John Howard Payne (June 9, 1791 – April 10, 1852) was an American actor, poet, playwright, and writer who had nearly two decades of a theatrical career and success in London.

At that time, European Americans were still strongly influenced by a Biblical basis of history in trying to understand origins of the peoples in the Americas.

[1] Friends helped gain Payne's appointment in 1842 as American Consul to Tunis, where he served for nearly 10 years until his death.

The family also spent time at his grandfather's colonial-era house in East Hampton, New York, which was later preserved in honor of Payne.

[3] But Payne's work on The Thespian Mirror had caught the attention of William Coleman, the editor of the New-York Evening Post.

Columbia University was ruled out because of proximity to the distraction of young actresses, and even the College of New Jersey (as Princeton was then known) was considered too close to the city.

Novelist Charles Brockden Brown, an active promoter of New York City, accompanied the young Payne upstate as far as Albany.

Scoring a brilliant success, he went on to become the first American actor to play Hamlet; regarded as a prodigy, he was regaled as a home town wonder when he returned to Boston, among other major cities where he toured.

[4] Although London had numerous actors, Payne quickly drew praise in his engagements at Drury Lane and Covent Garden.

Resuming his interest in playwriting, he wrote original plays, and also adapted and translated a variety of French works for production in England.

But a constant need for money led him to expand into theater management at Sadler's Wells Theatre, an endeavor that clearly proved it was not among his skills.

By tinkering with the plot and adding song lyrics, Payne transformed it into an operetta he entitled Clari; or the Maid of Milan.

Years later, when the Lincoln family was mourning the death of their son, the president asked that the song be played repeatedly at the White House.

[3] Desperate to earn income by writing for periodicals, Payne sought to exploit public interest in the Cherokee people.

He also amassed a voluminous amount of research on their constitution, written language, customs, myths, food, and history of the tribe.

In 1842, President John Tyler appointed Payne as the American Consul in Tunis, due in part from support from statesman William Marcy and Secretary of State Daniel Webster.

"[10] Payne's song was widely sung during the American Civil War, when it was treasured by troops of both the North and the South.

He asked Italian opera star Adelina Patti to perform it for him and his wife when the diva appeared at the White House in 1862.

A memorial service marked the reinterment of Payne's remains at Oak Hill Cemetery in the Georgetown neighborhood.

)[3][11] The memorial service was held on the 91st anniversary of Payne's birth and was attended by President Chester A. Arthur, members of his cabinet, the State Department, and the Supreme Court; the Marine Band, and a crowd of 2,000-3,000 that included numerous literary and other prominent people.