My Genealogy Hound

Robert A. Patterson is a native farmer and stock raiser of Independence County, where he has lived all his life. He was born in 1824, and is a son of Thomas and Martha (Bruce) Patterson. Thomas Patterson was born in Tennessee, where he grew to manhood and married, and soon after the War of 1812 moved to Missouri, settling on the James Fork of White River, from which location he was driven away by the Indians. He then removed to Independence County, Ark., and settled on a small improvement on Polk Bayou, where he improved a good farm, to which he devoted his attention the remainder of his life; he was among the pioneer settlers of White River Township, and his death occurred in 1857. Mrs. Patterson was a native of North Carolina, and survived her husband until 1875. Of their large family three sons and seven daughters lived to be grown, of whom our subject was the third born. The mother was a member of the Methodist Church. Mr. Patterson served as a soldier in the War of 1812. Robert A. was deprived almost entirely of any school advantages, as the country was so sparsely settled, and schools were not organized. He lived at home until twenty-one years of age, when he worked one year as a mill hand, and afterward engaged in farming. In March, 1848, he married Mary Ann, daughter of Johnston and Elizabeth Clark. Mr. Clark was reared in Illinois, but was married in Missouri, in which State the parents lived until Mrs. Patterson was nine years old. They then removed to Independence County, Ark., where Mrs. Clark died, in November, 1862. Mr. Clark died the same month in St. Louis while serving as lieutenant of an Arkansas regiment, Federal army; he was a millwright by trade, and also a farmer. Of the nine children born to Mr. and Mrs. Patterson seven are living, viz.: Mary J., wife of William I. Marshall; Sarah I., wife of J. M. Patterson; Thomas S., Robert A. R., John H., George W. W. and Lauretta. After his marriage Mr. Patterson settled on his present farm, which was then entirely unimproved; of his 283 acres he now has about sixty under cultivation. He also carries on wagon-making in connection with his farming. He is one of the oldest residents of Independence County, whose birth occurred here, and is one of the best known and most respected citizens. Mr. Patterson was formerly a Democrat, but since the war he has been a Republican. He is a member of the A. F. & A. M., and he and wife are consistent members of the Methodist Church. Mrs. Patterson’s maternal grandfather, Lewis Roan, was a native of England, and when but twelve years of age came to America, where he fought all through the Revolution for the freedom of the colonies. He reared a large family in this country, where he spent the remainder of his life. James Clark, paternal grandfather of Mrs. Patterson, was an early settler of Illinois. He afterward lived some years in Missouri and subsequently located in Independence County, Ark., where he died. It is supposed that all of the family, except himself and one sister, were killed by the Indians when he was a boy.