PATTERSON Family

 

Patterson is one of the most common Scottish names. Many Pattersons came to America directly from Scotland, and others from Scotland via Ireland to America. We haven't determined whether or how all the Pattersons in Augusta Co. were related, but one large family sailed to the port of Philadelphia, PA, abt 1727, lived a few years in Bucks, Chester (the two original 1682 counties) and Lancaster (created 1729 from Chester). Until shortly before the Revolutionary war, Pennsylvania, had only three counties. Another is found in Sussex Co., Delaware, in 1727.

My great-great-great-grandmother PRISCILLA PATTERSON, wife of JOSEPH LONGLEY (son of William Longley and Mary Ann Bodine). Priscilla was born 1790-1800 in Sevier Co., TN and died in Kenny, Austin Co., TX, Aug 1851. She came to Texas from Tennessee after her oldest son CAMPBELL LONGLEY arrived in Texas in April 1836 with a group of Georgians and Tenneseeans to aid of Sam Houston. After Texas independence Campbell sent for his widowed mother and siblings. We have not determined exactly when they followed him to Texas, but Priscilla was enumerated in the 1840 Bradley Co., TN, census nextdoor to her brother, WILLIAM TRYON PATTERSON, who married Joseph Longley's sister Abigail Longley. Both Priscilla and William T. were enumerated in the 1830 McMinn Co., TN ~ Priscilla's husband Joseph Longley having died 25 Nov 1829 when she had a babe in arms (John Posey, born 29 Mar 1829) and was expecting another, Martha Jane Longley, my gr-gr-grandmother, born 22 Feb 1830.

Priscilla and William T., children of SAMUEL PATTERSON and unknown wife, married Joseph and Abigail Longley in Sevier Co., TN, about 1815. The Longleys settled in Sevier Co. in 1800, and the Pattersons soon after. The Sevier Co. court house burned twice, destroying the early records. Available census and other records in Sevier, McMinn, and Polk Cos. yielded some clues:

TRYON and SILAS PATTERSON enlisted in the War of 1812 in East Tennessee as Tryon Patterson, Sgt. in 2nd Regt (Cockes'), TN Militia; Capt. Simeon Perry's Co. of Mounted Infantry East Tennessee Volunteers under the command of Maj. Gen. John Cooke in the Regt. commanded by Col. Samuel Wear in the Service of the United States from 23 Sept 1813, when last mustered, until 23 Dec 1813, the expiration of his time of service.

SAMUEL PATTERSON, TRYON PATTERSON, William Longley, Joel Longley, and Joseph Longley in 1813 signed a Petition for Relief. Various records indicate Tryon was WILLIAM TRYON PATTERSON.

Petition signed by 200 from French Broad and Holston Country, dated 1813, from citizens south of French Broad and Holston between the Rivers Tennessee and Big Pigeon, asking the State for relief of the debt owed for their land, due to the scarcity of specie (money) due to the aggression of the enemy. . . "the state removing the land would turn out many hundreds of families out of the houses and homes they have had for many years -- many grants were issued by the State of North Carolina for lands in this district which cover nearly one half of the land."

 Ansearchin' News, Vol. 13, 1966, p. 160-161

The Petition was occasioned by the area's changing political situation, from (1st) as a North Carolina county, in which settlement was forbidden below the French Broad, Holston, and Big Pigeon Rivers part of the Cherokee boundary; to (2nd) the State of Franklin, which negotiated a treaty in 1785 with the Cherokee allowing settlement below the French Broad; became (3rd) the State of Tennessee in 1796, which, with the U.S. government refused to recognize the State of Franklin's treaties and harrassed the settlers with laws for thirty years, attempting to force them to purchase their land for $1 per acre (a lot of money in those days ~ Texas land sold for 25 cents an acre). Finally in 1829 an act was passed allowing occupants to enter a tract not to exceed 200 acres with their improvements.

SAMUEL PATTERSON, who signed the petition with TRYON, was not only the ONLY Patterson found in Sevier Co., TN, who could be the father of Priscilla and William T. ~ he was 70-80 in the 1830 Sevier Co., TN census -- but his grandson Edmond Patterson stated in his Civil War pension application that his grandfather SAM PATTERSON was one of the earliest settlers in the Gists Creek area of Sevier. Barbara has obtained a copy of Edmond's entire Veterans Administration file, but this is its index listing:

The name TRYON strongly suggests the family was (1) Loyalist and (2) had lived in Tryon Co., NC (named for Royal Governor Tryon, the county was taken out of Mecklenberg Co. in 1768 and discontinued in 1779 when divided into Lincoln and Rutherford Cos. by the Revolutionary colony). Governor William Tryon was transferred in 1770? to become Royal Governor of New York, so clearly this Patterson family owed some allegiance ~ land grants, perhaps ~ to Tryon. There was a very large Scottish settlement in the North Carolina, survivors of the Battle of Culloden when the clans were decimated by the British and it became illegal to wear Scottish regalia, kilts, clan plaid or tartan.

The name TRYON gave the 1st clue as to the Pattersons' origin prior to Sevier Co., TN. A Tryon Co. record on-line gave the 2nd clue, when in 1770, "Robert H. Patterson" declined his inheritance from his mother Margaret's estate in Augusta Co., VA. Margaret Adams, widow of William Patterson, wrote her will 1740 when Augusta records were in Orange Co., VA, leaving bequests to her son Robert and her children by 2nd husband Adams.

This same estate record on Augusta Co.'s excellent website (Lyman Chalkley's three-volume Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement of Augusta County, Virginia, 1745-1800, with hypertext index) gave Robert's name as Robert R. As it turns out, thanks to Wes Patterson's copy of the original document, it is clear that Robert had, not a middle initial, but made his mark "R" which was mistranscibed by the two county clerks in NC and VA.

Wes Patterson and Harald Reksten generously shared their data on Robert "R" and his descendants, showing that he lived in the Linville Creek area of Augusta Co., just west of Harrisburg which is today the seat of Rockingham Co., VA, not in the same part of Augusta Co. as the other large Patterson family.

Regrettably, we still have not determined the exact relationship of our ancestor SAMUEL PATTERSON to this Robert "R" Patterson, son of William Patterson and wife Margaret Donnell, whose descendants comprised most of the Pattersons in McMinn Co., TN in the 1800s.

The largest Patterson family in Augusta Co. consisted of children of William Patterson and his wife Janet Erwin/Irwin/Irvin from Wigtown, Ayrshire, Scotland. There were so many Pattersons in Augusta Co. records using the same names for their children (James, John, Robert, William, Thomas, Samuel) that it's difficult to distinguish among them.

Some of the following is documented, and some relationships are based on circumstantial evidence, but the tentative outlines of the Patterson family on the following pages are offered here in hopes some Pattersons will correct us or fill in more information.

SEE Letter written 1882 by Dr. James Daugherty Magill, descendant of Daugherty-Magill-Patterson of Augusta Co., VA

 

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