At first, Payne had no trouble finding work as an actor. At 18, he was billed “The American Juvenile Wonder.” Although he was successful between 1810 and 1811, he could not find work on stage afterward, and when his father died, he decided to leave America to see if he could re-establish his thespian career abroad. Despite the War of 1812, he sailed to England that same year. Upon landing, he was thrown in jail as a foreign enemy and held prisoner for two weeks. Although he managed to find a number of acting jobs, he soon realized he would never recapture his earlier acting success and gave up the stage in favor of writing and adapting plays.

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Payne was very successful as a playwright but, unable to manage his money, he fell heavily into debt. It was while he was destitute that an English theater manager brought him a play and convinced him to change it into an opera and write a few songs for it. Although he had tasted success and had roamed “mid pleasures and palaces,” at this point in his life, Payne felt very lonely. He missed his homeland and became convinced that “be it ever so humble,” there simply was “no place like home.” He put those feelings into words.

The theater manager then persuaded composer Henry Bishop to set Payne’s words to music. “Home, Sweet Home,” the hit song from the opera, subsequently sold more than 300,000 copies in its first year, and afterward was printed in more editions with more variations than any other song of its time. The music publisher made more than $10,000 from the song, an enormous amount in those days. Payne was paid about $250 for his efforts and never received royalties. His name was not even included on the song sheet.

In 1832, disillusioned and penniless, Payne returned to the United States, where he worked as a journalist in various cities. In Richmond, Va., he fell in love with Maria Mayo, a beautiful and charming Virginia belle. While courteous to Payne, Miss Mayo did not share his romantic feelings, preferring instead the military bearing of the general-in-chief of the U.S. Army, Winfield Scott. It was the last of many stillborn love affairs for Payne.

Payne never recovered from his final bitter disappointment. Although he still appeared publicly, his enthusiasm for life had been sapped. Nevertheless, he remained a celebrity among people in the theater. One night in 1850, Jenny Lind, “the Swedish Nightingale,” was singing in Washington as part of her American tour. President Millard Fillmore, his family and cabinet were in the audience. So were Henry Clay, Daniel Webster and various other dignitaries. Payne was in the audience, as well. “Home, Sweet Home” was one of Lind’s favorites, and just before she started singing, she turned to face Payne and sang it to him. The usually stoic Webster was moved to tears, as was the whole audience. When the song ended, Webster stood up and bowed to Payne; others followed, giving him the greatest ovation of his life.

Although he was not very successful as a journalist, Payne’s fame as the author of “Home, Sweet Home” was enough to get him an appointment as U.S. minister to Tunis in the Tyler administration. In 1852, he died at the age of 61, far from the home and country that had inspired him.

Despite the continued popularity of his song, few people thought about Payne until 1882. That year, a wealthy music lover from Washington, who had seen Payne on the stage many years before, was reminded of the songwriter and felt that the writer of one of America’s best-loved songs deserved to come home. Arrangements were made for Payne’s body to be exhumed. On March 22, 1883, the boat carrying his body arrived in New York. As the casket was brought ashore, a 65-piece band played his immortal song.

Payne’s body lay in state in New York for several days as thousands paid homage. On June 9, 1883, Payne was reburied in Oak Hill Cemetery, just outside Washington, D.C. Taking part in the mile-long cortege were President Chester Arthur, his entire cabinet, members of both houses of Congress, and members of the diplomatic corps. The president of Columbia University gave the eulogy. As the casket was lowered into its final resting place, the Marine Band and the Philharmonic Society Orchestra played Payne’s deathless masterpiece. The author of the Civil War’s most beloved song had finally come home to rest. *

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