James Patton (1692 - 1755)

Born 8 Jul 1692 in Limavady, Londonderry, Ireland

Ancestors

Husband of Mary (Osborne) Patton — married about 1735 in Whitehaven, Cumberland, England [uncertain]

Descendants

Died 30 Jul 1755 at age 63 in Draper Meadows, New River Valley, Virginia

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Biography

James Patton is Notable.

James Patton was a Virginia colonist.

James Patton is believed to have been of Scottish/Irish descent. He is thought to have been born at Limavady in County Londonderry in Ireland, about 1692, although there has been no source record yet found. Much of this biography is sourced to Col. James Patton on Family Search Family Tree. ^[1] Wikipedia provides an extensive review of his life.^[2]

He was a prominent settler in the in Virginia colony between 1739 until his death in 1755.

There is a great deal of material regarding his early life although very little includes original source material. The History of Tazewell county and southwest Virginia, 1748-1920 has hundreds of pages devoted to Col. Patton and his endeavors.^[3] Another frequently cited research paper is The Mysterious Origins of James Patton. ^[4]

It is known that he was at Kirkcudbright in Scotland in 1737. At the time this was in Dumfries and Galloway, in the south west coast of Scotland.

A letter, by a Lettina Preston, often quoted as source, stating "he was born in Newton Limavaddy [sic] in County Londonderry, Ireland, in 1690, that "He was bred to the sea," and that he "served as an officer in the Royal Navy."" is unlikely to be true and is not supported from Royal Navy records of the day. Jim Glanville and Ryan Mays go further and provide that "Nathaniel Hart Jr., who revised the John Brown family history (described in their work prior), elevated the James Patton legend to new heights in 1842 when he stated, "Old Colonel Patton was a naval officer and favorite of the King." Certainly, later, Patton became acquainted with a number of Royal Virginia Governors, but it stretches the bounds of possibility that he ever came to the notice of any English monarch." ^[4]

Glanville & Mays suggest ^[4] that James Patton was made a Burgess of the Burgh of Kirkcudbright on 28 December 1734 and believe this proved by an unambiguous match of signatures of this document and later documents known to have been his.

As suggested by Glanville & Mays, it might be assumed that Patton had commercial dealings in the Virginia colony prior to 1737. Further they suggest that, in the records of St. Nicholas church, in Tinkling Spring Virginia, there is a burial record "1728 26Th June Ally wife of James Patton, mariner." suggesting he had his family in Virginia in 1728.

What is known is that Patton, in 1737, appears to have been on assignment from William Beverley, a prominent member of the Virginia Colony and later appointed to the Governor's Council. Patton, who was at Kirkcudbright, had been sent a letter, from Beverley, asking Patton to facilitate the importation of families to help Beverley in the settlement of his lands. He suggests Patton might obtain these families from "Pensilvania" or families from Ireland. On 22 August that year, Beverley indicates that his grant was for 30,000 acres and offered Patton one-quarter to exert "his utmost endeavor".

Glanville & Mays present new evidence, ^[4] in the form of Port records, to suggest that Captain James Patton was in command of the trading vessel Walpole in 1738. The Walpole was a ship owned by Walter Lutwidge, a merchant operating a shipping business out of Whitehaven in Cumbria, and arrived in Virginia from the port of Whitehaven on 26 August 1738. They state that the Walpole stopped in Dublin to bring an indentured servant to Virginia. Glanville & Mays suggest that the Walpole "from Holland on II September 1739, captained by Patton and bringing with him 3,100 ells of Osnaburg linens, 96 ells of sail cloth, and oak timbers. From this record it is possible to infer that tobacco, and any other goods that Patton had carried back across the Atlantic from Virginia, was unladen in Holland, because when he docked at Whitehaven he was carrying only goods from mainland Europe." ^[4] What is apparent was, that by 1738, Patton was a merchant Captain plying the Virginia /Netherlands /England/ Scotland /Ireland route. He captained the Walpole before 1738 until 1739 when he took command of the William and then he had command of the Hope in 1740.

