Los Angeles County
Biographies
EDWARD LEE PAYNE
PAYNE, EDWARD LEE, Attorney-at-Law, Los Angeles, California, was born in Allen County, Kansas, November 22, 1874, the son of Jessie Payne and Clara Francis (Cave) Payne. He married Grace Finch at Los Angeles, October 10, 1900, and to them there have been born two children, Lee Finch and Clarence Edward Payne.
His family moving to Pomona, California, when he was a lad, Mr. Payne spent his boyhood in Southern California and received his education in the public schools of Pomona. Upon the completion of his high school course Mr. Payne entered the Law College of the University of California and was graduated in the class of 1898 with the degree of Bachelor of laws.
Immediately after his graduation Mr. Payne located in Los Angeles with the law firm of Jones & Weller as a clerk. Having been admitted to the bar, he was qualified to take charge of a large part of the office business, such as drawing up papers, briefing cases, etc. He remained with the firm about two years and during that time gained a splendid practical experience.
In 1900 Mr. Payne became assistant to E. E. Milliken, attorney for the Los Angeles Traction Company, and also engaged in private practice. He was associated with Mr. Milliken for the next two years, or until the Los Angeles Traction Company was consolidated with the Pacific Electric Railway Company, at which time he entered the office of George P. Adams and James C. Rives, two notable members of the California Bar. His work with them extended over a period of two years, at the end of which time, his own practice having grown to considerable proportions, he resigned and opened offices. He went into partnership with Clifton Axtell and practiced with him for about five years, the partnership being dissolved in 1909.
Since that time Mr. Payne has practiced alone and has met with unusual success. The long association with older members of the profession and the intimate connection he had with various important litigations furnished Mr. Payne with a knowledge vouchsafed to very few young attorneys. The result was that when he began practice independently he was in a position to handle difficult problems in such manner that his career has been one of gratifying successes and he is regarded as one of the leading attorneys of the city of Los Angeles.
In addition to his professional work, Mr. Payne has taken an active interest in public affairs and development of the country of which Los Angeles is the capital. He is largely interested in real estate in Los Angeles and Southern California, and was one of the organizers of the Southwest Home Building Company, a corporation engaged in the buying and selling of real estate and the building of homes. Los Angeles is unique in the possession of more owned homes than any other city of its size in the United States, and this is largely due to the fact that the home building system there is different from any other in existence. Corporations like the Southwest Home Building Company, of which Mr. Payne is Secretary and Attorney, build hundreds of homes annually and encourage men of limited means to buy by erecting the houses for them, giving them a deed outright and permitting them to pay for it in small installments.
The result of this system is that more wage-earners are home-owners in the Southwestern metropolis than any place else, and Mr. Payne is one of that body of men who have made this possible.
Being a member of the Chamber of Commerce of Los Angeles and a man of great physical energy, Mr. Payne has taken a part in various movements calculated to be for the betterment of business and civic conditions.
Mr. Payne is a prominent factor in the political affairs of the city He has been identified with the Progressive wing of the Republican party ever since the inception of the idea and he has served for several years as a member of the Executive Committee. He was a candidate for the nomination for Judge of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County in the primary election of September 3, 1912 but failed of election.
Mr. Payne enjoys a splendid professional and business standing in Los Angeles. He is a member of the Benevolent and Protective order of Elks, a member of the Loyal order of Moose, a member of the Knights of Pythias and of the Phi Delta Chi college fraternity.
Transcribed 3-7-09
Marilyn R. Pankey.
Source: Press Reference
Library, Western Edition Notables of the West, Vol. I, Page 260, International News Service,
New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Atlanta. 1913.
© 2009 Marilyn R. Pankey.
GOLDEN NUGGET'S LOS ANGELES BIOGRAPIES