412 



HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY. 



Warwick township, and on reaching man- 

 hood went to Wrightstown, where he pur- 

 chased a small farm which was his home for 

 the remainder of his life. He was extremely 

 influential in the political affairs of the 

 township, and was elected to various offices, 

 among them that of supervisor. Prior to 

 1865 he was a Democrat, but in that year 

 associated himself with the Republicans. 

 He and his wife were members of the So- 

 ciety of Friends. Mr. Patterson married 

 Hilda Morgan, born in Bucks county, in 

 1820, daughter of Samuel Morgan, and their 

 children were : Mary, born May 19, 1838 ; 

 William, September 6, 1839; Lizzie, Sep- 

 tember 19, 1841 : James, mentioned at length 

 hereinafter; Martha, born March 15, 1846- 

 Anna M., July 23, 1849: Benjamin, May 

 II, 1851 ; Henry. September 4,. 1857; and 

 Amos, September 26, 1859. Mrs. Patter- 

 son died April i, 1884, and her husband 

 passed away in April, 1886. Both are buried 

 in the Friends' bufyine-ground in Wrights- 

 town township. 



James Patterson, son of Jesse and Hilda 

 (Morgan) Patterson, was born June 19. 

 1843, in Wrightstown township, and until 

 he was fourteen years of age attended the 

 common schools. He then began to work 

 for the neighboring farmers, but still found 

 time to prosecute his studies. In 1864 he 

 enlisted in Company H, Fifth Regiment, 

 Pennsylvania Volunteer -Cavalry, and 

 served until the close of the war. His 

 regiment was immediately sent to the front 

 under the command of General Butler, and 

 participated in many engagements, chief 

 among which were Fort Fisher. South Side 

 Railroad, Petersburg and Richmond. At 

 the battle of Five Forks, April 2, 1865, Mr. 

 Patterson narrowly escaped death by a ball 

 from the gun of a sharpshooter, which 

 passed through his right arm, penetrating 

 his body within an inch of his heart, and 

 lodged in a book which he carried in the 

 pocket of his blouse. He was taken to the 

 Fairmount Hospital, near Washington, and 

 notwithstanding the fact that small hopes 

 were entertained of his ■ recovery he was 

 able to return home by May 26, that being 

 the day on which he received his discharge. 

 The book and bullet are now in his pos- 

 session and will be preserved by his de- 

 scendants as priceless relics. Upon his com- 

 plete recovery Mr. Patterson engaged in 

 farming until 1875. when he entered the 

 School of Veterinary Surgery at Trenton. 

 New Jersey, and after a complete course 

 graduated in 1878. He immediately began 

 the practice of his profession in Newport- 

 ville, and two years later purchased the es- 

 tate of two hundred and eighty-five acres 

 where he has since lived and had his office. 

 His patronage is both select and extensive. 

 For several years he had full charge, in 

 his line, of all the stock on the Drexel 

 School Farm, and purchased all the horses 

 and cows for that establishment. Dr. Pat- 

 terson's interest in public affairs has always 

 been keen and active and he has been chosen 

 "by his fellow-citizens to fill many offices of 



trust. For nine years he served as school 

 director, and at one time was a member of 

 the Bristol township Republican committee. 

 He has also acted as delegate to many con- 

 ventions. In 1894 he was elected to the 

 State legislature, and was re-elected in 1896. 

 During his first term he served on the fol- 

 lowing committees : city passenger rail- 

 ways, corporations, and comparing bills. In 

 his second year, in addition to serving on 

 these committees, he was a member of the 

 committee on military affairs. He was in- 

 terested in defeating the bill for a bridge to 

 span the Delaware river between Bristol 

 and Burlington. In 1899 he was deputy 

 internal revenue collector for Bucks county, 

 serving about two years. In March, 1903, he 

 was appointed by John C. Delaney to the 

 office of factory inspector and is still serv- 

 ing in that position. He is a member of 

 Captain H. Clay Beatty Post, No. 73, G. 

 A. R., of Bristol, and of Bristol Lodge, 

 No. 25, F. and A. M. He is also an ex- 

 member of Hulmesville Lodge, I. O. O. F., 

 and was one of the organizers of the Bris- 

 tol Driving Association, to which he still 

 belongs. 



Dr. Patterson married, March 17, 1867. 

 Elizabeth Wright, and they are the parents 

 of the following children : Lillian Bertha, 

 who was born October 7, 1868, and is the 

 wife of Isaac Chapman Cooper, of "North- 

 ampton county; Marie Wright, who was 

 born July 25, 1871, was married. July 31, 

 1897, to John Gyger Embree, of West Che? 

 ter, and has two children, John Harola. 

 born May 7, 1898, and James Newlin, born 

 February i, 1902; Charles Rhodes, who was 

 born January 6, 1878 ; and Alice Taylor, 

 who was born April 17. 1883. Mrs. Pat- 

 terson comes, like her husband, of English 

 ancestry. She is a granddaughter of 

 Joshua Wright, who was a farmer in 

 Bucks county, and married Beersheba Rue, 

 by whom he had a -family of eleven children, 

 of. whom Charles Rhodes Wright was the 

 second and was also a farmer. He mar- 

 ried Maria Vanzant, also a native of Bucks 

 county, and -they were the parents of a 

 daughter. Elizabeth, who became the wife, 

 of James Patterson, as mentioned above. 

 Mr. Wright, in his latter years, by reason 

 of itailing health, retired from active labor, 

 and moved to B^ristol. where his death 

 occurred February 17, 1885. Mrs. Wright 

 died August 6, 1901. 



JESSE C. EVERITT. clerk of the or- 

 phans' court of the county of Bucks, 

 was born in Middletown. Bucks county. 

 Pennsylvania. October 24. 1866, and is a 

 son of the late David P. and Hannah M. 

 (Vandegrift) Everitt. 



Ezekiel Everitt, the great-great-grand- 

 father of Mr. Everitt, came to Bucks 

 county about the close of the revolution- 

 ary war. from Hunterdon county. New 

 Jersey, where, and in the adjoining part 

 of New Jersey, his ancestors had prob- 