The Library of Virginia has two letters "dated 18 December and 22 December 1742, from James Patton (1692-1755) of Augusta County, Virginia to Lieutenant Governor William Gooch (1681-1751) in Williamsburg, Virginia, describing an armed confrontation between members of the Augusta County militia and a group of Iroquois Indians at Balcony Falls along the James River on 5 December 1742."^[5] He was one the witnesses to the July 2, 1744 deed between the Six Nations of Indians and King George II, through Thomas Lee & Col. William Beverley on behalf of the colony of Virginia, in which the Six Nations released their right to all lands within Virginia for the sum of four hundred pounds.^[6]

Patton, a large landowner in the Colony of Virginia, received 122 Land Grants in Virginia with the first beginning August 20, 1743. ^[7] This included an April 26, 1745 grant of 100,000 acres "in Augusta County, on three branches of the Missippi (s.i.c.) River, the one known by the name of Wood River (now the New River), the other two to the westward thereof, and on the waters thereof."^[8] Patton sold much of this land described as "part of an order of Counceil granted to James Patton and others to take up 100,000 acres upon the waters of Woodes River" to others before his death.^[9]

After the organization of Augusta County, Patton came to be county lieutenant, commander of the Virginia militia, president of the Augusta court,^[10] president of the Augusta vestry,^[11] commissioner of the Tinkling Spring congregation,^[12] county coroner, county escheator, customs collector, county sheriff, member of the House of Burgesses, and other minor offices.

Col. Patton was one of the founding Commissioners of the Tinkling Spring Presbyterian Church in Fisherville, Virginia.^[13] On Feb. 7, 1744, the Commissioners authorized him to be in charge of all funds and expenditures for the building of the Church. On this date, Col. Patton authorized the first disbursement for its construction. ^[14]

"[In] April, 1748, . . .Colonel James Patton, Dr. Thomas Walker, Colonel John Buchanan and Colonel Charles Campbell, and others, set out from Waynesboro, in Albemarle County, on their long journey down the Valley of the Shenandoah, and beyond, crossing the James River at or near the present town of Buchanan, . . the Roanoke River near the present town of Salem, the Alleghany Mountains near the present town of Christiansburg, the New River near the present town of Radford, and on to the headwaters of the Holston, and on and on to the great gap in the mountains which they call The Cumberland. . .An immediate outgrowth of the Patton & Walker Expedition was the organization of The Loyal Company and the development of the western counties. . .By an order of Council of the Colonial Government dated July 12th, 1749, leave was granted to John Lewis and thirty- nine others (afterwards called The Loyal Company)—among which thirty-nine others were Colonel James Patton and Dr. Thomas Walker—to whom were granted 800,000 acres of land north of the North Carolina line and west of the Alleghany Mountains."^[15]

Col. James Patton was killed by Indians July 8, 1755 at the Draper's Meadow Massacre, Montgomery Co, (Currently Blacksburg).^[16] In some sources, James is said to have been "one of the first to be killed and was working on his land records at his desk in his cabin. James Patton had a huge Scotch sword that had belonged to his father, so big that most men had to use two hands to heft it. The Indians took it and used it to behead Casper Philip Barger." His death was recorded in the Commissioners' Book of the Tinkling Spring Presbyterian Church.^[17]

Marriage

Very little is known of James Patton's wife Mary. Even her last name is hotly disputed. Some claim that Mary was one of the daughters of Benjamin Borden.^[18] This despite the fact that Mary was not named as an heir in Benjamin Borden's 1742 Will.^[19] Others, including The Library of Virginia, identify her as Mary Osborne and claim that James Patton took Mary and their two daughters, Mary and Margaret, as well as his sister and brother-in-law, John and Elizabeth Preston, and their children, Letitia, Margaret, William, and Ann, from England aboard the Walpole to Virginia.^[20][21] The Memorial to Immigrants to the Valley at Tinkling Spring Presbyterian Church clearly identifies James Patton's wife as Mary Osborne, buried at Tinkling Spring.

