Franklin Patterson
Surnames: Crawford, Holt, Kearney, Lay, McCredy, Weaver, Winter
Regions: Oak Hill, Allegany Co., NY; Madison Co., NY;
Milwaukee, WI; Union Twsp., Rock Co., WI
Source: Commemorative Biographical Record of the Counties of Rock, Green,
Grant, Iowa and Lafayette Wisconsin, publ. 1901 - page 493-494
FRANKLIN PATTERSON, whose fertile farm at every point shows the most thorough cultivation and careful management, has had his residence for many years on Section 28, in the town of Brooklyn, Green county, where he is numbered among the oldest and most respected farmers and citizens of the community.
Mr. PATTERSON was born in the town of Oak Hill, Allegany Co., N.Y., April 17, 1823, and is a son of James and Sarah (CRAWFORD) PATTERSON. The father was a native of Massachusetts, and the mother of the town of Madison, Madison Co., N.Y. They had eight children, only two of whom are now living: Franklin, whose name appears above, and his sister, Nancy, who is Mrs. James KEARNEY, of St. Paul, Minn. James PATTERSON was a farmer and moved from his native State to New York, where he lived for a number of years. While there he served as captain in the state militia. From New York he journeyed west into Lorain county, Ohio, where he died in 1840, while still in middle life. His widow survived him until February, 1892, when she passed away in her ninetieth year, at the home of her son Franklin, with whom she had lived for many years. Both father and mother were reared in the Presbyterian faith, but in their later years were associated with the Congregational body.
James PATTERSON, the father of James PATTERSON, and the grandfather of Franklin, was born in Massachusetts, and was a descendant of one of three brothers, who came into New England from Belfast, Ireland, and were thought to be of Scotch-Irish descent. They followed close after the Mayflower, and their posterity has been prominent in New England for many generations. Mr. PATTERSON was always a farmer, and died when quite old in New York. He had been married three times. His first wife bore him four children; his second, one; and his third, two. The father of Sarah CRAWFORD, noted above as the mother of Franklin PATTERSON, lived in New York many years, and then removed to Michigan, where he died when upwards of ninety years of age. He was a farmer, and was father to three sons and two daughters.
Franklin PATTERSON was about six years old when his parents made a new home for themselves and family in Ohio, and he remained in their home until he was of age. In 1844 he made his first appearance in Wisconsin, and for two years traveled extensively through the West and South. He went to New Orleans, but returned to Milwaukee, busying himself about various things. In 1846 he began farming in the town of Brooklyn, where he and his brother, James N., preempted a quarter-section from the government. A year later they took separate deeds for eighty acres each, paying the government price for it. Franklin PATTERSON deeded his eighty to his brother, James N., and then in company with his brother, Emerson, bought 200 acres of land at four dollars an acre. At the present time he owns 260 acres, and has lived here since 1846. His first home was a log cabin, but it was replaced in 1868 by a brick and frame building. Since his settlement in 1846, Mr. PATTERSON has moved but once, and that was from the old log house to the new home..
On Sept. 10, 1847, Franklin PATTERSON was married to Maria McCREDY, a daughter of Thomas and Catherine (HOLT) McCREDY. Four children were born to that union, three of whom are now living: Sarah Ann died in infancy; Hiram H. married Emma WINTER, and lives on the old farm in a house adjoining the homestead (he has one child, Nellie); William R., of Union township, Rock county, married Rosa LAY, and has two children, Dora E. and Elsie Maud; Lawrence A. married Elnora WEAVER, and lives on the old home farm. Mrs. Franklin PATTERSON died Jan. 20, 1897, at the age of seventy-two years and twelve days. She is remembered as a true-hearted and devoted wife and mother, a good neighbor and a kind friend. Franklin PATTERSON is quite independent in politics, although during the life of the old Greenback party he was one of its most active workers. In religious belief, he is equally independent, and is identified with no denomination.
Submitted by Carol