CHAPTER III

The Pattersons and The Hunters

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My great, great grandfather, Thomas Patterson, when ten years old, emigrated from North Ireland to Philadelphia with his three brothers in 1730.

We know nothing of two of his brothers, but the third one, William, finally went to Baltimore. he married and had a son, William, and this William's daughter, Elizabeth, born in 1785, was married in 1803 to Jerome Bonaparte, a brother of Napoleon I. Napoleon had the marriage annulled, compelled Jerome to return to France and marry an Austrian princess, Catharine Sofia of Wortemburg, and then made Jerome the king of Westphalia. Madam Bonaparte had one son, Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte. He married and had two sons, Jerome Napoleon who lived in France and Charles Joseph Bonaparte who lived in Baltimore. Charles Bonaparte was Attorney-General in President Theodore Roosevelt's Cabinet.**

Thomas Patterson, the immigrant, had two sons, Thomas who married a Miss Proudfit and William who married Jane Morrow of Ohio. William it was who was Colonel of Militia after the Revolutionary War and who as a sergeant was at Valley Forge with General George Washington and for whom my son, William Morrow, is named and whose Revolutionary sword he owns. Jane Morrow had a nephew who was Governor of Ohio and a United States Senator from that State. William and Jane Patterson had seven children, William, Jane, Sally, John, Jeremiah, Polly and Thomas.

Colonel William Patterson was born in 1749 and died in 1846. I was two years old when he died and had been held in his arms. He was a representative to the State Legislature in 1794 which met in Philadelphia, the seat of the National Government at that time. My sister has an engraved invitation which Colonel William Patterson received from President Washington.

William and Jane are buried in the Big Spring Graveyard here, and the marking on the gravestones is still visible. He left a farm to each of his children. The Homestead Farm, known as the Mansion Farm, he left to his son, Thomas, my grandfather, who was born August 24, 1782 and died June 2, 1860.

Thomas married Elizabeth (Betsy) Burns, a daughter of John Burns and Esther Morrow and a granddaughter of Archibald Burns and Janet Cuthberson. Archibald Burns was the uncle of Robert Burns, the poet. Betsy Burns was born in 1784 and died in 1871. Thomas and Betsy Patterson had five children, William M., John Burns, Hadassa, Mary and Thomas. My daughter, Henrietta, owns a walnut tilt top table which belonged to Thomas and Betsy Patterson and from which they ate their wedding breakfast.

William M. Patterson, my father, was born in 1816 and died in 1894. He married Elizabeth Hunter, born 1818 and died December 31, 1869. They had six children, Henrietta Elizabeth, David Hunter, Thomas Webster, John Cromwell, Mary Louisa, and George Cromwell. The latter three children died very young.

For purposes of reference, I append the following:

The Hunters are Scotch and Scotch-Irish stock.

John Hunter, born in Scotland, belonged to the Campbell Clan. Being great hunters, they were called the Hunter-Campbells and finally the Campbell was dropped. They were subjects of the Duke of Argyle, espoused the cause of Charles the Pretender and shared his fortunes which were disastrous. Because of this, five brothers had to flee to the Isle of Man. John fell in love with a young heiress and they ran away and were married. They lost property, which was the penalty attached to a ward's marriage without the consent of the guardians.

This John Hunter, born in Scotland, died in Lemelton, Ireland. He had four sons, all of whom emigrated to this country from County Donegal, Ireland, coming to Pennsylvania about 1760 or a little earlier. They were John, David, Alexander and William. Some of them went to Westmoreland County and some to the Big Cove in 1756. About 1790 and 1796, John and David went to Mason County, Kentucky.

William Hunter, born 1742, died 1827, married Rhoda McClelland of Hagerstown, Maryland. They had eight children, John, Alexander, William, James, David, Nancy, Elizabeth and Rhoda. Nancy married the Reverend John Galloway near New Wilmington, Pa., Elizabeth married James Galloway first and her second husband was a Mr. Junkin. They lived in Westmoreland County. Rhoda was unmarried. She lived in a small stone house built for her by her brother, David Hunter, my grandfather, near his home. James and William died when three and twenty-two years of age. Alexander married Sarah Rankin, lived in the Big Cove and owned the Archibald Johnston Farm. John married Mary Johnston and was a prosperous merchant in McConnellsburg.

David Hunter born 1781, died 1853, married Henrietta Maria Ashman who died in 1832 at the age of forty-eight. They had nine children, eight of whom lived to adult age. They were George A., Eleanor C., Henrietta, Elizabeth, Mary Louisa, Martha, Rebecca and Ann Galloway.

George Ashman Hunter, the only son of David and Henrietta, preserved the name in this branch of the family. He married his cousin Martha Jane Hunter of Kentucky, daughter of James and Margaret Scott Hunter (Margaret died here in the Cove and is buried in the Big Spring graveyard). Martha Jane was the great granddaughter of John and Martha McKinley Hunter of Kentucky. Martha McKinley was the daughter of John McKinley of Ayr Township, Bedford County (then), and John McKinley is buried in the Big Spring graveyard. George and Martha Jane Hunter had seven children. David McClelland was the only son who married and he has eight children and eleven grandchildren and they live in Arkansas. His wife was Ella Croxton of English descent.

David and Henrietta Hunter's other children married as follows: Eleanor Cromwell to Reverend Finley McNaughton; Henrietta Maria to George McCullough; Ann Galloway to John B. Patterson; Elizabeth to William M. Patterson. Mary Louisa, Rebecca and Martha were unmarried.

Our cousins in Kentucky are the great grandchildren of John Hunter and Martha McKinley Hunter. This John was a younger brother of my great grandfather, William Hunter. John Hunter's son, David, married Salina Gault; they had two sons, David and Alexander. Alexander, a physician, married Nancy Bouldin of Virginia, and they are the parents of our cousins of Washington, Mason County, Kentucky, Edna (Mrs. Best), Edward, Martha (Polly), Charles, and Pickett who was killed in the Argonne Forest in France in the World War. Their grandfather, David Hunter was a first cousin of my grandfather, David Hunter, for whom I am named. My grandfather was one of the executors of the will of John McKinley, the maternal great, great grandfather of these Kentucky cousins.

There was a General David Hunter of Virginia in the Confederate Army and it is said he had a brother who was an officer in the Union Army. Mrs. Best (Cousin Edna) wrote me, "I have been asked many times if General David Hunter of Virginia were a kinsman of ours. There is a David in every generation and I hope you may find where he belongs." I have not had the opportunity to investigate.

For purposes of reference, I append the following:

** We have found evidence to contradict the relationship asserted in this paragraph. -- William R. Patterson Jr., July 19, 2007