Last Will and Testament

On September 1, 1750, James Patton of the County of Augusta, Colony of Virginia executed his Last Will and Testament. A copy appears in Will Book, but it is very difficult to read and much of the copy has been obliterated. ^[22] A second, more legible copy of the Will of James Patton appears in the Chancery Court file for Admr of George Wilson v. Admr of James Thompson, Augusta County Chancey Court, Virginia.^[23]

By his Will of December 1, 1750, James Patton left his estate as follows: first, to his daughter, Mary Patton, wife of Wm. Thompson, a life estate in one Negro named Hannah and her children, viz. Cooper, Lucy and Jack, one Negro man named Ned, James Patton's Plantation upon which he lived called "Springhill", another tract of land of about 5,000 acres on which Samuel Stalnaker and others lived; another tract of land known as Indian Fields on the waters of the Holstein River, a branch of the "MIssippi", and specific personal property, with a remainder estate in her male heirs except that when the testator's grandson James Thompson attained the age of 21-years, he was given the option to select a tract of land of 1,500 acres on either Springhill or Indian Fields and then to be given Negros and specific personal property of a value equal to 150L and upon the death of both Wm. Thompson and Mary Patton Thompson, James Thompson was to inherit all of Springhill (1,390 acres) and all of Indian Fields (3,000 acre) and the above slaves and their increase with a male progenitor tale estate; second, to his son-in-law Wm. Thompson, a tract of land called Spring Field, joining to where the Widow Gold lives and in which Henry Patton lives, of about 3,000 acres to be divided by him among Mary's children or to be sold and used for the purchase of Negroes or other things and to use the proceeds therefrom for the education of his grandson James Thompson; third, to his "Daughter now married to Colo. John Buchanan" a life estate in the following: one Negro woman then in her possession, another Negro woman to be immediately purchased for her, four tracts of land near Robert Looney's, one called Cherry Tree Bottom (300 acres), one on the mouth of Purgatory Creek (71) acres), one where there is a small stone house (150 acres), and one tract adjoining Looney's land (60 acres), and specific personal property, with a remainder in her children with Jno. Buchanan. and if none then to his grandson James Thompson, and if none to the testator's "Sister Preston" for life and upon her death to his "son Wm. Preston; fourth, "Ten pounds to be paid to Rev. Jno. Craig minister at the tinkling as his Stipend due from Octo 1740 from Octo 1750 out of the money now Due me by the Congregation, which money I have advanced for them to build their meeting House" and also ten pounds for a Pulpit and Pulpit cloth; fifth, "A Bond due by John Preston ( who was married to his sister Elizabeth) to be given up to his son William Preston; sixth, All bonds and debts "due me by George Willson who is married to my wife's niece Rebecca Vicars to be canceled" and also a clear deed to a tract of land he then lived upon with a remainder estate to the eldest child of their marriage after their death; seventh, the reminder of his lands to be sold within three years and the proceeds to be laid out to purchase Negros to be equally divided between James Thompson and Mary Buchanan and their heirs forever; eighth, should neither Mary Thompson nor Margaret Buchanan have issue living at testator's death, the whole of his estate should devolve to Wm. Preston; ninth, he nominated his son-in laws Colo. John Buchanan and Wm. Thompson, his nephew Wm. Preston, and Silas Hart as his Executors; tenth, the testator required that any disputes be decided by the Ministers and Elders of Tinking Springs Congregation; eleventh, to Wm. Preston, his wearing apparel, saddle, furniture, riding horse, gold ring and gold watch if he serves, to Silas Hart, if he serves, forgiveness of his in laws debt, and 5L to each of them; and twelfth, he stated that he had been appointed agent for several named persons for the Roanoake and James River grants and patents in his name as well as other property transactions.

James Patton's Will was proven in Augusta County Court, Virginia, on November 26, 1755. William Thompson and John Buchanan were appointed as Executors.^[22] There are 21 Executor Deeds arising out of the Estate of James Patton at the Library of Virginia. ^[24]

Burial

In the Annals of Augusta County, Virginia, from 1726 to 1871, ^[25] Joseph Waddell notes Col. Patton's Will expressed his desire to be buried at Tinkling Spring:

I commend my soul to God who gave it, hoping, through his mercy and the merits and intercession of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to be eternally happy. My body I commit to Providence, but if convenient to where I resign my last breath, to be buried at the Tinkling Spring, where my wife now lays.

