Columbus Macklin Payne

Son of prominent Methodist minister (and slaveholder) Edwin Thomas Payne (1796-1870), in 1854, when Fulton County was created out of DeKalb County, GA, Columbus was appointed Clerk of the Inferior Court and served to 1858. In 1860 he was a 28 year old clerk in Atlanta, GA. He enlisted in Decatur, GA on 1 August 1861 and mustered as 2nd Sergeant of Company C of the Infantry Battalion, Cobb's Legion on 5 August. He was appointed First Sergeant of his company in 1862.

He was captured in action at Crampton's Gap on South Mountain on 14 September 1862.

He was paroled at Fort McHenry in Baltimore on 17 October and sent to Fortress Monroe, VA for exchange. He has no later military record with the Legion.

He was elected Atlanta City Tax Collector in January 1863 and held that post to 1867.

From 1868 to 1902 he was the Fulton County Treasurer and lived in Atlanta, GA.

His service from his Compiled Service Records,1 online from fold3. Personal details from family genealogists, the US Census of 1860, 1870, and 1900, and J.E. Williams' Pioneer Citizens' History of Atlanta (1902). His gravesite is on Findagrave.

He married Martha Lee "Mattie" Greer (1831-1908) in December 1868 and they had a daughter Martha Leila (1870-1908).

03/30/1831; Newton County, GA

07/05/1906; Atlanta, GA; burial in Oakland Cemetery, Atlanta, GA