John Patterson

     
     Other than his name that was found in an 1830 Catahoula Parish, Louisiana, conveyance record (see below), very little is known about John Patterson. At least three of his children were born in Nova Scotia between about 1793 and 1800. Another, Hannah, was perhaps born in New York about 1808. (Two of three censuses on which she appears show New York as her birthplace). This perhaps coincides with the family's move to Indiana Territory, which can be pinned down to between 1807 when John does not appear on the territorial census, and 1812 when his son Joseph was a sergeant in the Indiana militia. The aforementioned 1830 record is the only one found to date on which his name appears, unless he is the John Patterson who married Elizabeth Heatherly 2 October 1816 in Posey County, Indiana. "Vinsane" [Vincennes] mentioned in the 1830 record was the seat of government of the Indiana Territory and is Indiana's oldest town. It is, and always has been in Knox County, as all of Indiana once was. Posey is Indiana's southernmost county, and one county on the north separates it from Knox. Two of John's daughters married in Posey County in 1815. About 1818, some or all of the family moved to Catahoula Parish where they begin to show up in conveyance records. Although no record has been found that proves John owned land there, that his children joined in selling land in Catahoula Parish in 1833 is at least circumstantial evidence that it was inherited from their father.