COL James Patton

Commanded - 1742-1755

Born 1692 - Died July 8, 1755 (KIA)

James Patton was born in Newton, Limavaddy, County Derry, Ireland. He married Mary Borden (name also shown as Burden and Osborne). James being a younger son wasn't scheduled to inherit anything so he went to sea in the royal navy. He became a ships captain and was held in high esteem by the King. His father, Henry, was a ship builder and/or merchant fleet owner and operator.

The King granted James Patton 120,000 acres of land with the only stipulation that it be located on the west side of the 'Blue Mountains' (now known as the Blue Ridge Mountains) and that it be settled by loyal British subjects. James sailed in one of his father's ships, the 'Walpole'. This ship is said to have made 20 or more passages to the states. He carried Ulster immigrants to America and returned with furs, skins and tobacco. In one of these passages in 1738, James and his wife Mary, and his two daughters, Margaret Patton and Mary Patton, along with John Preston, his wife Elizabeth (Patton) Preston, their children Letitia about 10 years old, Margaret about 8, William about 7, and Mary Preston about 6, along with John Preston’s sister Mary Preston who later married Phillip Barger, and supposedly another of John's sisters, Jane (Preston) Breckinridge and her husband Alexander Breckinridge, arrived in Belhaven, near Alexandria on the Potomac on August 26, 1738.

They settled near Waynesboro in 1738 and James Patton was instrumental in the development of Augusta County. He was the first sheriff and tax collector, and Colonel of all militia. He was an elected leader of the Tinkling Spring Presbyterian Church and of the Augusta Parish Vestry. He was an owner of vast tracts of land in western Virginia on which he established settlements of Scotch-Irish immigrants. Colonel Patton was a representative for Virginia at the Treaties of Lancaster and of Logstown with the Iroquois Indians. He was also a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses. Patton later built on the upper waters of the James River two villages and two forts. One was called Pattonsburg and the other, Buchanan. These two villages remain still, Pattonsburg is very small but Buchanan has grown into a thriving town.

One of James Patton's settlements was known as "Drapers Meadows”. James Patton took up several thousand acres on the New River, in what is now Montgomery County, Virginia. Here, on the river, Phillip and Mary (Preston) Barger built a fort and began a settlement. To this day it is known as the "Barger's Fort”, and across the ridge Patton built a fort and began a settlement known as "Draper's Meadows". One sunny Sunday morning on July 8th, 1755, Indians wiped out much of the settlement including James Patton. James and his wife Mary Borden had 2 daughters and no sons. He adopted (officially or un-officially?) William Preston, son of John Preston.

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Last Updated March 20, 2005
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