However, Waddell continues later with:

It is unnecessary to say that Colonel Patton's request as to his burial place, was not complied with. It was impossible at that day to transport a corpse from Smithfield to Tinkling Spring. He was buried near the spot where he "resigned his last breath," and his grave was covered with loose stones. There is no slab or inscription. An idle report arose that a large amount of money was buried with the body, and the grave was desecrated a few years ago by vandals in search of the treasure.

Children

• Margaret Belle Patton Buchanan (1725 - ____); wife of Col. John Buchanan.
• Mary Patton Thompson (1728 - 1777); wife of William Thompson.

Enslaved Persons

1. Hannah and her children, viz. Cooper, Lucy and Jack.
2. Ned.

Research Notes

Parents His parents were Henry Patton, Jr & Sarah Lynn of Springfield Manor, Clondavaddock Parish, Barony of Kilmacrenan, County Donegal, Ireland. Yet to be tested.

Middle Name Speculative. Middle name in some profiles of Lynn is speculative. It was LNAB of his mother (speculative).

Interesting Fact: The Augusta County Deed Books Vols. 4-6 contain 104 deeds from James Patton's to others. This is apart from a few other deeds in earlier books.

Purported Child Robert William Patton Detached.

Robert William Patton is not mentioned in James Patton Will and it is not likely that he is related. Robert's profile was disconnected until reliable sources can be provided.

Library of Virginia Biography: James Patton was born in 1692 in County Donegal, Northern Ireland. Patton served in the British navy and in the merchant marine before becoming a successful sea captain and businessman in England. Patton entered into a partnership with John Lewis (1676-1762) of Ireland and Augusta County, Virginia, and William Beverley (1696-1756) of Essex County, Virginia, to speculate in land in western Virginia and to bring settlers there. Patton himself settled in Augusta County and immediately became one of its leading citizens, serving in various county posts and as a colonel in the militia, commanding that militia in several conflicts with various Native-American tribes. Patton continued his land speculation, opening up southwestern Virginia to settlement. He represented Augusta County in the House of Burgesses from 1752 to 1755. Patton married Mary Osborne (d. 1749), and they were related to several prominent southwestern Virginia families including Buchanans, Lewises, and Prestons. Patton was killed by a Shawnee war party 31 July 1755 in a massacre in Draper's Meadows, which was then in Augusta County.^[26]

"James Patton & the Appalachian Colonists" The suggestion has been made that James Patton was responsible for the importation of the first Arabian horse into the English colonies in North America. An Arabian stallion named Bulle Rocke was imported into Virginia about 1730. One Samuel Patton had the first certificate for Bulle Rocke. It is thought that Samuel was a brother of James Patton already established in Virginia & Captain Patton, the ship's master, brought him Bulle Rocke on one of his Trans-Atlantic voyages.

James Patton brought his wife & two daughters, John Preston & his wife Elizabeth Patton Preston, their three daughters, Letitia, Margaret, & Mary & their one son, William Preston (founder of the Smithfield Prestons). Johns fourth daughter, Elizabeth Ann Preston was apparently born in the United States in 1739. Others that came with him were John Buchanan & his two sisters Margaret & Martha, John Preston's sister Mary Preston who later married Phillip Barger. The Walpole arrived in Belliaven, near Alexanderia on the Potomac 26 Aug 1738.

