John J. Patterson

John James Patterson
John James Patterson
United States Senator; from South Carolina
	In office; March 4, 1873 – March 3, 1879
Preceded by	Frederick A. Sawyer
Succeeded by	Wade Hampton III
Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from Juniata and Union Counties
	In office; January 4, 1859 – January 1, 1861
Preceded by	Thomas Bower
Succeeded by	George W. Strouse
Personal details
Born	August 8, 1830; Waterloo, Juniata County, Pennsylvania
Died	September 28, 1912 (aged 82); Mifflintown, Pennsylvania
Political party	Republican
Military service
Allegiance	United States of America
Branch/service	United States Army
Years of service	1861–1865
Rank	Captain
Unit	Fifteenth U.S. (Regular) Infantry
Battles/wars	American Civil War

John James "Honest John"^[1] Patterson (August 8, 1830 – September 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 in Juniata County, Pennsylvania, he attended public schools and then Jefferson College in Canonsburg. During the 1850s he engaged in newspaper and banking businesses in Pennsylvania; he published the Juniata Sentinel in 1852 and in 1853 became editor and part owner of the Harrisburg Telegraph in Harrisburg, the state capital. He first entered politics in 1859 when he was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, in which he served until 1861 when the Civil War began.

He joined the United States Army and served as a captain 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 to the U.S. Senate as a Republican.

He was criticized by the Ku Klux Klan in South Carolina for being a so-called "carpetbagger".^[a] 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.^[2] 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.^[a]

After leaving the Senate he continued to live in Washington, D.C., and engaged in financial enterprises. In 1886, he moved to Mifflintown, Pennsylvania, 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.

Notes

^ ^a ^b According to one history of South Carolina published in 1920, concerning the 1872–74 term of Governor Franklin J. Moses, Jr., "the story is fairly well authenticated that John J. Patterson … in the midst of the Moses carnival of crime, boasted that 'there are still five years of good stealing in South Carolina'." The authors asserted that "Patterson controlled the most money and bought his way into [the Senate]" and that someone later testified he had stated it "cost him more than $40,000".^[3]

References

^ "Carolina Vultures: How Honest John Patterson was elected senator". The Sun (New York). Columbia, S.C. (published December 16, 1872). December 12, 1872. p. 1 col. 3. Jno. J. Patterson, commonly known in these parts as 'Honest John,' who planted himself solidly on the platform of United States promises to pay, and boldly avowed his intention to buy his way into the Senate.
Although the OCR version is illegible and you must read the scanned images, this is a very entertaining account of the election, featuring "Patterson then expressed strong doubts about the respectability of the maternal ancestor of the magistrate. The magistrate fled, leaving Patterson and Hurley masters of the situation. But this was not the end of the matter. The flying magistrate, after invoking the aid of the police and being reinforced by sundry members of that force, returned to the field, and after a little deliberation came to the conclusion that the court had been the subject of contempt, which so far as Hurley and Patterson were concerned was eminently true." Several paragraphs later, "But this was by no means the final act in the farce."
^ The Political Career of John J. Patterson by David O. Gold, 1957 pg. 9
^ Snowden, Yates; Cutler, Harry Gardner (1920). "History of South Carolina". Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company. pp. 913, 915. Retrieved December 9, 2014.

External links

Works by or about John J. Patterson at the Internet Archive

United States Congress. "John J. Patterson (id: P000123)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
The Political Graveyard

U.S. Senate
Preceded by Frederick A. Sawyer	U.S. senator (Class 3) from South Carolina March 4, 1873 – March 3, 1879 Served alongside: Thomas J. Robertson, Matthew Butler	Succeeded by Wade Hampton, III

[crime-2] According to one history of South Carolina published in 1920, concerning the 1872–74 term of Governor Franklin J. Moses, Jr., "the story is fairly well authenticated that John J. Patterson … in the midst of the Moses carnival of crime, boasted that 'there are still five years of good stealing in South Carolina'." The authors asserted that "Patterson controlled the most money and bought his way into [the Senate]" and that someone later testified he had stated it "cost him more than $40,000".^[3]

[NYSun-1] "Carolina Vultures: How Honest John Patterson was elected senator". The Sun (New York). Columbia, S.C. (published December 16, 1872). December 12, 1872. p. 1 col. 3. Jno. J. Patterson, commonly known in these parts as 'Honest John,' who planted himself solidly on the platform of United States promises to pay, and boldly avowed his intention to buy his way into the Senate.
Although the OCR version is illegible and you must read the scanned images, this is a very entertaining account of the election, featuring "Patterson then expressed strong doubts about the respectability of the maternal ancestor of the magistrate. The magistrate fled, leaving Patterson and Hurley masters of the situation. But this was not the end of the matter. The flying magistrate, after invoking the aid of the police and being reinforced by sundry members of that force, returned to the field, and after a little deliberation came to the conclusion that the court had been the subject of contempt, which so far as Hurley and Patterson were concerned was eminently true." Several paragraphs later, "But this was by no means the final act in the farce."

[3] The Political Career of John J. Patterson by David O. Gold, 1957 pg. 9

[4] Snowden, Yates; Cutler, Harry Gardner (1920). "History of South Carolina". Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company. pp. 913, 915. Retrieved December 9, 2014.

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v t e United States senators from South Carolina
Class 2	P. Butler Hunter Pinckney Sumter Taylor W. Smith R. Hayne Calhoun Huger Calhoun Elmore Barnwell Rhett De Saussure Evans A. Hayne Chesnut Robertson M. Butler Tillman Benet Pollock Dial Blease Byrnes Lumpkin Peace Maybank Daniel Thurmond Wofford Thurmond Graham
Class 3	Izard Read Colhoun P. Butler Gaillard Harper W. Smith Miller Preston McDuffie A. Butler Hammond Sawyer Patterson Hampton Irby Earle McLaurin Latimer Gary E. Smith Hall Johnston Russell Hollings DeMint Scott

v t e Chairs of the United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
Education/Education and Labor (1869–1947)	Harlan Drake Sawyer Flanagan Ferry Patterson Burnside Bailey Blair Carey Kyle Shoup Kyle McComas Penrose Dolliver Borah H. Smith Kenyon Borah Phipps Couzens Metcalf Walsh Black Thomas Murray
Labor and Public Welfare (1947–1977)	Taft Thomas Murray A. Smith Hill Yarborough Williams
Labor and Human Resources (1977–1999)	Williams Hatch Kennedy Kassebaum Jeffords
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (1999–present)	Jeffords Kennedy Jeffords Kennedy Gregg Enzi Kennedy Harkin Alexander Murray Sanders

Authority control databases
International	VIAF FAST 2 WorldCat
National	United States
People	US Congress
Other	SNAC