William Patten (born in 1754, possibly in Ireland; died at age 86 in 1840, in Ohio)
Rachel Brown (born in 1759, possibly in England; died at age 52 in 1811, in Ohio)
3rd great-grandparents of the Applegate sisters and our first known direct Patten ancestor in America.
William Patten married Rachel Brown in 1777 and they had 9 children: Isaac, Mary, Ann, Grace, Mahlon, William, Rachel, John and Sarah. Rachel died in 1811, and William married Sally Morris in 1813; they had one child, Ruth.
Excerpts from the book, Chadwick’s History of Shelby County, Indiana:
The family of which the Pattens of Shelby county are members are of old colonial and Anglo-Saxon stock along every line. The first one of the family in America was a Quaker, who came from the north of Ireland prior to the American Revolution. He was in Bucks County, PA, in colonial and Revolutionary times, but probably took no active part in the war for independence because of his religious opposition to war.
William Patten, the first of the family whose presence in America is positively known, was born July 29, 1754. A tradition in the family says that he was brought over at a very early age, but there is no mention of his parents ever being in this country. He married Rachel Brown, an English woman, who was born November 30, 1758, and who died September 28, 1811. He was married a second time, June 2, 1813, to Sally Morris, a widow who owned some property. The record of this marriage, as well as the records of the marriages of many others of the early members of the family, is preserved in the archives of the Friends’ meeting at Stillwater, Ohio. William Patten went to Georgia some years prior to 1800 and joined the Quaker colony in Warren and McDuffie counties, and lived there, a member of the Wrightsborough meeting of Friends, until 1801. This Quaker colony had been founded about the time of the Revolution by a number of men who had obtained a grant of forty thousand acres of land, and here they lived until the beginning of the nineteenth century, when their opposition to slavery caused them to seek another home beyond the influence of that institution. In 1802 William Patten and William Hodgin were sent to look out a place for their new home. They went to the Northwest Territory, crossing the Ohio River near Cincinnati, going east, and finally locating land in what is now Warren Township, Belmont County, Ohio, where a few Quakers had already settled the year before. William Patten brought his family in 1803, and settled in Stillwater neighborhood. Others soon followed, and in a few years not a Quaker was left in Georgia. William Patten lived on a farm which he owned near Barnesville. He died October 15, 1840, in his eighty-seventh year. He was an active member of the Stillwater meeting of Friends. He is buried in the Quaker burying ground at Stillwater. His first wife, Rachel Brown, died in 1811, at the age of 52, and is also buried at the Stillwater Friends Cemetery. His second wife, Sally Morris, died in 1849, at the age of 77, and is also buried at the Stillwater Friends Cemetery.
John Patten (born in Georgia, 1796; died at age 67 in 1863, in Ohio
Rebekah Stubbs (born in Georgia, 1796, died at age 43 in 1839 in Ohio)
2nd great-grandparents of the Applegate sisters.
John Patten married Rebekah Stubbs in 1816 and they had 10 children: Abraham, Rachel, Rhoda, Joseph, Sarah, William, John, Richard, Isaac and Rebecca.
Excerpts from the book, Chadwick’s History of Shelby County, Indiana:
John Patten was a birthright Quaker, and continued a member of that church until his death. He married Rebecca, daughter of Joseph and Zilpha (Hays) Stubbs, November 27, 1816, and removed at once to the new county of Morgan and bought land near the Muskingum River. Here he reared a family of ten children. John was three times married; his first wife died November 2, 1839, and he married Mrs. Rachel Patterson, December 28, 1842; she died May 7, 1855, and July 29, 1857, he was married to Mrs. Mary Bundy, who survived him. He was a most devoted member of the Friends’ church at Pennville, in Morgan County and he is buried in the Friends’ burying ground at that place. He was a useful man in his community, the arbiter of disputes, the friend of all who needed his assistance, and the adviser and counselor of all who needed his counsel. His house, prior to the War of the Rebellion, was a station on the “Underground Railroad,” along which runaway slaves were helped to Canada.
