ROBERT PATTERSON SR. (c. 1737-1830) of Rostraver Twp., Westmoreland Co., PA Husband of Mary Stewart (c. 1740-1813) Brother of: William Patterson Sr. of Washington (later Jefferson) Twp., Fayette Co., PA Peter Patterson of Washington (later Jefferson) Twp., Fayette Co., PA James Patterson of Franklin Twp., Fayette Co., PA Janice (Patterson) Rosenthal 26 June 2012 © Janice Rosenthal 2012. All rights reserved. Contents of this paper are not to be used for commercial purposes. 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface 3 Chapter I Robert Patterson Sr. & wife Mary Stewart 5 Chapter II Sarah Patterson, dau of Robert & Mary 15 Chapter III James Patterson, son of Robert & Mary 16 Chapter IV Samuel Patterson, son of Robert & Mary 44 Chapter V Jane/Jean Patterson, dau of Robert & Mary 91 Chapter VI William R. Patterson, son of Robert & Mary 92 Chapter VII Robert Patterson Jr., son of Robert & Mary 122 Chapter VIII John R. Patterson, son of Robert & Mary 125 Chapter IX Thomas Patterson (1st), son of Robert & Mary 150 Chapter X Elijah Patterson, son of Robert & Mary 151 Chapter XI Mary Patterson, dau of Robert & Mary 163 Chapter XII Thomas Patterson (2nd), son of Robert & Mary 170 Chapter XIII Wills 171 Chapter XIV Biographical Sketches 179 Chapter XV Letter written 1928 by Luther Stewart Patterson 191 NOTE: See my paper, “William Patterson (c. 1784-1854/55..,” Chapter XV, for a list of all Pattersons on the Rostraver Twp., Westmoreland Co., PA tax lists. See my paper, “James Patterson (c.1727-c.1822)…,” Chapter IX, for a list of all Patterson on the Franklin Twp. & Dunbar Twp., Fayette Co., PA tax lists. 3 PREFACE During or soon after the Revolutionary War, dozens of Patterson families settled in present-day Westmoreland, Fayette, Allegheny, Washington and Greene counties. Most had come from eastern Pennsylvania or New Jersey, with a few from Maryland and Virginia. During my research into these families, I found that many previous researchers had assumed close relationships between some of these families despite any real proof; that many had mixed up the spouse and/or children of one Patterson man with the spouse and/or children of another; and that many had linked these families to an incorrect immigrant ancestor. These errors are understandable. There were many Pattersons living close to each other in this area of Pennsylvania, and many of them had the same names (James, William, Robert, Thomas and John). Further complicating things, a large number of these Patterson men married Patterson women. Some of these Patterson women were first or second cousins, but some were (so far as I can determine) unrelated. So it is no wonder that previous researchers made wrong assumptions. Properly sorting out these early Patterson families was very, very difficult, and involved years of original research. The most serious incorrect assertion made by previous researchers, regarding the Robert who is the subject of this paper, is that Robert’s father’s name was also Robert. There is absolutely no evidence that the name of this Robert’s father was Robert. It is stated in many published sources, including The Compendium of American Genealogy by Frederick A. Virkus, Vol. 6, p. 143, that Robert was the name of the Robert who concerns us here. It is nearly certain that the name of Robert’s father was James, not Robert. In Franklin Ellis’ History of Fayette County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia: L.H. Everts & Co., 1882), p. 617, four Patterson brothers are discussed: William, Peter, James and Robert. A careful reading of the several sections of this book mentioning these Patterson brothers reveals that Franklin Ellis derived his information from just one source: from William G. Patterson, an elderly man still living in the county in 1882 (about the time Ellis was writing his book). William G. was the son of James, son of William Sr. of Washington, Fayette Co., PA (one of these four brothers). Some of the information William G. supplied to Ellis concerning the earliest generations is flawed, but my research findings support the claim that Robert of Westmoreland Co., PA (the subject of this paper) was the brother of William, Peter and James of Fayette Co., PA. For one thing, all four men named their first-born sons James. All four men observed the Scotch-Irish naming pattern when naming their children, and this pattern has the first- born son named after the father’s father. (This naming pattern is discussed further in the paper.) All four men—William Peter, James and Robert—were married by the same Covenanter minister–Rev. John Cuthbertson—and Rev. Cuthbertson baptized nearly all of their children. There are many references to Robert’s brothers (William, Peter, James) in this paper, but there are also