{{Short description|American businessman (1898–1985)}} {{Use American English|date=April 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2026}} {{Infobox person | name = Charles Shipman Payson | image = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date|1898|10|16}} | birth_place = Maine | death_date = {{death date and age|1985|5|5|1898|10|16}} | death_place = | occupation = | parents = | education = Salisbury School<br />Yale University<br />Harvard Law | alma_mater = | spouse = {{marriage|Joan Whitney|1924}} | children = 5, including Lorinda de Roulet | relatives =
}}
'''Charles Shipman Payson''' (October 16, 1898 – May 5, 1985) was the owner of the New York Mets of the National League from {{baseball year|1975}} through {{baseball year|1980}}. In 1975, he inherited the club upon the death of his wife, Mets founder Joan Whitney.
==Early life== Payson was born on October 16, 1898, in Maine. He was the son of Herbert Payson and Sally Carroll Brown, grandson of Gen. John Marshall Brown, and a descendant of Edward Payson, who settled in Massachusetts in 1635.<ref name="1977wedding"/> His sister was Anne Payson Holt, who was married to Benjamin Dean Holt, son of Benjamin Holt. She was murdered by burglars in her home in Maine in 1976.<ref>{{cite news|title=Financier's Sister Is Killed in Maine|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/10/07/archives/financiers-sister-is-killed-in-maine.html|accessdate=1 December 2016|newspaper=The New York Times|date=7 October 1976}}</ref>
He was a graduate of the Salisbury School in Connecticut, Yale University and Harvard Law and became a prominent lawyer and businessman in New York City.
==Career== Payson inherited the Mets after the death of his first wife in 1975. He did not share his wife's enthusiasm for the Mets, preferring to tend to his other business interests.<ref name=SABRMets>{{cite web|url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/topic/new-york-mets-team-ownership-history/|title=New York Mets team ownership history|author1=Leslie Heaphy|publisher=Society for American Baseball Research|date=2017}}</ref> He delegated his authority to his three daughters, with the youngest, Lorinda de Roulet, becoming team president.
In turn, Payson's daughters left the baseball side to board chairman M. Donald Grant. But when it became apparent that Grant had mismanaged the team, Payson and his daughters forced Grant's resignation.<ref name=SABRMets/>
In 1980, he sold the franchise to Doubleday & Co.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Grimes|first1=William|title=Nelson Doubleday Jr., Publisher Who Owned the Mets, Dies at 81|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/18/business/nelson-doubleday-publisher-and-mets-buyer-dies-at-81.html|accessdate=1 December 2016|work=The New York Times|date=17 June 2015|authorlink=William Grimes (journalist)}}</ref>
==Personal life== In 1924, he married Joan Whitney (1903–1975), the daughter of Payne Whitney and Helen Julia Hay.<ref name="1924Wedding">{{cite news|title=MISS JOAN WHITNEY WED TO C. S. PAYSON {{!}} Daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Payne Whitney Becomes Bride in Manhasset Church.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1924/07/06/archives/miss-joan-whitney-wva-to-c-s-paysoh-g-daughter-of-mr-and-mrs-payne.html|accessdate=1 December 2016|work=The New York Times|date=6 July 1924}}</ref> Her brother was John Hay Whitney. She inherited a trust fund from her grandfather, William C. Whitney and on her father's death in 1927, she received a large part of the family fortune.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://bioproj.sabr.org/bioproj.cfm?a=v&v=l&pid=16918&bid=791 |title=Archived copy |access-date=2016-12-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111122130635/http://bioproj.sabr.org/bioproj.cfm?a=v&v=l&pid=16918&bid=791 |archive-date=2011-11-22 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The couple lived in a 1928 home designed by William Delano, on 110 acres in Manhasset, New York, given to them by her parents as a wedding gift.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Reif|first1=Rita|title=The Paysons' home on view|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/04/27/arts/the-paysons-home-on-view.html|accessdate=1 December 2016|work=The New York Times|date=27 April 1984}}</ref> Together, they had: *Daniel Carroll Payson (1925–1945),<ref>{{cite web|title=PAYSON, Daniel C|url=http://www.fieldsofhonor-database.com/index.php/american-war-cemetery-henri-chapelle-p/49003-payson-daniel-c|website=www.fieldsofhonor-database.com|accessdate=1 December 2016}}</ref> was killed during the Battle of the Bulge.