J. A. N. Patterson

        J. A. N. Patterson, a farmer and merchant at Sale Creek, was born June 17, 1838, in Hamilton County Tenn., and is the fifth of eleven children born to Lewis and Mary Y. (Pearson) Patterson, eight of whom are now living. Both parents were of Scotch-Irish descent. The father was born in 1796 in Tennessee, and came to this locality before Hamilton County was organized. He was magistrate for many years and died in 1867. He took a great delight in hunting in his earlier days, being considered the best shot and the champion turkey hunter on many occasions. The mother was born in 1806 in Monroe County, Tenn., and died in 1872. Our subject was educated in Sale Creek Academy principally, and assisted his father in farming until twenty-two years of age. July 26, 1860, he married Miss E. S. Coulter, daughter of T. J. and M. J. (Gamble) Coulter, and this union was blessed by the birth of five children, four of whom are living: William Preston, Robert Jefferson, Alfred L., John T. and, J. N. (deceased). Mrs. Patterson died in 1877, and in 1879 Mr. Patterson married Margaret H. Wallace, a daughter of Benjamin and Mary Wallace. Mr. and Mrs. Patterson are members of the Presbyterian Church of which he has been an elder since 1868. He is a Democrat and cast his first presidential vote for John Bell. He has been a very successful farm manager and stock raiser. He began life in ordinary circumstances and lost most of his personal property during the late war. In 1862 he enlisted in Company C, First Tennessee Cavalry, and was discharged in 1863. He participated in all the battles and severe skirmishes in which his company took part. In the fall of 1885 he opened a general store at Sale Creek, where he still continues. He is a successful farmer and an excellent citizen.

Goodspeed's History of East Tennessee, 1887