John James "Honest John" Patterson (August 8, 1830September 28, 1912) was a businessman and United States Senator from South Carolina. He was a Republican.
Biography
Born and raised in Waterloo, a
populated place
Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...
Juniata Sentinel Juniata may refer to:
Places in the United States In Michigan
* Juniata Station, Michigan or ''Juniata'', a railway station in Fremont Township, Tuscola County
* Juniata Township, Michigan, a civil township of Tuscola County
In Nebraska
*Jun ...
'' in 1852 and in 1853 became editor and part owner of the ''
Harrisburg Telegraph
Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the 9th largest city and 15th largest municipality in Pe ...
'' in Harrisburg, the state capital. He first entered politics in 1859 when he was elected to the
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts.
It ...
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
in the Fifteenth U.S. (regular) Infantry. He also ran for a seat in the United States House of Representatives in 1862, but lost.
After the war Patterson moved to Columbia, South Carolina and engaged in railroad construction. He again entered politics and in 1873 was elected by the
South Carolina Legislature
The South Carolina General Assembly, also called the South Carolina Legislature, is the state legislature of the U.S. state of South Carolina. The legislature is bicameral and consists of the lower South Carolina House of Representatives and t ...
to the U.S. Senate as a Republican.
He was criticized by the
Ku Klux Klan
The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...
in South Carolina for being a so-called "
carpetbagger
In the history of the United States, carpetbagger is a largely historical term used by Southerners to describe opportunistic Northerners who came to the Southern states after the American Civil War, who were perceived to be exploiting the lo ...
". Patterson was the chairman of the Committee on Education and Labor from 1875 to 1877 and a member of the committee on territories from 1877 to 1879. He was known for speaking out against events such as the Hamburg Massacre and supporting the rights of African-Americans in South Carolina.The Political Career of John J. Patterson by David O. Gold , 1957 pg. 9 By the time his term ended in 1879, Reconstruction had ended and the Democrats had taken nearly all power in South Carolina, so Patterson had no hope of reelection.
After leaving the Senate he continued to live in Washington, D.C. and engaged in financial enterprises. In 1886, he moved to
Mifflintown, Pennsylvania
Mifflintown is a borough in and the county seat of Juniata County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 842 at the 2020 census.
Geography
Mifflintown is located at (40.570728, -77.395488).
According to the United States Census Bur ...
where he lived until his death. He continued to be active in business, particularly in running a company that installed electric lightbulbs. He died on September 28, 1912. He is buried in the Westminster Presbyterian Cemetery.