"Portrait and Biographical Record of Western Oregon, containing original
sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present."  Chicago: Chapman
Pub. Co., 1909. p. 984.
 
SMILEY H. PATTERSON

     Of Irish-Dutch extraction, Mr. Patterson was born in Licking county, Ohio,
April 15, 1840. Like most of the successful men of America, he was born on a
farm, and this particular farm upon which Mr. Patterson was born belonged to his
father, and was located twelve miles from Mount Vernon. His grandfather, Adam
Patterson, was a Virginian by birth, and about 1809 removed to Ohio, settling
permanently in Licking county. At the time of his removal to that section his
son, Ephraim Patterson, the father of Smiley H., was but a few years old, having
been born in Virginia in 1805, and his wife, whose maiden name was Eva Fry, was
one year his senior, a native of the Keystone state and of pure Dutch ancestry.
Her parents left Pennsylvania for a home in Licking county, Ohio, and it was
there that Mr. Patterson's parents were married.
   About 1849 the father, accompanied by his family, went west and settled on a
farm in Johnson county, Iowa, and in connection with farming pursuits he took up
the practice of medicine and became quite a successful practitioner. His useful
life was terminated in 1863, his widow surviving him for more than twenty years,
her death occurring in 1885 in Johnson county, in the same vicinity where she
had spent many happy years. She and her husband were blessed with eight
children, as follows: Clarissa, wife of Philip Shafer, of Iowa; Loraine,
deceased; Adam, a resident of California; Jacob, of the same state; John, of
Oklahoma; Minerva, who died in infancy; Smiley H.; and Bruce, who still resides
in Iowa.
      Educated in the common schools of Ohio and later of Iowa, Smiley H.
Patterson, at the age of nineteen years, took up the trade of a carpenter, with
a view to making it his life work, and after serving several years'
apprenticeship, he succeeded in mastering the details of that useful trade.
There were ample possibilities in his home section for the man with capital, but
for the man who was practically without means, although equipped with a thorough
knowledge of his trade, newer fields offered better inducements, and he
naturally turned his attention to the west. Crossing the plains to Nevada in the
spring of 1863, the trip requiring sixty-four days, he traveled behind horse
teams. The first stop of any length was made at Austin, and for a brief time he
worked at his trade in the mines and at anything else he could obtain. In 1865
he went to Virginia City, and for two years followed carpenter work there, prior
to locating in Butte county, Cal., where he, followed mining in winter and
carpenter work in summer, covering a period of more than twenty years, and
meeting with fair success.
     Mr. Patterson made his first trip to Oregon and to Portland in 1866, and in
looking about for a safe and paying investment, he was soon induced to locate in
Klamath county, purchasing at that time a farm four and a half miles southeast
of Bonanza. He set about improving this place, and at once engaged in
stock-raising, and at this writing he owns a fine farm of five hundred and
twenty acres, three hundred acres being under cultivation. Upon the completion
of the private irrigating ditch two and a half piles long, upon which he is now
engaged, a much larger tract of land, used at present for grazing purposes, will
be placed under cultivation. Much high grade stock is raised on this ranch,
including horses, mules and cattle, and especially is attention paid to the
Durham Short-horn breeds, over one hundred fine specimens of the latter being
found upon his place.
     In 1861, about two years prior to his going west, Mr. Patterson was united
in marriage with Miss Mary A. McEldowney, formerly of Mercer county, Pa., where
her birth took place in 1842. Six children were born of their union, namely:
Helen May, wife of L. H. Brown, of Portland, Ore.; Nellie, wife of G. K. Van
Riper, of Bonanza ; Albert, who resides on the home place; Jessie, wife of
Nelson Dunn, also of Bonanza; a child who died in infancy; and Daisy, who is
successfully engaged in teaching in Bonanza. Mr. Patterson; has always been
interested in educational matters, and has served as school director and as
clerk of the board, having at all times done his part toward securing good local
schools and advancing the cause of education in a general way. In his political
views he is entirely independent, and socially he is a valued member of Bonanza
Lodge N.O. 143, I. 0. 0. F.
 


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Submitted to the Oregon Bios. Project in April 2010 by Diana Smith.  Submitter
has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned above.