Patton, James W., 1803-1861

James W. Patton (1803-1861), contractor and merchant of Asheville, N.C., was born in Wilkes County, N.C., to James, an Irish immigrant, and Anne Reynolds Patton of Wilkes County. The family moved to Buncombe County in about 1807, and James lived in and around Asheville for the remainder of his life.

Patton was active in development and government in the Asheville area. He proposed and helped complete an east-west thoroughfare in Asheville. He inherited the Eagle Hotel, one of the first hotels in Asheville, from his father. He later built a hotel in Warm Springs. Patton was a member of Asheville's first board of commissioners (1841) and served as the presiding justice in the Buncombe County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions for many years. Patton donated the land for Trinity Episcopal Church and helped open the church in 1841, serving on the first vestry.

Patton's first wife was Clara Walton of Burke County. With her, he had two sons, James Alfred and William Augustus, both of whom died of disease while serving in the Confederate Army. His second wife was Henrietta Kerr of Charleston, S.C. Their two children were Fannie Louisa and Thomas Walton Patton.

Thomas Walton Patton (1841-1907) served in the Buncombe Rifles and then with the 60th North Carolina Regiment during the Civil War. The 60th Regiment fought at Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, Chattanooga, and Atlanta. Following the war, Patton returned to Asheville. He held numerous political offices in Asheville, including two terms as mayor, in 1893 and 1894. In 1898, Thomas Walton Patton enlisted as a private in the 1st North Carolina Volunteers to serve in the War of 1898. He was made adjutant and went with the battalion to Florida and Cuba.

Thomas Walton Patton married first, in 1863 or 1864, Anna B. Pearson of Alabama and second, in 1871, Martha Bell Turner (b. 1841). Thomas Walton Patton and Martha Turner Patton had two children, Josie B. and F. M. Patton. On 15 November 1899, Josie B. Patton married Haywood Parker, a lawyer who had graduated in 1887 from the University of North Carolina.

From the guide to the James W. Patton Papers (#1739), 1798-1923, 1999, (Southern Historical Collection)