nowandthen

Then and Now by John Kivett

My Grandfather Lafayette (Fate) Payne and his brother Robert Wesley (Bob) Payne began building Fords shipped to them by rail.  Later, in 1927 Henry Ford began donations to Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, TN. He donated 200 acres of land along with farm equipment and an organ. With the help of the LMU Archivist and Cataloger I have located a copy of the Lincoln Herald and two books (Links HERE and HERE that tells of Fords contributions to LMU. I am not sure that Ford actually attend the dedication of the Payne Motor Company's new building but for sure there were relationships between the Payne family and the Ford and Edison families all during the 1920's and early 1930's as evidence by Paul Donald Payne's working for Thomas Edison and the Ford Dealership operated by Robert Wesley Payne after his twin Lafayette G. Payne died in 1924.

Henry Ford contributions to Lincoln Memorial University

Assistance to LMU by Henry Ford began in 1926 when he contributed implement repair shop equipment amounting to $1272.26. In January 1927 Stanley Rudman, Pres. of D.T.&I Railroad, owned by Ford, and his wife visited LMU and arranged to give them $4,326.53 worth of material consisting of tractors, an automobile, and Estry organ, farm equipment, fertilizer, a Radiola, and Victrola. In Febuary 1927 Ford bought the use of a 200 acre farm owned by Lon Overton, the consideration being $40,000.00 plus $451.98 expenses. This property was conveyed to the University in 1933. LMU in 1936 received a new school bus from Ford, who by then had disbursed about $50,000.00 in their behalf.

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