"Pattons of Virginia" Col. James Patton (the uncle of Capt. James Patton) was the son of Henry Patton & his wife, Sarah Lynn (daughter of the Laird of Loch Lynn and sister of William Lynn, who came to Fredericksburg, Virginia) and was born in Ireland in 1690, in the town of Newtown, Timivady, near Londonderry, County Donegal. The Pattons were a prominent family in the North of Ireland and (Col.) James Patton was bred to the sea and served as an Officer in the Royal Navy in Queen Ann's war with the French, which ended with the treaty of Utrecht in 1713. After that Col. James Patton owned a line of ships, which plied between Ireland & Scotland & later to Virginia. He came to Hobbs Hole on the Rappahannock River (now Tappahonnock) bringing settlers to the New World, making as many as 25 trips across the Atlantic and long voyages they were in those days. Col. James Patton was granted for himself and his associates by King George 2nd of England "120,000 acres of the best land lying above the Blue Ridge" He lived at "Springhill" near Staunton, Augusta, Virginia. We have read of his vast enterprise to open up & settle the western lands in Virginia. He directed the affairs of the James River & Roanoke Company, & he was the connecting link between Eastern Virginia & the great Southwest Virginia. (Virginia Magazine of History & Biography April 1939). Much of this early life is in doubt.

Notes from Family Search yet to be tested:

"The Pattons were originally landed gentry seated at Ferrochie, Fifeshire, Scotland. The progenitor of the Irish branch of the family, William Patton, M.A., was born in Scotland; had immigrated to Northern Ireland during the King James Plantation. He was in County Donegal by 1626 as Rector of the parishes of Ramoigh and Clonmary, Barony of Raphoe and later at Aughnish, Barony of Kilmacrenan. Rev William Patton and his wife, Margaret, made their home at an estate called 'Groghan', and reared two sons, Henry and John. Henry's son, also named Henry, married Sarah Lynn, daughter of David Lynn of Kilmacrenan and a descendant of the Lynns of Loch Lynn, in Scotland. Henry and Sarah lived in the Manor of Springfield, Parish of Clondevaddock, Barony of Kilmacrenan, County Donegal.

James was a younger son, born in 1692 in Newton, Limavaddy, not slated to inherit any of the Patton estates, so he went to sea when very young. The book goes on to say, "A very impressive ship's master he must have been, as he was a 'man of gigantic statue, handsome and dignified and of remarkably lol commanding powers'. He was dark-haired and brown-eyed and over six feet two inches tall." It is said that James took part in the War with France called "Queen Anne's War" which terminated in 1713.

James Patton took up several thousand acres on the New River, in what is now Montgomery Co, Virginia. Here, on the river, Phillip and Mary (Preston) Barger built a fort and began a settlement. To this day, it is known as the "Barger's Fort", and across the ridge Patton built a fort and began a settlement known as "Draper's Meadows". Here the Drapers, Ingles, McDonalds, Cloyds, etc. made their first home in the New World. Patton's home was called "Solitude" and it was here, in July, 1755, Col. James Patton met a tragic death when much of the settlement was wiped out on a bright Sunday morning by the savage tomahawk. It is said that Patton had sent his nephew, William Preston, on an errand to Sinking Spring near present day Newport. Drapers Meadows is now known as Blacksburg, the home of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Four generations of Pattons lived here (at what is now known as "Solitude") as well as Governor John Floyd.

James served in the British Royal Navy in Queen Anne's War. After the Treaty of Utrecht, he procured a passenger ship and traded to the Colony of Virginia at Robbs Hole on the Tappahannock. He penetrated the then wilderness of the state as far as Orange County, thence across the Blue Ridge and commenced a settlement near Waynesborough in Augusta County. He crossed the Atlantic 23 or 25 times as Master of a ship in and around 1728. In his private shipping enterprises, Capt James Patton made contracts with promoters of the settlement of the western part of Virginia. He sailed on the ship Walpole to Virginia, arriving August 26, 1738*. His first residence was Beverly Manor on the south fork of the Shenandoah. From his headquarters there, adventurer Patton soon extended his interest to the management of the Roanoke and James River Grant of 1740 and the Woods River Grant of 1745.

