Biographical Sketches

JESSE PATTERSON

JESSE PATTERSON, a prominent farmer of Boulder valley, also vice-president of the First National Bank of Boulder, has long been identified with the interests of Montana, and as he is one of her representative citizens we take pleasure in presenting in this work the following sketch of his life.

Jesse Patterson was born twelve miles east of Columbus, Ohio, February 7, 1837, and is of Scotch-Irish ancestry.  His great-grandfather, Joseph Patterson, the first of the family in this country, located in Pennsylvania.  His son Joseph had seven sons, of whom Jesse, the third of the family, born July 12, 1797, was our subject's father.  When a young man, this Jesse Patterson located in Franklin county, Ohio, where he was subsequently married to Miss Frances Drake, a native of Ohio and a daughter of Francis Drake, who had removed from Pennsylvania to that State.  After their marriage they located on a farm in Franklin county, where they remained until 1846, at that time purchasing and removing to a farm in La Fayette county, Wisconsin, where they spent the residue of their lives, Mr. Patterson dying in March, 1856, and his wife passing away in 1869.  Both were members of the Methodist Church for many years.  In their eyes they exemplified the teachings of the faith which they professed, and both were held in high esteem by all who knew them.  Of their nine children, four are still living.

Jesse Patterson, their third son and fifth child, spent the first ten years of his life on their farm in Ohio and the rest of his youthful days in Wisconsin, working on the farm in summer and attending school in winter.  In 1857 he secured 160 acres of Government land in Howard county, Iowa, where he made his home until the spring of 1864.  Then, with his wife and two children, he crossed the plains to Montana with the Townsend train, which was composed of fifty wagons.  While the emigrant party were on the Powder river they were attacked by a large band of Cheyenne Indians and during the fight which followed four whites and about twelve Indians were killed, after which the Indians withdrew and allowed the emigrants to proceed without further molestation.

Mr. Patterson arrived in Virginia City August 10, 1864.  He first engaged in hauling supplies to the mines, for which he received about $25 per day.  Afterward he followed placer-mining.  He was a party to the discovery of the mines at Blackfoot, called the Carpenter Bar diggings, which they worked from June until the following September.  They employed about six men, and in three months took out $26,000.  Mr. Patterson spent the winter in Trinity county, California, and in the spring brought a stock of groceries and dried fruits to Montana.  His train was composed of three wagons, with four yoke of oxen to each wagon, and it was not until the latter part of August that he reached his destination.  The following winter he spent in prospecting in the Salmon river mining district.  In the spring he turned his attention to the lumber business, near Jefferson City; built one of the first sawmills in the county, and continued in that business for a period of fifteen years.  Then he purchased 200 acres of land in Boulder valley, to which he subsequently added 160 acres more, and he has from time to time made improvements upon this place until now he has one of the best-paying farms in the county.  Muskrat creek runs through his land, affording abundance of water for his stock.  His cattle are a grade of Durhams, and he is giving considerable attention to the breeding of valuable draft and road horses of the Norman Percheron and Knox Belmont breeds.  Besides being largely engaged in farming and stock-raising, Mr. Patterson has various other interests.  He is a stockholder in several valuable mines and is vice-president of the First National Bank of Boulder.  He helped to found this bank and is ranked with its heaviest stockholders.

Mr. Patterson was married, in Iowa, December 12, 1858, to Miss Martha E. Tolley, a native of Wisconsin.  The Tolleys were for many years residents of Kentucky.  Mr. and Mrs. Patterson have four children, namely: Mary Frances, wife of C. A. Darlington, Madison valley; Alice Ellen, wife of P. H. Park, of Jefferson county; Frederick Summit, and William Henry, now at home.

Notwithstanding his father was a radical Democrat and that he was reared under the influence of Democracy, Mr. Patterson has been a life-long Republican.  He became a voter when the life of this country was in imminent danger; he cast his first Presidential vote for Lincoln, and he has ever been true to the principles of the party he then espoused.

Source: Transcription from the book, An Illustrated History of the State of Montana, by Joaquin Miller, published in 1894; located on the website, Internet Archive (http://archive.org), accessed 13 May 2023.

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