My Genealogy Hound

Stuart D. Patterson, one of the prosperous farmers of Holly township, Oakland County, residing on his well improved farm of 160 acres, located in sections 2 and 3, was born at Holly village, August 4, 1869, and is a son of Judge Thomas L. Patterson, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this volume.

Mr. Patterson was reared in Holly township, of which he has always been a resident, with the exception of one year at Ann Arbor, when he was attending the University of Michigan. It had been his intention to prepare for the practice of law, but an accident caused him to return home and was the means of his giving up the idea of a professional life. He soon became interested in farming and operated the old homestead farm for some 10 years. In 1896 he purchased what is locally known as the old John Fagan farm, which was taken from the government by Torrence Fagan, the parchment deed for which, with the signature of President Jackson, is in the possession of Mr. Patterson. This is a well located tract of 160 acres of very fertile farming and good grazing land and Mr. Patterson has been very successful on this property, both in farming and stock raising, feeding many sheep and cattle. It is also one of the most attractive places in the township and Mr. Patterson has made the greater number of the fine improvements. This farm is a well known one in the locality, as it was long owned by two brothers, John and Thomas Fagan, who were supposed to be worth $40,000, although they lived as misers. As they were without families, the property went to a brother and finally passed into the hands of its present competent manager. It presents a very different appearance at the present day from what it did when it was the home of the Fagan bachelors.

Mr. Patterson was married in Holly to Esther Addis, who was born in Holly township, and is a daughter of Ephraim and Jane (Petty) Addis, residents of Holly village, and three children have been born to them: Gladys E., a school girl of 12 years; Thomas L., Jr., who died aged 12 months; and Margaret J., a little maid of two years.

In political sentiment, Mr. Patterson is a Democrat, believing in and actively supporting the principles of that party, but is not an aspirant for political honors. He has always taken a public spirited interest in the welfare of the township and is a man in whom great reliance is placed. Fraternally he is a Mason and belongs to Lodge No. 134, F. & A. M., at Holly. He was reared in the Presbyterian faith by a pious and careful mother, but has never united with any religious body.

Ephraim Addis, father of Mrs. Patterson, is a retired farmer of Holly township, the owner of a fine farm located in sections 7 and 18; for the past seven years he has been a resident of the village, residing in a comfortable home on First street. Mr. Addis was born May 19, 1836, in Warren County, New Jersey, and is a son of Peter and Mary (Bates) Addis, natives of that State, who removed to Oakland County, Michigan, in 1837, settling on a farm one-half mile east of Clarkston, where they lived until their deaths. Mr. Addis was the eldest of his parents’ family of six children, namely: Ephraim; William, who is farming in Brandon township, Oakland County, near Ortonville; Daniel, a merchant of Clarkston, Oakland County; Nelson, a farmer of Ingham County, Michigan; Arvilla (Mrs. Petty), of White Lake township, Oakland County; and George, who is living on the homestead farm in Independence township, Oakland County.

Mr. Addis remained with his parents until the age of 21, assisting on the farm and attending the district schools. He began his own career in the timber lands west of Bay City and operated a farm there for two years, removing then to Holly township, where he bought 80 acres of timber land, cleared it up and resided upon it for three years and then sold it and bought a farm near Clarkston. Upon that property he lived for 13 years and then traded it for his present farm in sections 7 and 18. It formerly consisted of 200 acres, but Mr. Addis later sold 80 acres to his son Peter, who now owns like himself a farm of 120 acres.

Mr. Addis was married August 10, 1858, in Oakland township, Oakland County, to Jane Petty, who was born in New Jersey and is a daughter of Joseph and Esther (Steele) Petty. Mrs. Addis has three sisters, viz: Mrs. Mary Petty, of Tyrone township, Livingston County, Michigan; Mrs. Sarah Wass, also a resident of the same locality; and Mrs. Effie Judevine, of Fenton, Michigan, all farming people. Mr. and Mrs. Addis have reared these children: Peter, born April 16, 1864, was married to Julia Haddon, has two children and resides on his farm in section 17, Holly township, Oakland County; Mary Esther, born May 21, 1866, who married Stuart D. Patterson; and Frederick, born April 2, 1873, who is a produce dealer of Fenton, Michigan; Frank, born August 14, 1859, died at the age of one and a half years; and Arthur, born April 9, 1862, died in August, 1882, aged 20 years. Mrs. Addis is a member of the Methodist Church, while in religious views Mr. Addis is quite liberal, supporting all moral movements.