Payne, L., mss., 1871-1972
Summary Information
Repository
Lilly Library (Indiana University, Bloomington)
Lilly Library
Indiana University
1200 E. Seventh St.
Bloomington, IN 47405-5500
Phone: 812-855-2452
Fax: 812-855-3143
Email: liblilly@indiana.edu
Creator
Payne, Lesley, 1894?-1976
TitlePayne, L., mss., 1871-1972
Collection No.
LMC 1974
Extent
951 items
Language
Materials are in English.
Abstract
The Payne, L. mss., 1871-1972, are the
papers of Lesley Payne, 1894?-1976, musician, and niece of James Whitcomb
Riley.
Access Restrictions
This collection is open for research.
Biographical Note
Her mother, Mary Elizabeth (Riley) Payne, 1864-1936, was a sister of the Hoosier
Poet, who in 1876 presented to her a set of humorous sketches in ink with verses
appended to the drawings. Her father, Frank Charles Payne, 1862-1947, a
newspaperman, kept a diary while attending DePauw University between 1883-1886 in
which he noted briefly that Riley had presented a lecture.
Schooled as a violinist, Miss Payne with her mother went to Europe in 1908 to study
and remained until the outbreak of the European war. Some of her experience are
recounted in an unpublished undated narrative entitled
"Brittany Profile."
Three of her European acquaintances, Vittorio Assale,
Georges Dubois, and Augustin Wattebled, wrote to her in French and Italian of their
activities as soldiers during the war, 1914-1918.
Interest in psychical research is brought out in Lesley Payne's letters from Hereward
Carrington and Leonora (Simonds) Piper. A letter of Edmund Eitel to his Auntie Mame
(Mary Elizabeth Riley Payne) on February 19, 1908, noted an attempt at thought
transference.
Throughout the correspondence is a pervasive attention to the welfare of James
Whitcomb Riley. Miss Payne while attending her uncle on a visit to Florida in March
and April of 1915 sent chatty letters to her mother of her uncle's habits and the
local social scene. Following Riley's death in 1916 she and her mothers were heirs
with the Eitel cousins to the Riley estate. Both later wrote their reminiscences of
the poet.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged in the following series: I. Correspondence; II. Writings;
III. Biographical material; IV. Photographs; V. Printed; and, VI. Miscellaneous.
Scope and Content Note
The Payne, L. mss., 1871-1972, are the papers of Lesley Payne, 1894?-1976, musician,
and niece of James Whitcomb Riley. Includes correspondence, writings, biographical
material, photographs, printed material, miscellaneous materials, and a group of
humorous sketches in ink with verses appended to the drawings by James Whitcomb
Riley.
Note for Indexing Term - "Art": Of interest is
a set of humorous sketches in ink with verses appended to the drawings dated 1876, drawn and written by
the poet James Whitcomb Riley.
Note for Indexing Term - "Riley, James Whitcomb, 1849-1916": Includes correspondence pertaining to Riley as well as photographs
of Riley.
Note for Indexing Term - "Music": Included is a
list of musical settings of James Whitcomb Riley poems.
Administrative Information
Acquisition Information
Acquired 1977, 1984
Usage RestrictionsPrior arrangements are not necessary before coming to the Library, however,
patrons from out of town are encouraged to communicate with the Library in
advance of their visits to ascertain availability of materials.
Photocopying permitted only with permission of the Curator of Manuscripts, Lilly
Library.
Preferred Citation
Payne, L. mss., Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana
Series:
Box 1
I. Correspondence
Arranged in chronological order.
