John and Margaret Black Patterson's son named George Patterson was born in 1800. His 1st wife was Rebecca Chastain, his 2nd wife was Sophia Dunagan (m. 1850). I descend from George by his 1st wife. George and Sophia had 5 children by the 1860 census, in which they were enumerated on July 20, 1860.

James Neal, CC'd, last year sent me a PDF document containing 5 letters Sophia wrote to her Dunagan relatives between 1858 and 1862. These letters are quite enlightening, to say the least. However, hidden within the lines of these letters was one of the most important pieces of information I've been looking for, for many years. When did George Patterson die? All I've ever known was between 1860 and 1870.

I now know he died between July 20 and Dec 23, 1860. Letter #1 was written in Aug or Sept of 1858. Letter #2 was written May 2, 1859. Letter #3 is the key letter in pinpointing George's death. It is dated December 23, but no year. I'll come back to this. Letter #4 was written about August of 1861. And Letter #5 was written in late May or early June, 1862.

James and I had narrowed down Letter #3 to either 1859 or 1860. This week I have transcribed these letters, so it has been quite an exercise and has certainly made various details jump out at me. Tonight, the words "MY YEAR SUPPORT" jumped out at me in Letter #3. I realized that George was only mentioned in the first 2 letters (as the "old man"). Nothing was said of him in the last 3 letters. Letter 3 specifically talks about her cutting and carrying the wood by herself, and then having gone to town to see the ordinary about her "year support".

So, I googled 1860 GEORGIA A WOMAN'S "YEAR SUPPORT" - and what I found was that Georgia law allowed for a widow with minor children to receive financial help for 12 months following her deceased husband's death, until such necessary funds could be obtained from his estate. That means 2 things!

1. Letter #3 was written on Dec 23, 1860, and
2. George Patterson died between July 20 and Dec 23, 1860.

In case anyone wonders if it could have been written in 1861 or later, no it couldn't have. Letter #3 mentions Sophia's brother Ben and wanting him to come visit her. He enlisted in the CSA the next year on Aug 31, 1861 and died the following July 1862. 1860 is the only year this letter could have been written.

James, I can never thank you enough for sending me these letters from Sophia. It has "only" taken me 9 months to read these letters enough times for it to sink in and figure this out.

But WOW..... what a nugget to find buried within this 150 year old letter.

My descent from George is his son William Harden Patterson (b 1832), Joseph Elijah Patterson (b 1871), Clinton Willie Patterson (b 1904), Francis Oliver Patterson (b 1940), me (b 1968).

12 June 2011

George Patterson was born in 1800 or 1801, in Buncombe Co., NC. Around 1825, he married Rebecca Chastain, either in Haywood Co., NC, or more likely in Rabun Co., Ga. Rebecca was born in 1799 in either Ga or SC. Her parents were Elijah and Hannah Adams CHASTAIN. Elijah Chastain was a son of the Rev. John Chastain, who was the grandson of the French Huguenot immigrant, Dr. Pierre Chastain. Rebecca's parents' marriage ended in divorce.

George and Rebecca had two sons born in Rabun Co., Ga by the 1830 census. Their names were James and Silas Kimsey Patterson. Many researchers have confused this James with the one who married Easter Nicholson. That is NOT correct. I do NOT know where James had moved to by 1850, if he was still alive. 

Silas Kimsey Patterson has also been mixed on many charts. The fact that these two oldest sons were gone by the 1850 census makes it difficult to document this family of George and Rebecca. Many people have listed a ?Henry as the second son. Some have also listed a Henson, but that was a different person. I believe that Silas Kimsey Patterson, born 1828-1829, was that second son of George. Many people have him listed as the oldest son of George's brother Amos Patterson, but I believe that is in error, since Amos didn't get married until late in 1829, in Hall county, Ga. I have recently found Silas Kimsey Patterson in Texas census records. I believe that he left the Union Co., Ga area in the late 1840s and some of Amos's family met up with "SK" in Texas. I can see why some would have attributed him to be one of Amos' sons, but that just doesn't mesh with the 1830, 1834, and 1840 census records of Rabun and Union counties. For more details on the Texas records regarding Silas Kimsey and also Amos Patterson, see my page on Amos which is very detailed regarding both individuals. In December of 2001 a great-grandson of SK named Frank Patterson contacted me. Frank lives in Houston, Tx. Frank remembers his father talking about the Chastains, specifically a Renee Chastain from the time of their emigration to America (about 1680). This confirms to me that George and Rebecca Chastain Patterson were the parents of Silas Kimsey Patterson.

