John Mercer Patton (August 10, 1797October 29, 1858) was a nineteenth-century politician and lawyer from
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
. Patton served in the
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
representing two different Virginia Districts and was the acting governor of Virginia for twelve days in 1841.
Early life, education and family
Patton was born in
Fredericksburg, Virginia to Robert Patton (1760–1851), a British immigrant of
Scottish extraction, and Ann Gordon Mercer (1762–1857), the Philadelphia-born daughter of General
Hugh Mercer
Hugh Mercer (16 January 1726 – 12 January 1777) was a Scottish-born American military officer and physician who participated in the Seven Years' War and Revolutionary War. Born in Pitsligo, Scotland, he studied medicine in his home country ...
, who died defending Princeton, New Jersey in 1777.
Young Patton attended
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...
and graduated from the medical department at the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
in 1818, though he never practiced as a doctor. He went on to study law and was admitted to the Virginia bar. In the first federal census in 1810, the Robert Patton family in Fredericksburg enslaved a person. His father or brother Robert Patton Jr. represented Spotsylvania County in the Virginia House of Delegates during the 1820-1821 session.
J.M. Patton married the former Margaret ("Peggy") French, daughter of a local family of planters and lawyers. Their children included John M. Patton Jr. (1826-1899),
Isaac Williams Patton (1828-1890; who established a plantation in Louisiana after the Mexican–American War),
George S. Patton Sr. (1833-1864),
Waller T. Patton (1835-1863), Hugh M. Patton (1841-1916),
James French Patton (1843-1882), Joseph F. Patton (1844-?) and William Patton (1845-1905), as well as daughters Lucy A. Williamson (who returned to live with the family by 1850) and Eliza Patton.
Career
Patton began his legal practice in Fredericksburg and also enslaved people at his plantation in nearby
Spotsylvania County
Spotsylvania County is a county in the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the July 2021 estimate, the population was 143,676. Its county seat is Spotsylvania Courthouse.
History
At the time of European encounter, the inhabitants of the area that bec ...
. Robert Patton Jr. (either his father or elder brother) represented Spotsylvania County in the House of Delegates in 1820–1821 and enslaved 11 people in the 1810 census and 12 people in the 1820 census. In the 1830 federal census, John M. Patton enslaved nine people (two boys and a girl under 10, as well as two men under 35, two women under 35, and two women between 35 and 55. He enslaved a similar number of people in Richmond in the last census during his lifetime—an older man, two older women, a 40-year-old Black woman, a 26-year-old mulatto woman, and mulatto boys aged 15, 10 and 2 years old. He may also have enslaved two people in Pittsylvania County, where his daughter Eliza had married John Gilmer.
obert Patton enslaved 8 people, of whom only 2 were children in Culpeper County west of Spotsylvania in 1850
Meanwhile, voters in the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania area elected Patton as a
Jacksonian and
Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
to the
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
initially to fill a vacancy in 1830, but he won re-election twice and served until 1838. He became chairman of the
Committee on Territories from 1835 to 1839.
In 1834, Virginia legislators almost elected him as the state's attorney general, by western Virginia lawyer
Sidney Smith Baxter was appointed by a four-vote margin.
After leaving Congress, Virginia legislators appointed Patton the senior councilor of the Virginia Council of State and, therefore, the
Lieutenant Governor of Virginia.
After
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
Thomas W. Gilmer resigned in 1841, Patton served as
Acting Governor of Virginia for twelve days until his term ended on March 31, 1841.
![Shockoe Hill Cemetery - John Mercer Patton](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/Shockoe_Hill_Cemetery_-_John_Mercer_Patton.jpg)
Patton returned to his private legal practice in Richmond, including work on a revision of the
Code of Virginia
The Code of Virginia is the statutory law of the U.S. state of Virginia, and consists of the codified legislation of the Virginia General Assembly. The 1950 Code of Virginia is the revision currently in force. The previous official versions we ...
, which he and
Conway Robinson
Conway Robinson (September 15, 1805 – January 30, 1884) was a Virginia lawyer, author, slaveholder and politician aligned with the Democratic Party who represented Richmond, Virginia during the 1852-1853 session of the Virginia House of Delega ...
published in 1849.
Death and legacy
Patton died in
Richmond, Virginia on October 29, 1858. He was interred at
Shockoe Hill Cemetery
The Shockoe Hill Cemetery is a historic cemetery located on Shockoe Hill in Richmond, Virginia.
History
Shockoe Hill Cemetery, as it is presently called, was established in 1820, with the initial burial made in 1822. It was earlier known as the ...
. His sons James French Patton, Isaac Williams Patton, George S. Patton Sr., Hugh M. Patton, and Waller T. Patton all became
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...
officers (and William M. Patton fought with VMI cadets). Although Col W.T. Patton died leading his men at the Battle of Gettysburg and Col. George S. Patton died during the Third Battle of Winchester, the other sons survived the war. Isaac Williams Patton (who had moved to Louisiana to operate a plantation before the war) became mayor of
in 1878. Hugh M. Patton briefly served as clerk of the Virginia Senate, James French Patton also became a lawyer and briefly served on the
West Virginia Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia is the state supreme court of the state of West Virginia, the highest of West Virginia's state courts. The court sits primarily at the West Virginia State Capitol in Charleston, although from 1873 ...
, and William McFarland Patton became a professor of civil engineering at VMI (where most of his brothers had also graduated). His grandson
George S. Patton
George Smith Patton Jr. (November 11, 1885 – December 21, 1945) was a general in the United States Army who commanded the Seventh United States Army in the Mediterranean Theater of World War II, and the Third United States Army in France ...
became a California attorney, and his great-grandson was World War II General
George S. Patton Jr.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Patton, John M.
1797 births
1858 deaths
Politicians from Fredericksburg, Virginia
Patton family
American people of Scottish descent
Jacksonian members of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia
19th-century American politicians
Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia
Virginia Whigs
Governors of Virginia
Whig Party state governors of the United States
Virginia lawyers
Mercer family of Virginia
Princeton University alumni
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania alumni
U.S. Congressional gag rules and their sponsors
American slave owners
American planters