Correspondents include:
-
View All (90)
- Rowland C. Adams
- George Ames Aldrich
- Vittorio Assale
- Sarah Joanna (Dennis) Balliett
- Arthur Christopher Benson
- Robert Hugh Benson
- Albert Jeremiah Beveridge
- William Keeney Bixby
- Julian Bobbs
- William Conrad Bobbs
- Clara Louise Bottsford
- George A. Buskirk
- Hereward Carrington
- Mary (Hartwell) Catherwood
- David Laurance Chambers
- Padraic Colum
- James Lothian Daggett
- John Marcus Dickey
- Charles L. Dietz
- Angela Diller
- Leonidas Dodson
- May (Winters) Donnan
- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
- Georges Dubois
- Max Ehrmann
- Edmund Henry Eitel
- Elva May (Riley) Eitel
- Henry Eitel
- John Huston Finley
- Harvey Firari
- Ian Forbes Robertson
- Hamlin Garland
- Leslie Garrison
- Dorothy Gish
- Lizzie Harris
- Russell Allen Hartley
- Paul G. Henderson
- George Cooper Hitt
- Magdalene (Nickum) Holstein
- William A. Hough
- Mabel Leigh Hunt
- Louis James
- John M. Judah
- Jerome David Kern
- Albert Kinross
- W. C. Knox
- Gaston Labat
- Clara Elizabeth Laughlin
- Louis Leon Ludlow
- Elizabeth (Eitel) Miesse
- Sherman Minton
- Minnie Belle (Alexander) Mitchell
- Meredith Nicholson
- Guiomar Novaes
- Fletcher A. Payne
- Frank Charles Payne
- Lesley Payne
- Mary Elizabeth (Riley) Payne
- Rachel (Mason) Peden
- William Lyon Phelps
- Eunice (Jameson) Peirce
- Leonora Evelina (Simonds) Piper
- Jean Fiora Preston
- George W. Ray
- Robert Franklin Reeves
- Humboldt Alexander Riley
- John Andrew Riley
- Julia (Wilson) Riley
- Reuben Alexander Riley
- Norman Rockwell
- Henry Frederick Schricker
- Emma (Look) Scott
- Frank Lebby Stanton
- Rex Todhunder Stout
- Roger G. Swearingen
- Booth Tarkington
- Susannah (Robinson) Tarkington
- Jean Ten Have
- James Thibaud
- Alice (Marine) Thornberg
- Hendrik Willem Van Loon
- Arland Ussher
- John William Vawter
- Ola (Lackey) Vawter
- Betty J. (Lawson) Walters
- Augustin Wattebled
- James M. Wells
- Brand Whitlock
- Blanche Young
- Stanley Preston Young.
Box 2
1933-1972
(10 folders)
Series:
Box 2
II. Writings
Arranged in chronological order.
1876 Riley, James Whitcomb.
Humorous sketches
1883-1886. Payne, Frank. Diary
1906, Oct.
3-1907, Oct. Payne, Lesley. Musical journal
1931, Nov. Scott, M.W.
Observance of James Whitcomb Riley's birthday
1931 Payne, Lesley.
Diary
1942-1943. Payne, Lesley. Riley and a Newly Discovered
Poem
1971 Purcell, Royal. Indiana's
Poet Riley and Painter Steele
n.d. Kendall, Lyle H. Rubaiyat of Doc Sifers.
n.d. Payne, Lesley. Brittany Profile
n.d. Payne, Lesley. James Whitcomb Riley: Random
Recollections of a Niece
(see also:
Oversize 2)
n.d. Payne, Lesley. There is one abuse of rights...[first
line]
n.d. Payne, Mary (Riley). [James Whitcomb Riley]
n.d. unknown. As An Outgrowth of Riley Day,...[first
line]
n.d. unknown. Indiana, How We Love Her...[first
line]
n.d. unknown.
"J.W.R. Film
notes"
n.d. unknown. Play about James Whitcomb Riley
n.d. unknown. Poems by James Whitcomb Riley
n.d. unknown. miscellaneous notes
Series:
Box 2
III. Biographical material
Includes contracts, wills, clippings, etc. (1 folder)
Series:
Box 2
IV. Photographs
Arranged alphabetically by subject (8 folders)
Carrington, Hereward
(1 photograph)
Catherwood, Mary (Hartwell)
(1 photograph)
Desk of James Whitcomb Riley
(4 photographs)
Group photos, including Henry F. Schricker, etc.
(2 photographs)
Oversize 1
Panoramic view of Turin. Enclosure to letter from Vittorio Assale
to Lesley Payne, June 3,
1913
Box 2
Payne, Frank C.
(9 photographs)
Payne, Lesley
(1 photograph)
Riley, James Whitcomb. Riley sitting for sculptress Myra
(Reynolds) Richards, copyrighted by Shideler in 1916;undated snapshot of
Riley with his chauffeur George W. Ray
(2 photographs)
Unidentified
(67 photographs, including four tintypes)
Series:
Box 2
V. Printed material
Includes theater programs, clippings, etc. (1 folder)
Series:
Box 2
VI. Miscellaneous
Legal case
Appendices H-K
Lists of letters to Riley and of his assets as well as letters to
Mary Elizabeth (Riley) Payne and Lesley Payne
List of musical settings for Riley poems
Note regarding Clara Louise Bottsford and Riley
Royalty record of Riley estate for 1922-1924
(6 folders)
Oversize 3
Honorary degree from Yale awarded to James Whitcomb Riley,
June 25, 1902
