In 1861, Richard Elliott Payne, known as “Uncle Dick,” attended a meeting of 2,500 people at Looney's Tavern. When he heard a proposal that Winston County might secede from the state, he sarcastically exclaimed, “Oh, oh, Winston secedes! The Free State of Winston!” The phrase is still proudly used today. Winston County never actually seceded, and Payne later served in the Confederate Army. After the war, he returned to banking, where he made his own currency using brown paper.