Josiah Patterson Sr (1774 - 1846)

Born Nov 1774 in Greenwood, Province of South Carolina

Ancestors

Husband of Abigail (Blair) Patterson — married 6 Feb 1794 in Abbeville, Abbeville, South Carolina, United States

Husband of Sarah (Terry) Patterson — married 16 Sep 1824 in Abbeville, Abbeville, South Carolina, United States

Husband of Eleanor (Phelps) Patterson — married 27 Nov 1832 in Abbeville, Abbeville, South Carolina, United States

Descendants

Died 31 Oct 1846 at age 71 in Abbeville, Abbeville, South Carolina, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Suzanne Lowe [send private message]

Biography

Not to be confused with Capt. Josiah C Patterson born 1 Oct 1751 in Ireland, or his two cousins also named Josiah (one was the son of Alexander Patterson of Abbeville; another was the son of James Patterson of Abbeville).

Josiah Patterson was born in Nov 1774 in Greenwood County (now extinct), South Carolina. The area was later called Abbeville District, South Carolina.

He married first Abigail Blair on Feb 6 1794 in South Carolina.^[1] Children: William (uncertain), Sarah Cowan, John Adam, Mary Ada, Samuel, James Cowan, Elizabeth Pleasant, Louisa Abigail, Jane Lovely, Josiah Blair.

Abigail died in 1823 and Josiah married second Sarah Terry on 9 Sep 1824 in Abbeville, South Carolina. Sarah died in 1827 and he married third Eleanor Phelps in 1832.^[1] He died on 31 Oct 1846, Abbeville, South Carolina. He is buried in the Rocky River Presybterian Church cemetery in Abbeville, South Carolina.^[2]

Slaves

Josiah Patterson was a slaveowner. See Space:Slaves_of_Josiah_Patterson,_South_Carolina for details.

Research Notes

He is shown in the 1810 Census for Abbeville South Carolina as Josiah Patterson "Jr."^[3] He was the enslaver of three people. He was labeled as "Jr" by the census taker. My hypothesis is that he was called "Jr" by the census taker in order to distinguish him from another man with the same name on this same census page. The other Josiah owned 10 slaves in 1810, and is likely older than this profile's Josiah Patterson. He is probably Capt. Josiah C Patterson. Also on the same page (there were a lot of Pattersons in Abbeville in 1810!) is a man named Samuel Senton, without the name Patterson.^[3]

The 1820 Census noted three separate men named Josiah Patterson living in Abbeville, South Carolina. This profile's Josiah Patterson would have been 46 in 1820, with wife Abigail about 45, a son named Josiah Blair Patterson born in 1815, and several daughters a bit older. He owned 10 slaves. I believe this is the correct census page for this profile's Josiah Patterson.^[4] The other two Josiah Pattersons are not researched as of this writing.

Josiah Patterson's 1846 will specifically references an enslaved "girl" named Caroline, whom he gives to his third wife Eleanor.^[5] The reference of this particular name corroborates the family lore that a slave named Caroline was owned by a man named Patterson in South Carolina. Family history recounted that this man was the father of her first two children, Mary, born in 1840, and James Columbus Patterson, born in 1842.^[6]

In seeking to corroborate this family lore, it is helpful to look at the 1840 US census for Abbeville. The records list three separate men "J Patterson" who can be hypothesized to be Josiah Pattersons. Using a FAN approach (Friends, Associates and Neighbors), it appears that this record is for the Josiah Patterson in this profile. (His daughter Jane Love Patterson married Richard Cater, who is listed right next to Josiah in the record.)^[7]

After identifying the correct Josiah Patterson in 1840 Abbeville, we can look again at the second page of his census record. It shows that he owned 12 slaves. Three of them are females of between 10 and under 24 years of age. Caroline Patterson's headstone indicates that her birth date was about 1826. This means she was about 14 in 1840.^[8]

If these details are correct, her first child, Mary, was born when she was 14. As verification, the 1840 census record indeed shows one of the slaves is a female of under 10 years of age.^[7] Caroline's second child was born when she was 16, in 1842. Indeed, in 1880, this son, James Columbus Patterson, was enumerated as a 38-year-old mulatto born in South Carolina, whose parents were also born in South Carolina.^[9] Despite these hypotheses, Josiah Patterson's words reveal his callous attitude toward Caroline and her fellow slave, Billy. When Eleanor's use for them ends, he wrote: "I direct and devise that Billy and Caroline do return and be disposed of as part of my estate as a considerable part of my property consists in real estate."^[5]

Family stories went on to recount that Caroline and her two oldest children were sold to Duncan Taylor Patterson. At this writing, there appears no close link to the Pattersons of Abbeville South Carolina, even though he eventually moved to Attala County Mississippi. This county is the same county where Josiah Patterson's daughter Mary A Patterson lived with her husband Robert Bond Campbell. Caroline's descendant Roxie Mariah Patterson eventually married her second cousin once removed, Moses Arthur "Cap" Meredith.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Larry Pursley, Compiler, 7500 Marriages from Ninety-Six and Abbeville District, SC: 1774-1890 (N.p.: Southern Historical Press, 1980).
2. ↑ https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/58752459/josiah-patterson
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} 1810 Census: "1810 United States Federal Census"
   Year: 1810; Census Place: Abbeville, Abbeville, South Carolina; Roll: 60; Page: 33; Image: Scm252_60-0018; FHL Roll: 0181419
   Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 7613 #567490 (accessed 8 April 2023)
   Josiah Patterson in Abbeville, Abbeville, South Carolina, USA.
4. ↑ 1820 Census: "1820 United States Federal Census"
   1820 U S Census; Census Place: Abbeville, Abbeville, South Carolina; Page: 17; NARA Roll: M33_118; Image: 29
   Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 7734 #955586 (accessed 8 April 2023)
   Josiah Patterson in Abbeville, Abbeville, South Carolina.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} Wills, 1787-1868: "South Carolina Probate Re... Bound Volumes, 1671-1977"
   Catalog: Wills, 1787-1868 Wills, v. 3-4 1837-1868
   Image path: South Carolina Probate Records, Bound Volumes, 1671-1977 > Abbeville > Wills, 1837-1855, Vol. 03 > image 117 of 286; citing Department of Archives and History, Columbia.
   FamilySearch Image: 939L-F6QJ-D (accessed 8 April 2023)
6. ↑ Hall, Hazel Meredith. Personal recollection, April 8, 2023, as told to Suzanne Campbell Lowe via the phone. Hazel's notes from April 2021 are in the possession of Suzanne Campbell Lowe.
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} 1840 Census: "1840 United States Federal Census"
   Year: 1840; Census Place: Abbeville, South Carolina; Roll: 507; Page: 21; Family History Library Film: 0022508
   Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 8057 #2939459 (accessed 8 April 2023)
   J Patterson in Abbeville, South Carolina.
8. ↑ https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/83478647/caroline-patterson
9. ↑ 1880 United States Federal Census: "1880 United States Federal Census"
   Mississippi > Attala > Centre > 019 > image 13 of 35
   Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Image (accessed 4 April 2023)
   

Acknowledgments

Thank you to Melissa Hulse for creating WikiTree profile Patterson-3867 through the import of Hulse Family Tree.ged on Oct 26, 2013.