According to the 1834 Union Co., Ga listing, there were four males and three females in George's household. The four males would have been George, and his three oldest sons, James, S. K., and William. The three females would have been George's wife Rebecca and the daughter Elizer who was born in 1833. But who was the other female? I think it's very possible that there was another daughter born between 1830 and 1834, who then died before 1840. The other possibility is that this was Rebecca's mother, Hannah Chastain. She was living next to George's family in Rabun Co., Ga in 1830, and was divorced from her husband by then. Hannah would have been about 58 years old in 1834. I need to check the 1840 censuses to see if Hannah was living on her own or not.

The third son of George and Rebecca Chastain Patterson was William Harden Patterson, who was born in Cherokee Indian Territory in the area that later became Union County, Ga. He was born on April 10, 1832, and was my g-g-grandfather. William fought in the Civil War. William and Elizabeth Akins were married in 1853. Click here for more information on William Harden Patterson and his family.

George and Rebecca had two more sons and two daughters after William, all born in Union county. They were Nancy Eliza "Elizer", John A., Elijah M., and Hanna Margaret Patterson. 

Elizer married John Robert Dillard on September 13, 1855 in Fannin Co., Ga. John served with the B5 Tennessee Mtd. Infantry during the Civil War. Apparently he died in a camp, but I'm not yet sure if that was his own camp or a POW camp. According to Betty Brackett Knight, John R. Dillard died in a camp in Tenn. Elizer applied for a widow's pension from Fannin Co., Ga in May 1866, according to Betty. I have recently requested a copy of that pension application. As soon as I am able to obtain a copy I will update this information regarding John R. Dillard. Elizer and her daughters appear to have remained in the Fannin and Union Co., Ga area.

John A. Patterson also served in the Civil War. He married Anna Catherine Oxford. John and Anna had at least four children. They stayed in Union Co., Ga and are buried at Bethlehem Baptist Church Cemetery in the Lower Young Cane district, which is the same cemetery in which William Harden Patterson is buried.

Elijah M. Patterson fought in the Civil War, as well. After the war he left north Ga and later married Vienna Duckworth in 1869 in Benton Co., Arkansas. They later moved to the Witchita Co., Texas area, and some of their children moved to Washington state, and then into Canada in 1901 and became Canadian citizens. 

Hannah Margaret Patterson was the baby, born in 1845. In 1865 she married "Pat" Cornett. After Pat served in the Civil War, they moved to Matador, Texas, which is in Motley Co.

Rebecca Chastain Patterson died sometime between 1845 and 1850 (probably closer to 1845), and is buried in a family cemetery in the woods in Union county, about 1/2 mile off of highway 19, just north of Blairsville, Ga.

George remarried on November 3, 1850, in Gilmer County, Ga., to Sophia Dunagan. She was the daughter of Ira Dunagan and Elizabeth Roberts. George and Sophia had 5 children, and all were raised in Union county, at least up until their father, George Patterson, died in 1860. George is also buried in the family cemetery off hwy. 19, right next to Nottley Lake. George and Sophia's 5 children were Rebecca, Arrie, George, Caledonia, and Robert W. Patterson.

George Patterson was a "hatter" by trade, according to the Union County, Ga Historical Society. This is very interesting to me considering the new information we have regarding the relationship of George's father John Patterson to the Pattersons of York Co., SC. It is my belief that George's grandfather was Thomas Patterson of York Co., SC, who in turn was the son of Robert Patterson of York Co., SC, who wrote his will in 1775. In that will Robert Patterson bequeathed his "fir hat" among other things to his grandson John Patterson, son of Thomas. Could it be that John Patterson was always interested in hats, including his grandpa Robert Patterson's fur hat? Could it be that his interest in hats then passed to his own son, George Patterson? You can only wonder...

Descendants Report in PDF format.