Sereno E. Payne

Who was Sereno E. Payne?

Sereno Elisha Payne was a United States Representative from New York and the first House Majority Leader, holding the office from 1899 to 1911. He was a Republican 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.

Payne was born in Hamilton, New York, on June 26, 1843. He attended the Auburn Academy in Auburn, New York, and then graduated from the University of Rochester in 1864. A lawyer, he was admitted to the bar in 1866 and practiced in Auburn, rising to become the Cayuga County 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.