One day as he was returning from a business trip to the town, a patrol of Federal soldiers commanded by “a Lieutenant Morton,” terrorized his family by beating loudly on the door and demanding Payne’s surrender. Payne’s wife fearfully told the belligerent officer her husband was away but would be returning soon. She sent her young son to find him and to tell him what had happened. The boy found his father visiting a neighbor. Instead of fleeing for safety; Payne went home at once and immediately was placed under military arrest. “He asked for the Lieutenant’s orders to which the officer replied in a tone of sarcasm, ‘I never show them. You must prepare to go with me.”‘<\/p>\n
Reassuring his family that he would see them again soon, Payne rode away with the military escort. “However, the courageous preacher was wrong, for he never saw them again. The patrol took Payne a short distance away to a briar thicket and there, without the least bit of mercy, shot him twice through the chest at point-blank range, killing him instantly.” Payne’s family and neighbors may have heard the shots that took his life. They found his body and buried him in a corner of his property since a public funeral was forbidden.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Augustus-H-F-Payne-228x300.jpg\")
Thomas M. Allen told Alexander Campbell that he would “sooner go to the grave being killed for not killing my brother,” than to go there “with my brother’s blood on my hands.” Whether Augustus Payne ever voiced such a sentiment is unknown, but it is evident from his cold-blooded murder that he would rather die serving the Lord than go to his grave having neglected his duty. It takes more than manly courage to do what he did. It takes the moral goodness springing from that virtue, which is essential to the exercise of unshakable faith in the Lordship of Christ.<\/p>\n
Soon after Payne’s death, Lard paid tribute to his fellow soldier in the Lord’s army. “No man in Missouri stood higher or was more honored than this self-effacing pioneer, nor did ever a pioneer more richly merit the esteem in which he was held” (Kenneth L. Van Deusen, Moses Lard, That Prince of Preachers). After the war, Payne was reburied by his family and friends with appropriate service in the Green Lawn Cemetery in Plattsburg, Missouri, where his body waits for the glorious morning of the resurrection at the coming of Christ.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Earl Kimbrough via\u00a0Biblical Insights When the dark and angry clouds of war gathered over the nation in 1860, some pacifist gospel preachers in Missouri drew up a document pleading with their brethren to refuse to take up arms in the conflict. Entitled\u00a0Circular from Preachers in Missouri, the paper was intended for brethren in all…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[726,1511],"class_list":["post-45134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-church-history","tag-preachers"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6785,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/locating-congregations-of-the-churches-of-christ\/","url_meta":{"origin":45134,"position":0},"title":"Locating Congregations of the Churches of Christ","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 25, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Directories Find the Church Interactive Bible Directory of Churches of Christ in the United Kingdom Congregations in this Region Nebraska Church of Christ at 7th and Bell, Beatrice, Nebraska La Vista Church of Christ, La Vista, Nebraska Iowa Davenport Church of Christ, Davenport, Iowa Des Moines Church of Christ, Des\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Resources"","block_context":{"text":"Resources","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/resources\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":86854,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/trouble-on-the-farm-and-in-the-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":45134,"position":1},"title":"Trouble on the Farm and in the Church","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 28, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Leslie Diestelkamp When I was quite young, I learned some important lessons regarding farm work. Mules were my favorite beast of burden (those were the days when there were very few tractors on Missouri farms). But I immediately learned to regard with much awe the hind feet of a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/donkey-300x300.avif","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":92221,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/advice-to-younger-preachers-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":45134,"position":2},"title":"Advice to Younger Preachers (McDonald)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 18, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Robert L. McDonald via Expository Review, April 1983 When I first began preaching, in the late 40s or early 50s, I looked to older preachers for any help they could give me. I was delighted to hear them reminisce about their many experiences and problems encountered. Over the years,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":62160,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-corruption-of-money-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":45134,"position":3},"title":"The Corruption of Money (Sermon)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 15, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I Timothy 6:3-10 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In any discussion of false teachers you have to address the issue of money. Money is often the motivation for compromising the truth - I Timothy 6:10-11 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Teaching for the money they can make - Titus 1:10-11 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0II Peter 2:3 -\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":26452,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/schools-among-brethren\/","url_meta":{"origin":45134,"position":4},"title":"Schools Among Brethren","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 15, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Don Martin Schools among brethren have been a troubling issue, but one not often and carefully studied. I shall not attempt to explore all the nuances of the school issue, but rather I shall focus primarily on the Church of Christ Seminary image inevitably involved with the Bible Department\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6706,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/must-a-preacher-move\/","url_meta":{"origin":45134,"position":5},"title":"Must a Preacher Move?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 22, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Over the years, I have heard various individuals argue against preachers being located in a particular area and working with one congregation. Typically, they will point out that Paul, and those with him, worked with many congregations, moving from city to city. In their view, elders\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/07\/WagonTrain-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45134"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45134\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}