Thomas I. Patton, Ouachita County, AR -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SOURCE: Chicago: The Goodspeed Publishing Co., 1889. Contributed by Carol Smith. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ouachita County, Arkansas - from Goodspeed's History of Arkansas Thomas I. Patton. In 1820 a son of the Emerald Isle came across the Atlantic to wrest fortune from the Americans, not by the mailed hand, but by the force of his own intellect, and in this he succeeded far beyond his most sanguine hopes. This native of Ireland was James Patton, the father of the subject of this sketch, who was born in 1802, in County Down, Ireland, a son of John Patton, a large land owner, known far and near as a man of integrity and worth. James Patton received a thorough education and was a graduate of one of the leading colleges of his native land. On arriving in the United States he remained in New York for about one year, then removed to Pennsylvania, where he engaged in teaching school, and from thence to South Carolina, where he was employed as a private tutor in the family of a wealthy planter for ten years, and in which State he was married in 1833 to Miss Mary M. Elliott, who was born March 15, 1815, in Fairfield District, South Carolina, a daughter of John and Catherine (Sites) Elliott, also natives of South Carolina. John Elliott came to Arkansas, locating in Ouachita County, in 1840, where he purchased a farm for his son-in-law, Mr. Patton, the father of the subject of the sketch, and one for himself, on which he lived until his death, which occurred in 1862, and which became on of the landmarks of the county, being the only stopping place for the stages and travelers from El Dorado to Camden. In 1841 Mr. and Mrs. Patton and family emigrated to Arkansas, and located on the farm purchased for them by Mr. Elliott, which then contained only forty acres of land, with a small log house and a garden patch as the only improvements. Here he made his home until his death, which occurred on the anniversary of Washington's birthday, in 1866. At the time of his death he owned 900 acres of land and at the beginning of the war owned twenty slaves. He and his wife are members of the Presbyterian Church. Mrs. Patton is still living on the old homestead. She was the mother of thirteen children, five of whom are still living, viz: Elizabeth (now Mrs. Parr, of Curtis, Arkansas), the subject o f this sketch, David (in the lumber business in Texas), May (at home), and Albert Harrison (known as Harry Patton throughout the township). Mrs. Patton now owns some 600 or 800 acres of land, and is highly respected lady. Thomas I. Patton, the subject of this sketch, was born February 4, 1849, in this (Lafayette) township. Being reared in the early pioneer days of this country, his school advantages were limited to a few months' attendance at the country schools during his early boyhood, but as his father was a highly educated man, he received a better education than his companions. He commenced farming for himself at the age of twenty-two, on part of the old homestead, on which he lived until 1881, when he purchased his present farm. He now owns 760 acres of land, which is largely under cultivation.. Mr. Patton was married in 1876 to Miss Rebecca L. Matthews, daughter of L. W. and Sarah M. (Goodwin) Matthews, and was born in Union County, Arkansas. Subject and wife have had no children of their own, but have raised two boys, one, a son of Mr. Patton's sister, who died at his birth, and the other, a brother of Mrs. Patton. Both, Mr. and Mrs. Patton are members of the Presbyterian Church, and the former is a member of the County Wheel.