(James Patton and The Appalachian Colonists, by Patricia Givens Johnson)

Disputes Regarding 1749 Walker Patton Expedition:

Some historians dispute the fact that Patton reached the Cumberland Gap or named in 1748.^[27]

Sources

1. ↑ Col. James Lynn Patton on Family Search (account required)
2. ↑ Wikipedia article on James Lynn Patton
3. ↑ Pendleton, W.C., History of Tazewell county and southwest Virginia, 1748-1920 Available on archive.org here
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4} Glanville and Mays, The Mysterious Origins of James Patton, Part 1
5. ↑ James Patton letters of 1742, Library of Virginia available here
6. ↑ Original of Deed of the Six Nations of Indians, 1744 July 2.
7. ↑ Patton's Virginia Land Grants available here
8. ↑ A List of Early Land Patents and Grants, The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 5, No. 2 (Oct. 1897), pp. 173-180, published by the Virginia Historical Society Available here
9. ↑ Virginia, Augusta, Surveyors Book p. 33-35 Available here
10. ↑ Virginia, Will Book A, p. 41 William Thompson Bond to James Patton, First Justice in Commission for the Peace, for Administration of Estate of John Camell
11. ↑ Augusta County, Virginia, 1746 Vestry Book. Proclamation of William Gooch, Esq. Lt. Governor to James Patton et. al. Available here
12. ↑ Wikipedia article on Tinkling Spring Presbyterian Church
13. ↑ Tinkling Spring Presbyterian Church, Commissioners' Book, August 14, 1741 Available here
14. ↑ Tinkling Spring Presbyterian Church, Commissioners' Book, Feb. 7, 1744 Available here
15. ↑ Saltville, Washington County Historical Society of Abingdon, Virginia pp.109-110 (Bulletin Number Eight,March, 1943
16. ↑ Wikipedia article Draper's Meadow Massacre
17. ↑ Tinkling Spring Presbyterian Church, Commissioners' Book, Available here
18. ↑ Green, T. M. Col, Historical Families of Kentucky pp. 8-9 (1889, Cincinnati, Ohio) ISBN 0-8063-7958-8; Available here
19. ↑ Wayland, J.W., Hopewell Friends History, 1734-1934, Frederick County, Virginia, Records of Hopewell Monthly Meetings and Meetings Reporting to Hopewell; Two Hundred Years of History and Genealogy, Father's of the Colony, pp 26-27 (1936)Available here]
20. ↑ Osborn, Richard, William Preston: Origins of a Backcountry Political Career, Journal of Backcountry Studies (1990) Available here
21. ↑ U.S and International Marriage Records Available here, but considered unreliable
22. ↑ ^{22.0 22.1} Virginia, August, Will Book 2, p. 131 Available here
23. ↑ Admr of George Wilson v. Admr of James Thompson, Augusta County Chancery Court, 1812-94, pp. 34-37 Second, more legible copy of Will of James Patton available here
24. ↑ Patton Estate Executor Deeds available here
25. ↑ Waddell, J. A., Annals of Augusta County, Virginia, from 1726 to 1871 (2nd. Ed. 1902) Available here
26. ↑ Library of Virginia Biography for James Patton available here
27. ↑ Wilson, G.A., Dr. Thomas Walker Explorer, p. 319-320 (Bulletin Number Seventeen, October - November, 1950)

See also:

• Glanville & Mays, William Beverley, James Patton,and the Settling of the Shenandoah Valley, Vol 55, Essex County Museum and Historical Society Bulletin,Tappahannock, Virginia November 2010 Available here
• Col. James Lynn Patton on Family Search (account required)
• Find a Grave for Colonel James Lynn Patton although noting this is an unsourced biography.
• Johnson, Patricia Givens, James Patton and The Appalachian Colonists.
• Johnson, Patricia Givens, The New River Early Settlement, (Walpa publishing1983).
• U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 Publication: Name: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2004.
• New Maritime Records of James Patton Available here
• Grose, S, Pulaski County Virginia Heritage 2003, Thompson-Patton, p. 83-84 Unsourced profile Available here on Google Books
• Pattons of Ireland : Patton lineages of Scots-Irish derivation which were resident in Ulster c.1600-c.1800. David Agricola. FamilySearch International. 1999. 306 pages. p8.13-8.15.