William L. Patten (born in Ohio, 1827; died at age 76 in 1903, in Shelby County, IN
Eliza Jane Cole (born in Shelby County, IN, 1829, died at age 46 in 1875 in Shelby County, IN)
Great-grandparents of the Applegate sisters.
William L. Patten married Eliza Jane Cole in 1854 and they had 8 children: John, Charles, Juliette, Rebecca, Jessie, Hiram, William and Vernon Cole.
Excerpts from the book, Chadwick’s History of Shelby County, Indiana:
William L. Patten received the limited education available in what were known as private or subscription schools, conducted a few months each year, and in 1847 he left the old home in Ohio and came to Indiana, where he lived among the Friends in Wayne and Henry counties, earning his living as a farmer and a carpenter for a time; then he entered the employ of the old Madison & Indianapolis Railroad, later going with the now defunct Knightstown & Edinburg Railroad, with which he held the positions of brakeman, conductor and roadmaster. January 12, 1854, he married Eliza Jane, daughter of Seth M. and Fanny (Warren) Cole, New England people, whose ancestor, James Cole, had settled at Plymouth in 1633, and who had themselves moved to Hanover township in 1821. A little more than a year after their marriage they removed to Wisconsin, settling on a farm in Green Lake County. Members of the Cole family had preceded them; they resided there for five years; there three of their children were born. It was a beautiful prairie country, and the fertile soil, without the labor and waster of time required to clear the forest, yielded large returns, and it was with regret that they left there. But in the spring of 1861 they returned from Wisconsin and bought land in the northeast corner of Hanover township, and here he lived until 1892, when he retired from active effort and removed to Morristown, where he spent the remainder of his life. His wife Eliza died in 1875 and he married Asenath Spencer in 1880; she died in 1882. William and Eliza are buried in Hanover Cemetery, where five generations of her family lie. William Patten was an upright, energetic and industrious man of frugal habits, always interested in the better things of life. He had been denied the opportunities for more than a limited education and used his best endeavors to educate his children. He was born a member of the Friends’ church, but was disowned for “marrying out.” Late in life he joined the Methodist Episcopal Church and continued a member until his death, though still adhering to the beliefs of the Friends in most things.
Vernon Cole Patten (born in Shelby County, IN, 1870; died at age 88 in 1959, in Shelby County, IN)
Julia Anne Gordon (born in Shelby County, IN, 1881, died at age 40 in 1921 in Morristown, IN)
Grandparents of the Applegate sisters.
Vernon Cole Patten married Julia Anne Gordon on 11 January 1905 and they had 4 children: Infant Patten, born and died in 1905, Margaret, William and Marian.
The ancestors of Vernon Cole Patten, M.D., settled in Shelby County, IN, in 1820, just two years after the region was settled. At that time, his great-grandfather, Benjamin Cole, was a Revolutionary War soldier and was the first person to be buried in Hanover Cemetery. Vern (Patty Doc to his family) was a general practitioner in Morristown, IN, from 1901 until his death at the age of 88 in 1959. When he began his medical practice, his mode of travel was a horse and buggy. He volunteered during World War I, served as a surgeon in the army and was stationed in Kansas and South Carolina. During that time, the country and the whole world were suffering through the influenza pandemic of 1918-1919, which killed more people than World War I. It has been estimated that up to 50 million people died of flu or its complications. It has been cited as the most devastating epidemic in recorded world history. Known as “Spanish Flu” or “La Grippe” the influenza of 1918-1919 was a global disaster. Vern’s first wife, Julia, died on 1 September 1921 at the age of 40, from “ptomaine” poisoning (food poisoning). She and her children had gone on an outing and had taken a picnic lunch with them. She left behind her husband Vern and three children: Margaret, age 14; William, age 11, and Marian, age 9. On October 11, 1924, Vernon Cole Patten married Anna Mauzy Moore (Mama Pat to family). A few weeks later, their Morristown, Indiana, home was destroyed by fire, but the beautiful home was rebuilt. A tragic event resulted in the death of Mama Pat in 1955. She was preparing breakfast and her dressing gown caught on fire. She ran outside and she and Patty Doc finally put the fire out, but she suffered third degree burns over her back, chest and arms. She died three weeks later on 2 February 1955 at the age of 76. Patty Doc died on 29 March 1959 at age 88, from cerebral thrombosis and generalized arteriosclerosis. Mama Pat was a gracious lady who was a wonderful second mother to Patty Doc’s three children, and her grandchildren adored her. Patty Doc was a reserved, kind and modest man who was beloved by all those who knew him. He also had a soft spot for animals and always had two or three dogs who lived with them as family members.
