Paine or Payne? It’s all the same family

A centuries old Block Island family tree has found life and organization in Peter Greenman’s new book, “The Block Island Descendants of John Paine.”
Any account of the Payne family would have to be fascinating, and this one certainly is. Greenman makes it clear that he has not written about all Payne family members, as a large number of them moved off the island and re-located to points as near as New London, Conn., and as far away as Ohio. But, he believes he has “captured all Paynes who stayed on the island.”
As Greenman notes, “Every Payne descendant is related to every other Payne in the book.” From colonial times on, the name has been spelled, by turns, Paine or Payne. No matter, they are all the same family, but Payne is the dominant spelling.
The progenitor of all Paynes in this book is John Paine, Sr., born about 1642, who became a freeman in Newport, R.I. in 1686 (meaning that he was able to vote), then became a constable. He purchased land in Kingstown and Jamestown, R.I., in 1697 and 1698, then bought 30 acres in the Pettaquamscott Purchase in Narragansett. The original Pettaquamscott Purchase was

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