Larry Willard Payton

About the Compiler & Researcher

It was my grade school teacher who told us to ask our parents about our ancestral lineage and then report back to the class in a week. From that point on, as a youngster, I started collecting information about my family, by writing things down in my little brown pocket notebook, which I still have today. Additionally, as a teenager, I spent time on my Uncle's ranch/farm and learned that record keeping was very important for all purebred animals. Throughout my lifetime, it was difficult to fathom why humans kept better animal pedigree records than they’re own family members.

When I first started researching, I didn’t know where it was going to take me, because I started at the bottom of my tree. As I worked my way up the family tree, I branched out horizontally. Curiosity about my ancestors continued throughout my entire lifetime. I spent many vacations and countless hours, days, weeks, months and years researching. It was like collecting puzzle pieces to put together to be solved like a great mystery. It was time consuming and an expensive addiction that became my number one hobby. The information I have collected is in seven large boxes, with most of it digitized and some of it printed in this book. A couple of years ago, I decided it was time to share the information I had found and collected over my lifetime in the form of a book for all to see.

My research of the William Payton family line was enhanced and benefited from the many genealogical courses that I attended, and from being a member of several Genealogical Historical Associations, as well as a member of The Peyton Society of Virginia (PSV). This book also benefited from the many Payton family members, Payton researchers and contributors that have shared Payton family information and collaborated with me over the years (see Acknowledgements).

In this book, you will find a few stated conclusions that I have made about some relationships and dates based on the facts at hand, whereas the reader might come to other conclusions based on the same facts or based on additional sources not known to the compiler.

It is hoped that William Payton’s descendants will find the information in this book useful, interesting and beneficial to treasure as documentation of their Payton ancestry and heritage.