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WILLIAM PATTERSON,
a general farmer and stock-raiser living near the city
of Sullivan, Moultrie County, which place has grown from
an unbroken prairie to its present populous condition
since he came here in the spring of 1836, is one of the
old timers of the county, and was a merchant for several
years in Sullivan. He came here prior to the
winter which is so famous in the annals of the county as
being marked by the "sudden change" in temperature, when
ice froze several inches thick in fifteen minutes
according to the traditions of the old inhabitants.
Mr. Patterson took his farm when it was mostly
unbroken prairie, and has achieved success, although at
one time he lost a modest fortune. He still owns
an excellent farm of more than one hundred acres which
is well improved, but most of his property is within the
city limits. While he was engaged in the
mercantile business he was unfortunate and met with
heavy losses, but has recovered from them. He was
here before the county was changed from Shelby to
Moultrie, and in the early days wild game was abundant,
and he says that he has seen as many as forty deer
together at one time.
Mr. Patterson is a native of this State, being
born in Union County, Aug. 6, 1817. His father
Levi Patterson, was a native of Kentucky, and his
grandfather, James Patterson, was a Virginian by
birth, and prominent in the War of 1812, fighting with
Jackson at the battle of New Orleans, and being
one of the regiments that met, defeated and slew Gen.
Packingham. He is now interred in the soil of
Sullivan County, having spent his last years in this
region and dying in old age. His religious belief
had led him to connect himself with the Baptist Church,
and his political opinions allied him with the
Democratic party.
Levi Patterson was reared in Kentucky, and there
married Jane Penrod, a Tennessean by birth and
education, and the young couple soon emigrated to
Illinois, settling at an early day in Union County,
where all their children were born. In 1836 the
whole household removed to what is now Moultrie County,
traveling a distance of just two hundred miles, which
trip, at that time traveling with team and covered
wagon, occupied one month. Levi Patterson
entered a large tract of Government land which was at
that time known as the "Lost Land," the Government's
first survey having been lost. Here he lived and
died, passing away at the age of fifty-five years, an
earnest member of the Christian Church in his religious
belief, and a stanch Democrat in politics. He was
twice married and both wives brought to him children,
and died in the county.
Our subject is the second child by his father's first
marriage, and he has all the experience of a pioneer,
and loves to tell the story of the log schoolhouse with
its stick chimney, puncheon floor and rough seats.
After reaching his majority, he returned to Union County
to claim his bride in the person of Miss Margaret
Carricker, a native of that county where her parents
had settled at an early date, coming there from North
Carolina. They came of Dutch stock, and belonged
to old and highly esteemed North Carolina families and,
died in Union County full of years.
For more than half a century Mr. Patterson and
his faithful and devoted wife have labored together and
she is now in rather poor health, while Mr. Patterson
is still robust and active, and helped to organize
that body here, being among its charter members, and
Mr. Patterson acting as Deacon for years. He
had held some local offices of trust and responsibility,
and has always adhered to the principles of the
Democratic party, and at present the Farmers' Mutual
Benefit Association claims his allegiance.
A truly patriarchal family, is that of Mr. and
Patterson, six children having passed to the other
shore, and eight being still upon this side. They
are as follows: Daniel, who took to wife
Ellen Hoke, and now farms in Sullivan Township;
William J., who is in the same line of work, and
married Rebecca Lynder; Bushrod, who married
Miss Kate Blackwell, who has died, and who now makes
his home with his father while managing a farm in this
township; George, who took to wife Miss Lyda
Glabrook, and now lives on a farm in Whitley
Township, this county; Belle, who lives at home;
Maggie, who is the wife of Stephen Underwood,
and lives on a farm in this township; and Sarah,
is the wife of Richard Palmer, and lives in
Nelson Township; and Sue A, wife of John Ham
and lives in Washington State.
Source: Portrait and Biographical Record of
Shelby and Moultrie Counties, Illinois - Published:
Chicago: Biographical Publishing Co. - 1891 - Page 220 |
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D. R. PATTERSON Source:
Portrait and Biographical Record of Shelby and Moultrie
Counties, Illinois - Published: Chicago: Biographical
Publishing Co. - 1891 - Page 229 |
| PHOTO |
ELEAZER A. PYATT, M. D.
Source: Portrait and Biographical Record of
Shelby and Moultrie Counties, Illinois - Published:
Chicago: Biographical Publishing Co. - 1891 - Page 215 |
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