The Payen family were a 19th century New York family who resided in New York State in an area known as the North Country. Jules Rene Payen (1800-1862), a Frenchman, came to the North Country in 1840 after purchasing the LeRay Mansion from James LeRay de Chaumont; de Chaumont was the scion of an important French shipping mercantile family and is known as "the father of the North Country" for his influence in the economic growth of the region. Jules and his wife Anna had a daughter, Julia, who married William S. Phelps of LeRaysville. The mansion, which passed to Julia and then to her descendants, remained in the family until 1936. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.
From the guide to the Payen Family Papers, before 2004, (Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries)
