Payne Midyette A Life Dedicated to Improving the Quality of Florida & Braford Cattle By Bob Stone
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n 1706, ancestors of Payne Midyette Jr. sailing from Canada to New Orleans were shipwrecked off the North Carolina coast near Cape Hatteras. As a result of the wreck, the Midyettes chose to settle in North Carolina. Today, there are dozens of descendants of these early settlers – about half of whom changed the spelling of their surname to Midgette – still living in eastern North Carolina. Payne’s father, Payne Midyette Sr., moved from North Carolina to Tallahassee in 1922; Payne’s mother, Charlotte, followed in 1923. Payne Sr. started an insurance agency in 1922, then partnered with Frank D. Moor to form the Midyette-Moor Insurance Agency in 1932. Payne’s father also raised cattle. “There were some registered Hereford bulls at that time,” Payne recalls. “But my father brought the first registered Hereford females into Leon County. That was in the early 1930s.” An excellent businessman, Payne Midyette Sr. achieved great success with the insurance agency. Also adept in governmental affairs, he represented Leon County in the Florida House of Representatives from 1945 to 1947. Through a charitable gift, the Midyettes fund the permanent Payne H. and Charlotte Hodges Midyette Eminent Scholar in Risk Management and Insurance Chair at Florida State University as an expression of gratitude to the community, the insurance industry, and the university. Payne Midyette Jr. was born Aug. 13, 1927, in Tallahassee. From as far back as he can remember, he helped his father with the family cattle. His passion for raising cattle – especially red cattle – remained strong ever since. At an early age, Payne showed a talent for caring for cattle as well as good business sense. “When I was a kid, I used to buy old Pineywoods cows that everybody was selling, because the price was so good. I would bring them to pasture in my dad’s truck, de-worm them with a drench, put them on a good pasture, and in about 90 days I’d take them back to the market and sell them. I’d make spending money as a kid that way.” In 1940, Alto L. Adams of Fort Pierce was appointed as a Florida Supreme Court judge. When he relocated his family to Tallahassee, Payne quickly became close friends with Judge Adams’ son, Alto Jr., known as “Bud.” “Bud and I rode our horses all over the southern part of Leon County and Wakulla County, and camped and explored,” recalls Payne. “We worked in the summertime for Mr. Irlo Bronson. He was one of the great cattlemen of his time and a wonderful mentor. It was a great experience. I had a good time and learned a lot.” Payne and Bud remained
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lifelong friends. After graduating from Leon High School, Payne joined the U. S. Navy Seabees during the latter days of World War II; he was stationed in Rhode Island, Oahu, and several locations in the South Pacific. The war soon ended, and he was discharged on his 19th birthday, Aug. 13, 1946. He then enrolled at the University of Florida and graduated with a degree in Agriculture Economics. Payne then went to work for Bud Adams and his father at the Adams Ranch in Fort Pierce. As was the case with Payne’s father, Bud Adams saw the potential in red cattle, and went on to produce the foundation Braford herd. Payne enjoyed the work and wanted to live in South Florida, but fate intervened when he injured his back riding a bucking bull in a rodeo. Unable to ride a horse for ranch work, he moved back to Tallahassee; it took about one year for him to recover. Payne formed a partnership with his father and took over management of his purebred Herford cattle. He married Jean Jarrett in 1951, and they had three children: Payne III, Mary Hill and Aren. As a family man with growing responsibility, Payne realized in 1956 that he was not earning enough money in the cattle business to support his family. He sold some of his cattle and reluctantly went to work for the Midyette-Moor Insurance Agency. MidyetteMoor became one of the top insurance agencies in Florida. In 1972, the partners sold the Midyette-Moor agency to Alexander and Alexander, one of the largest insurance brokerage firms in the world. Payne continued to run the Midyette-Moor agency until he retired in 1992. During his tenure with the insurance agency, Payne continued to raise cattle, albeit on a reduced scale. “We bought our first Braford cattle from Bud Adams in 1981 – four bulls and 125 heifers,” recalled Payne. After his retirement from the insurance business, he ramped up his cattle operation. Payne operated the Running M Ranch with the help of his grandson (Aren’s son) Will Moncrief, and veteran cowman Kit Storey. Payne was given a Cracker horse by his good friend, Okeechobee veterinarian Dr. Jim Harvey, who is also a Braford breeder. “Jim sent me a little Cracker filly. He said I didn’t charge him enough for a bull I had sold him. And we started riding them, and that’s what we ride today. I’ve got a really nice Cracker stud horse.” Throughout his decades of cattle ranching, Payne maintained a passion for the Braford breed. He was the last president of the old International Braford Association
