Adam Payne Adam Payne ( 1781 – May 23 , 1832 ) was an itinerant minister who enjoyed success preaching among the Potawatomi people in Illinois and was killed by Native Americans during the Black Hawk War of 1832 . Early life . Adam Payne was born in Somerset County , Pennsylvania , United States in 1781 and moved to Ohio in 1799 . Payne remained in Ohio for about 13 years , after which he emigrated to Kentucky . In 1820 he moved to Indiana , and his fascination with Illinois eventually led him to locate his family there . In the spring of 1831 he relocated to Illinois on a claim five miles ( 8 km ) south of Holderman ' s Grove near the Fox River . Description . Adam Payne has been described as eccentric and talented in his work as a minister . Physical descriptions of Payne remarked on his long , jet , raven or crow black hair which flowed down onto and covered his broad shoulders . He was a large man who was described as imposing . He also wore a long beard , black like his hair , which was similar to a beard his brother , Aaron Payne , wore . His voice was powerful and booming , and contributed to his success as a preacher among the Native American tribes . Ministerial career . Payne was ordained an Elder in the Schwarzenau Brethren , known as the New Lights or Dunkers , but eventually dissolved his connections with any church to preach independently . He traveled the United States preaching mostly to large , outdoor crowds , following the model of Lorenzo Dow . During the summer 1830 , Payne preached to several bands of Native Americans successfully . His success preaching among the Native Americans would make him less wary to travel into the frontier when the Black Hawk War started in 1832 . Payne ' s oratory skill gained him notoriety throughout the United States . Death . Two days after the May 21 Indian Creek massacre , the Payne was traveling by horseback on what would later become the Frank & Walker stagecoach route , from Chicago to Ottawa . Payne passed through several areas including Holderman ' s Grove , Lisbon and Plainfield , Illinois . At Plainfield Payne was met by a friend , Johnathan Wilson , who warned him of danger to individuals traveling the Illinois frontier alone . Payne was at first persuaded and turned back toward Chicago at Wilson ' s urgings . As he traveled toward Chicago , Payne changed his mind , ignored the warnings and turned back toward Ottawa . Payne ' s journey was uneventful until he approached Holderman ' s Grove . Payne approached the grove , about halfway between Plainfield and Ottawa , when he was ambushed by a waiting war party of Native Americans . Based on later Native American summaries of the attack on Payne it is likely that it was carried out by the same band responsible for the Indian Creek massacre . They immediately fired their weapons and Payne was wounded through the chest . He turned his horse to flee but it was also wounded in the encounter and after a chase of about it fell dead beneath him . Unarmed , Payne was overtaken by the attackers and purportedly decapitated . However , one witness to the body ' s discovery indicated that he was only scalped and his head remained attached to his body . In the index to his 2006 book , " Black Hawk : The Battle for the Heart of America " , Kerry A . Trask refers to the incident as the Holderman ' s Grove raid . Another 1887 account also indicates Payne was decapitated , emphasizing that while his head was placed on a stake in the ground , his scalp remained untouched . In his 1878 work , " Memories of Shaubena " , also describes a decapitation . Matson states that after the head was severed the band returned to their camp , head in tow . Upon returning to the camp the band placed the head on the stake , as described by Trask and others , and began dancing around the war trophy . The leader of the band , Mike Girty , was away from the camp with a group of scouts at the time , when he returned he noticed the head on the stake and first assumed it to be a woman . He examined it further , realized it was his old friend Adam Payne , and was immediately overcome with grief and anger . He tried to attack Payne ' s assailant with a tomahawk but was prevented from doing so by others in the group .