By A.L. Tony Wilcox
The story about Thomas Patterson was based on the following account recorded in the book,
(A history of the Patterson Family of Cross Creek Township Washington County, Pennsylvania)
Compiled by Mary L. Patterson and Published in 1924
Chapter 2 Page 12 OUR FIRST WASHINGTON COUNTY, PA SETTLER
“OUR FIRST WASHINGTON COUNTY SETTLER “William Patterson, son of James Patterson (i), was born (presumably in Lancaster County), March 14, 1733. He followed the occupation of his father, becoming a farmer, and tradition relates that he was the owner of, and occupied a farm just East of, and adjoining the old homestead in Little Britain Township. “In 1758, he was married to Rosanna Scott, who lived near “Blue Ball Tavern” in Cecil County, Maryland. They had five children: Mary, Moses, Samuel, Thomas and James. The mother died April 5, 1769. “On April 10, 1770, William Patterson was again married, this time to Elizabeth Brown of Lancaster County, and ten children were born to this union: John, Rosanna, William, Nathaniel, Rachel, Elizabeth, Josiah, Hannah, Nathan and Eleanor. “He was a soldier in the War of the Revolution. His name (with the names of James and Thomas Patterson, probably his father and brother), appears as a private in Captain Thomas Whiteside’s Company, Militia of Colonel Thomas Porter’s Battalion of Lancaster County, on their march of the Camp in the Jerseys, 1776. He was mustered into service August 13, 1776. (See Washington County Historical Society, Pennsylvania Archives; Series 5, Vol. VII, Page 1063. Also records at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.) “After a residence of nearly fifty years in Lancaster County, and while military conditions were yet unsettled and modes of travel were most primitive, William Patterson proved himself a real pioneer by seeking a new home in the Western wilderness. “In 1778, he, with at least two of his sons, Samuel and Thomas, came to Washington County, took up land and settled in Cross Creek Township. They built a house, cleared some ground, and put in what crops they could, and in the fall all except the son Thomas returned to Lancaster County to bring the rest of the family. Thomas boarded with a widow who had an adjoining tract of land. “The next year William Patterson returned with his family. They crossed the mountains with pack horses, bringing their goods, and settled on a heavily timbered tract of land in what was then called the “Far West,” now Washington County. He made a trip to Philadelphia on horseback to secure from the State of Pennsylvania a patent for his land. This patent from the Commonwealth granting the land to William Patterson, written on parchment, is now in the possession of the present owners of the homestead. It is dated May 23, 1787, the consideration is Ten Shillings and Six Pence, and it is signed by “B. Franklin, President of the Supreme Executive Council.” A record of the same is found enrolled in the Rolls Office for the State of Pennsylvania, in Patent Book No. 10, Page 134, as of date of May 26, 1787. On this land William Patterson lived until his death in 1818, when the farm passed to his son, and so on down through succeeding generations, and is now owned and occupied by his great-great-grandchildren.” “THE EARLIEST HOME “The first Washington County home, a log cabin, stood in what is now the barn-yard, some distance South-East from the present stone house. Tradition relates that before other members of the family were permitted to leave the cabin in the morning, the father first went out to look for Indians. He was among the earliest settlers in Cross Creek Township, and the Indians made frequent incursions into that neighborhood from Ohio until Wayne defeated them and destroyed their towns. This location is some distance from a block-house, and Indian raids were frequently made unexpectedly. One son, Samuel, is reported to have been killed by the Indians in 1787, while boating flour on the Wabash River to Vincennes, Indiana. This part of the Country experienced all the horrors and hardships of a border warfare, and the Patterson’s were not exempt from either the horrors or the hardships. “In the history of the Patterson’s “Down East” (in Lancaster County) we read of their powdered hair, knee breeches and silver buckles, and we imagine our ancestor, William Patterson, so dressed in his home there. But in the rough life of the Western wilderness his manner of dress must have changed, for in the “Old Stone House,” his home here, we find no silver buckles and fine clothes. “But the history of their everyday lives is more interesting than many novels. In the story of their experiences we find both tragedy and comedy. What may belong to the latter class is a story related several times to the writer since this history was started. When our ancestor came to Washington County he brought with him several important things. First, his horse, his only mode of travel. Second, a number of “apple switches,” which were the foundation of the “excellent orchard” referred to when the farm was advertised for sale in 1818. And third, but not least in importance, a Pig. And the oft-related story is about this same intelligent pig. Some time after the arrival in Cross Creek Township when Mr. Patterson had selected his location in the wilderness and established a temporary camp he started out to explore his new possession. Returning to camp in the evening he found traces of Indians. This meant danger to the lone settler, so he hastily saddled his horse and started for the Settlement, riding hurriedly toward the East, mile after mile until he reached the mountains, probably in the neighborhood of where Uniontown now stands. There, both horse and man being weary, he picketed his horse and laid down to rest. When he wakened, there lying beside his horse was the pig. It had been left behind in the hurried flight, but had followed the horse through the miles of forest and traveling while they rested had finally overtaken them. Even the pigs were good pioneers! Would our prize Chester Whites be so wise? “A reminiscence of a visit which William Patterson made back to his old home in Lancaster County, has been given by a descendant of his brother James, who still lives there. Pie went of course on horseback and as he got on his horse to leave, the slave could scarcely lift his saddlebags to the horse, they were so full and heavy with silver dollars. The Patterson’s of those days never seem to have been in want of money as was the case with so many of the early settlers.”
In another chapter of the book it states that the crops were in fact an Apple orchard and there is a biography of Thomas.
Hence using the above information I transported my self back to 1778, and for a time became, 14-year-old Thomas.
A.L. Tony Wilcox
Published in U S Legacies Magazine January 2004
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