<ref name="JoanObit">{{cite news|last1=Durso|first1=Joseph|title=Joan Whitney Payson, 72, Mets Owner, Dies|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/10/05/archives/joan-whitney-payson-72-mets-owner-dies-head-of-greentree-stables-in.html|accessdate=1 December 2016|work=The New York Times|date=5 October 1975|authorlink=Joe Durso}}</ref> *Sandra Helen Payson (1926–2004),<ref>{{cite news|last1=Saxon|first1=Wolfgang|title=Sandra Payson, 78, Influential Arts Patron|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/25/arts/sandra-payson-78-influential-arts-patron.html|accessdate=1 December 2016|work=The New York Times|date=25 July 2004}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Daughter Born to Mrs. C. S. Payson.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1926/06/29/archives/daughter-born-to-mrs-c-payson.html|accessdate=1 December 2016|work=The New York Times|date=29 June 1926}}</ref> who was married to William Meyer. They divorced and she later married Baron George Weidenfeld (1919–2016).<ref>{{cite news|title=British Publisher And Mrs. Meyer Will Be Married; George Weidenfeld to Wed Niece of John Hay Whitney|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1966/07/14/82833586.html?pageNumber=40|accessdate=1 December 2016|work=The New York Times|date=July 14, 1966}}</ref> *Payne Whitney Payson (1927–2023),<ref>{{cite news|title=A Daughter to Mrs. C. S. Payson.|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1927/08/06/104287146.html?pageNumber=11|accessdate=1 December 2016|work=The New York Times|date=6 August 1927}}</ref> who married Henry Bentivoglio Middleton, a direct descendant of Arthur Middleton, signer of the Declaration of Independence.<ref>{{cite news|title=Paid Notice: Deaths MIDDLETON, HENRY BENTIVOGLIO|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/18/classified/paid-notice-deaths-middleton-henry-bentivoglio.html|accessdate=1 December 2016|work=The New York Times|date=18 August 2002}}</ref><ref>https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/name/payne-middleton-obituary?pid=203716365</ref> *Lorinda Payson (1931–2025), who married Vincent de Roulet (1925–1975) *John Whitney Payson (b. 1940), who is married to Joanne D'Elia.<ref>{{cite web|title=ORCA - Ocean Research and Conservation Association - Team & Staff|url=http://www.teamorca.org/cfiles/about_payson.cfm|website=www.teamorca.org|accessdate=1 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161202100928/http://www.teamorca.org/cfiles/about_payson.cfm|archive-date=2 December 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Span|first1=Paula|last2=Tully|first2=Judd|title=$53.9 MILLION FOR VAN GOGH|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1987/11/12/539-million-for-van-gogh/446b8ac5-4d93-47cb-95ce-434ab7097441/|accessdate=1 December 2016|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=12 November 1987}}</ref>
In 1977, he married Virginia Kraft, a writer for ''Sports Illustrated''. She was the daughter of George John Kraft and was a graduate of Barnard College.<ref name="1977wedding">{{cite news |date=28 December 1977|title=Charles Payson Weds Miss Kraft|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/12/29/archives/charles-payson-weds-miss-kraft.html|work=The New York Times|access-date=1 December 2016}}</ref> They remained married until his death.<ref name="NYTObit">{{cite news|title=CHARLES PAYSON, 86; WEALTHY SPORTSMAN AND PHILANTHROPIST|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/05/07/us/charles-payson-86-wealthy-sportsman-and-philanthropist.html|accessdate=1 December 2016|work=The New York Times|date=7 May 1985}}</ref>
===Philanthropist=== With his first wife, he funded the building of Pepperdine University's library. In 1977, he donated 17 paintings by Winslow Homer, worth $6.4 million, to the Portland Museum of Art in Portland, Maine.<ref name="NYTObit"/>
==External links== *[http://mlb.mlb.com/nym/history/owners.jsp New York Mets owners]
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
{{New York Mets owners}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Payson, Charles Shipman}} Category:New York Mets owners Category:Harvard Law School alumni Category:1898 births Category:1985 deaths