references to two other Patterson men who will be noted briefly here: Thomas Patterson (1724-1822) of Fayette County; and James Patterson of South Huntingdon, Westmoreland County. Thomas settled very near to Peter Patterson in Washington Twp. (the part that became Jefferson Twp. in 1839), Fayette Co., PA. Recent Y-DNA test results prove that this Thomas was closely related to Peter Patterson (and thus would be closely related to Peter’s 4 brothers William, James and Robert). The close match between Y-DNA of two living male Patterson descendants of Thomas and one living male Patterson descendant of Peter suggest that Thomas was either the brother or the first cousin of the other four (probably first cousin, I think). Note that Thomas’ son, John, had a daughter, Susannah, and Susannah married Robert Jr. who was the son of Robert and Mary (Stewart) Patterson. James of South Huntingdon was a generation younger than the William, Peter, James, Robert and Thomas already discussed. Rev. Cuthbertson baptized James and his sister Jane in 1751, and records the name of their father as John. Not much is known about James’ and Jane’s father, John, but I posit that John was the brother of Thomas (1724-1822) discussed above. This conjecture is based on the fact that Rev. Cuthbertson baptized the children of John and Thomas on the same day, in the same location. James’ sister, Jane, married Thomas’ son, John. Note also that Y-DNA of a living male Patterson descendant of James of South Huntingdon matches very closely the Y-DNA of the descendants of Thomas and Peter. The names these six men gave to their children, Y-DNA test results, the intermarriages between the children of these men, and various other records, all suggest that these six men were very closely related, with a common ancestor going back no more than several generations. My research has concentrated on the families of these six men, and separate papers have been written on each of them. This paper on Robert contains many references to these other five Patterson men, so I thought a mention of each of them was in order. To my knowledge, the information that currently exists concerning the descendants of Robert and Mary (Stewart) Patterson is incomplete, and/or just plain wrong. This statement applies especially to family trees found on the internet, but also applies to information in biographical sketches of descendants published in local histories. (Some of these errors in local histories are cited further in this paper.) I determined early in my research into the family of Robert and Mary (Stewart) Patterson that I do not descend from them. However, I learned so much about them that I decided to write up my findings, for the benefit of future researchers. I was dismayed by the wrong information I had encountered, and wanted to set the record straight. I hope the facts in this paper helps somebody find their ancestors, and I hope future researchers carry on and add to the descendant information. In the chapters that follow, sources will be immediately cited as information is presented—either in the text or in footnotes on the same page. The advantage of this system is that the reader can immediately see the source from which any particular piece of information comes. A note about the format of this paper: The descendant trees in this paper are in “outline” form (I., A., 1., a., etc.). Here’s why: I am and always have been a Mac user. Many years ago when I began my research and started to type up my findings into a tree, there was no genealogical software for Macs! So I assembled my trees in “outline” form, since Microsoft Word could help me by automatically indenting the different generations. 5 CHAPTER I ROBERT PATTERSON was born about 1737, according to his tombstone inscription at Round Hill Cemetery in Elizabeth, Allegheny Co., PA, showing that he died in 1830 “in the 94th year of his age.” (See photo of his stone below.) Note that “the 94th year” means that he died at age 93, not at age 94. To my knowledge, every other researcher aware of Robert’s gravestone inscription has subtracted 94 from 1830 to arrive at a birth date of 1736, which may not be correct. There was a story among descendants of Robert that he was born on shipboard during his family’s journey to America. According to this story, Robert’s mother died in childbirth, and was buried at sea. 1 It is interesting to note that there is evidence of a Robert Patterson whose mother died when he was very young—perhaps giving birth to him. In his 1747 will, one Robert Patterson of Lancaster Borough, PA bequeathed his entire estate to “my only Son Robert Patterson an Infant of about fifteen months.” 2 This cannot be the Robert who concerns us here, who was born eight or nine years earlier, about 1737.