Patterson, Samuel S.

PATTERSON, STOART, MCCABE, DAVIS

Posted By: Volunteer Transcriber
Date: 8/13/2009 at 18:04:27

Samuel S. Patterson, a prominent attorney at Newton, was born near Rochester, N. Y., April 17,1835, and is a son of Hans and Jane (Stuart) Patterson. The father, who was of Scotch-Irish descent, was born in the Empire State about the year 1799, and died when in the prime of life. Jane Stuart, the mother, was of Scotch ancestry, and was a member of a family of note by that name. She died in 1884, at the advanced age of seventy-eight years. Our subject was the eldest of a family, which consisted of three brothers and two sisters. His eldest brother, James, was the Captain of a whaling vessel, and died on board ship while on his way to the Sandwich Islands in 1860. His sister Agnes was married to James W. McCabe, who was for many years a manufacturer of carriages at Hamilton, Ontario. He died in 1875, and she is now living in San Francisco, Cal., with her two sons and a daughter, her sons having prominent positions with the Southern Pacific Railroad.

When Samuel was five years old, his father went to Hamilton, Ontario, where he owned and operated a mill and a farm. About two years later the father died, and his mother sold the mill, but with her sons operated the farm. Samuel lived there until seventeen years of age, when he went to New York and entered the high school, from which he graduated two years later. He then learned the coach-making trade in New York City, and followed that until 1860, when he went to Ohio, and read law in Cincinnati for one year. There he was residing when the war clouds burst upon the land, and, at the first call for troops, he left his studies, and on the 19th of April 1861, joined Company F, of the Twelfth Ohio Infantry, as a private. After five months' service, he returned to Ohio and resumed the study of law at Tiffin, and in June 1862, was admitted to the Bar. In the early part of 1863, Mr. Patterson once more entered the army, being appointed to a Captaincy, and served on the General's staff. He was in the Virginia Campaign with Rosecrans and Mc Clellan, and participated in the first battle of Bull Run, both battles of Winchester, Fisher's Hill, Cedar Creek, and the Shenandoah Valley campaign under General Sheridan, and was present at the surrender of General Lee at the close of the war. He was on the staff of General Custis, with head-quarters at Lynchburg, Department Southwest Virginia, and served until the fall of 1865. During his long service he saw much hardship, and at Cedar Creek his horse was shot from under him. He served on the staff of many leading generals, and was a brave and fearless soldier. After his service in the army, which closed in the fall of 1865, he received a Government appointment in southwestern Virginia as Inspector of Internal Revenue, which position he held for one year, and then returned to Tiffin, Ohio.

In June 1866, while in the Government employ, Mr. Patterson was united in marriage with Miss Anna M. Davis, a lady of much culture, and a daughter of Levi Davis, one of Tiffin's wealthiest citizens. In 1868, he came to Iowa, and located in Kellogg, Jasper County, where his wife had a brother in business. After practicing his profession at that place for eight years, he came to Newton, where he has been in the active practice of the law ever since, with the exception of the time President Cleveland's first administration, when J he held the position under the general Government of Indian Agent of the Navajo Indians in New Mexico. His service in that capacity proved his possession of great ability and excellent judgment.

In 1885, Mr. Patterson was a candidate for State Senator on the Democratic ticket, but as his party was in the minority, he failed to secure the election. He was for several years a partner of Judge Cook, who for a long time has been the attorney for the Northwestern Railway Company. He is a prominent high-degree Mason, and is Past Master of the blue lodge. In Grand Army circles he is a leader, and has frequently been Commander of the post. He has served in the City Council, and has also served as President of the Board of Education. In religious connections he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Both are workers in the church, and she is a prominent worker in the Sunday school. Portrait and Biographical Record, Jasper, Marshall and Grundy Counties, IA Page 578