Excerpts from the book, Chadwick’s History of Shelby County, Indiana:
Vernon Cole Patten was born in Shelby County, December 12, 1870. He attended the public schools of Hanover township and Morristown; taught in Hanover township, 1888-9; in the lumber business in Arkansas, 1889-90; student at Butler University, 1890-1; a student at DePauw University, 1891-2; taught at Morristown, 1892-3; manager of the Ingalls Lumber Company, 1893-4; a student at Kansas City Medical College, 1894-5; student, Indiana Medical College, 1895-7; practiced medicine in Chicago, 1897-1901; post-graduate student at the Chicago Clinical School, 1901; and physician at Morristown beginning in 1901. He was secretary of the local Board of Health, a member of the Shelby County Medical Society, of the Indiana State Medical Association, and of the American Medical Association. He was married January 11, 1905, to Julia Anne, daughter of Henry P. and Margaret (Hoffman) Gordon.
Margaret Patten (born in IN, 1906; died at age 75 in Kermit, TX, 1981)
Frederick Martin Applegate (born in IN, 1903; died at age 55 in Monahans, TX, 1959)
Margaret (Maggie) Patten was born and raised in Morristown, IN. She married Frederick Martin (Ted) Applegate of Corydon, IN, secretly in 1928 on Labor Day weekend. They married again, officially, on March 2, 1929. Maggie worked in Indianapolis while Ted completed medical school at Indiana University School of Medicine. Upon completion of Ted’s schooling and internship, they moved to Ted’s hometown of Corydon, where he opened his general practice. Maggie stayed at home raising 5 daughters in Corydon, and for a short time in Fort Bliss, TX, while Ted was in the Army Medical Corps during World War II and while he was stationed in England. Ted and Maggie and their five daughters lived in Corydon until September, 1948. The family then moved to Connecticut while Ted studied ophthalmology at New York Polyclinic. In May of 1949, the family moved to Monahans, Texas, and Ted opened his medical practice, specializing in eye, ear, nose and throat. During their ten years in Monahans, Maggie was active in the Presbyterian Church and community affairs, and she loved to read and play golf and bridge. In April 1959, her world was shattered when Ted died suddenly from a heart attack, at the age of 55. After her youngest daughter graduated from high school in 1961, Maggie decided to go back to work, which was a daunting change for her. She became a dorm mother at Texas Tech in Lubbock in 1962 and remained there until 1975, when she was required to retire. She found another position as a Delta Tau Delta fraternity housemother at Baker University in Baldwin City, KS, and was there from 1976 until 1981. Maggie was small in stature but was an intelligent woman, full of determination in anything she attempted. She taught her daughters to always do the right thing and to ‘have the courage of our convictions’. During discussions, she loved to pull a quote from the massive store she kept in her mind, and her daughters often find themselves remembering a quote they first heard from her. In December 1981, Maggie died at the age of 75, from a combination of heart and lung problems. Ted and Maggie are both buried in the cemetery in Monahans, TX.
To get a more personal glimpse of the Patten family, see the letters on the Patten Letters page under Ancestors.
https://applegates.us/ancestors/patten-letters/
Click on a photo to enlarge; use arrows at right and left to navigate.
Applegate Sisters of Corydon, Indiana 