JAMES PATTERSON, a prominent citizen of Chartiers township, was born February 20, 1828, in Allegheny county, Penn., and is a grandson of John and Mary (Miller) Patterson, natives of Ireland, who came to America, first settling near Wilmington, Del. In 1806, with one horse and a wagon to transport their worldly goods and themselves, the family moved to a partially improved place in Allegheny county, Penn., where John Patterson died, his widow surviving him many years. Robert Patterson, son of John and Mary (Miller) Patterson, was born in 1791, in Ireland, and passed his earlier youth in his native land, coming to America with his parents, who finally settled in Pennsylvania. Robert Patterson married Mary McConnell, a native of Allegheny county, Penn., and settled on the homestead in that county. He was one of the minute-men in the factory at Wilmington, Del., previous to his arrival in Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Patterson were formerly members of the Associate Reformed Church at Robinson's Run, afterward uniting with the U.P. Church at that place. Mrs. Patterson died in the spring of 1863, and on March 31, 1876, he passed away on the old homestead, while in his eighty-fifth year. James Patterson received his education in the schools of his native county, and then learned the carpenter's trade, following that vocation several years. In November, 1861, he was married to Miss Catherine Stewart, a native of the Emerald Isle, and a daughter of John and Mary (Walker) Stewart, also natives of Ireland, who immigrated in 1852 to Allegheny county, Penn., where the mother died in 1875; the father is now living with his daughter Catherine. James Patterson remained in Allegheny county several years after his marriage, and in 1867 removed to his present home in Washington county, Penn. The children of James and Catherine (Stewart) Patterson are Robert M., John W.., Mary Jane, Anna Martha, Sarah Ellen and Mary Rebecca. Of this family, John W. was married in 1890 to Lizzie J. Phillips, a native of Cecil township, and daughter of John Wayne and Anna Mary (Cummins) Phillips, natives of Chartiers township, this county. To the union of John W. and Lizzie J. Patterson has been born one daughter, Anna Laura. Mary Jane Patterson (the third child of James) is married to C.L. Reed, of Cecil township, and they have one child, Catherine Pauline. Mr. Patterson has 135 acres of land, to which his attention is principally given; he also raises a fine breed of stock. Politically, he is an active worker in the Republican party.

Text taken from page 1201 of: Beers, J. H. and Co., Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893). Transcribed March 1997 by Jack McNatt of Valrico, FL as part of the Beers Project. Published March 1997 on the Washington County, PA USGenWeb pages at http://www.chartiers.com/.

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