Payette County ID Archives Biographies.....Patch, Leroy Vernon 1844 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/id/idfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 October 13, 2010, 4:16 am Source: See Below Author: S. J. Clarke (Publisher, 1920) COLONEL LEROY VERNON PATCH, who is serving for the second term as adjutant general of Idaho, makes his home in Payette, from which point he goes to the capital in order to discharge his official duties. In the years of his residence in this state he has come to the front in many connections and is an outstanding figure in the business and political circles of Idaho, many important projects having benefited by the stimulus of his enterprise, industry and sagacity. He came to Idaho in 1900 from Omaha, Nebraska, and through the intervening period has resided at Payette, where his interests have become continuously of increasing importance. The Colonel was born at Mount Pleasant, Iowa, October 14, 1876, the only son of Joseph Tucker Patch, lawyer and jurist, who spent his last years in the home of Colonel Patch at Payette, passing away there a few years ago when seventy-three years of age. He was a native of Rutledge, Vermont, and was a graduate of the law department of the University of Michigan. His legal and judicial services were chiefly performed at Omaha, Nebraska. In the paternal line Colonel Patch comes of English ancestry, being a direct descendant of Asa Lawrence, who came to America on the Mayflower. Also in the paternal line Colonel Patch is of Revolutionary war ancestry and has membership with the Sons of the American Revolution. He is likewise eligible to membership in the Founders & Patriots Society. In the maternal line he is of Scotch lineage. His mother bore the maiden name of Mary Elizabeth Vernon and her ancestors came from Scotland to the new world at an early day. Her death occurred in 1897. Colonel Patch was a young lad when his parents removed to Omaha, Nebraska, where he pursued his preparatory and college courses. He was a student in the University of Nebraska, winning the Bachelor of Arts degree upon his graduation with the class of 1898. He played on the university football team and aided in winning many of its famous victories, playing generally as fullback. He also belonged to the Kappa Sigma fraternity and while at the university he took military training under General John J. Pershing, then military commandant of that school. When his college days were over he accepted the superintendency of schools at Kearney, Nebraska, and filled that position for two years. In 1902 he removed westward to Payette, where he has since given his attention to business pursuits and has through his thrift, enterprise and sound judgment acquired large property interests in Payette and the surrounding country. His activities have been of a character that have contributed largely to the upbuilding and progress of the community as well as the advancement of his individual fortunes. He is the secretary-manager of the Idaho Canning Company, one of the largest concerns of that section. He is also the president of the Payette Heights Irrigation Company; a director of the First National Bank of Payette; secretary of the Payette Flour Milling Company and of the Rex Spray Company; president of the Payette Brick Manufacturing Company; and vice president of the Payette Valley Land and Orchard Company, operating seven hundred and twenty acres of bearing orchards. In all business affairs he displays unfaltering enterprise and keen discrimination, which enable him to avoid the pitfalls into which unrestricted progressiveness is so frequently led. His high standing as a business man and further recognition of his ability are indicated in the fact that he is now the president of the Idaho Poultry and Pet Stock Association and a director of the Idaho State Dairymen's Association. He owns and conducts a stock ranch and several fruit ranches and his experience and study along these lines enable him to speak with authority upon many questions relative thereto. At his home on Payette Heights he has a fine herd of Holstein cattle, also fine poultry and pet stock that are not only a source of gratification to him but a matter of pride to the community as well. He indeed occupies a central place on the stage of business activity at Payette. Moreover, Colonel Patch is a man of splendid military training and has ever been deeply interested in military affairs. He has been identified with the Idaho State Militia almost continuously since he came to the state. In 1916 he served with the Second Idaho Regiment on the Mexican border and during the World war he saw active duty in France. He was graduated from the United States Artillery School at Fort Sill in January, 1918, and at once went to France with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He spent sixteen months in that country and during the first two months was base commander at the American military base at Blois, France. In April, 1918, he took command of the One Hundred and Forty-sixth Regiment of Heavy Field Artillery, which was the first regiment of the American Heavy Artillery to serve on the battle line. He commanded the One Hundred and Forty-sixth American Artillery and the Three Hundred and Thirty-third French Heavy Artillery at the battles of the Marne and Oise and at Ourcq and Vesle. He also commanded the One Hundred and Forty-sixth American Heavy Artillery and the Sixteenth and Twenty-eighth French Heavy Artillery at St. Mihiel and Verdun and the One Hundred and Forty-sixth Field Artillery in the Argonne forest and in the battles at the Meuse river. About the time the armistice was signed he was transferred to the Three Hundred and Third American Heavy Field Artillery, which he commanded with the rank of lieutenant colonel until he was mustered out on the 2d of May, 1919, in Boston, Massachusetts. Familiarity with the history of the war shows that he was on the hardest fought battle front after America's entrance into the great conflict and as a result was advanced to the rank of full colonel. He also wears five stars on his service ribbon, indicating his active service on five battle fronts. While still in France, Colonel Patch was appointed by Governor D. W. Davis a member of the Idaho public utilities commission but upon his return to Idaho he declined the proffered honor and was then appointed by the governor to the position of adjutant general of the state. He had previously served as colonel of the Second Idaho Regiment for several years and had been adjutant general in 1913 and 1914 under Governor John M. Haines. Colonel Patch was married at Kearney, Nebraska, in 1900, to Miss Ernestine Wilmot Tabor, a native of New York city, where she was reared and educated. They have become parents of four sons: Vernon Tabor, eighteen years of age; Ernest William, aged sixteen; Allerton Louis, twelve; and Oliver Leroy, ten. Colonel Patch is a prominent figure in republican circles and has done much to further the interests of the party in the state. He represented Canyon county in the tenth session of the Idaho legislature, has been a member of the Payette city council and secretary of its board of education for seven years. While absent in service on the Mexican border in 1916 he was made the candidate of his party for lieutenant governor. He is a Mason of high rank, being a Knight Templar and Mystic Shriner, is also identified with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and is at the present time exalted ruler in Boise Lodge, No. 310. He is also president of Payette Post, American Legion of World War Veterans. At the national convention of the American Legion in Minneapolis in November, 1919, Colonel Patch was made permanent chairman of the military affairs committee, congress having asked that such a committee be organized to assist that body in forming the future military policies of the armies of the United States. Life to Colonel Patch evidently means opportunity—the opportunity that ambition and enterprise bring in business and the opportunity for contribution to the world's work along those lines where the highest citizenship and loftiest patriotism are involved. Additional Comments: Extracted from: IDAHO DELUXE SUPPLEMENT CHICAGO THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY 1920 Photo: http://www.usgwarchives.net/id/payette/photos/bios/patch105nbs.jpg File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/id/payette/bios/patch105nbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/idfiles/ File size: 8.7 Kb