James Patten

     James Patten was born circa 1730.¹ He was the son of Matthew Patten and Margaret (—?—) (Patten).¹ He died on 3 August 1770 in Biddeford, York County, Maine,, "aged 40 odd," "by a Fall under the Mill in Biddeford, laid 2 Days & ½ Senseless."²
     
     In 1755 James Patten bought from his brother-in-law John Gray one-eighth of a saw-mill in Biddeford, "above the ruins of the old fort," calling himself yeoman.¹ In 1759 James Patten sold half of his interest in the mill to his father who on the same day deeded him the fifty-acre farm on the east bank of the river which he had held since 1726.¹ In partnership with Gray and Thomas Donnell he embarked on a heavy speculation in 1760, buying from Thomas Hichborn et als. a tract of five hundred acres on the Saco River, twelve miles above the lower falls in what was known as Deerwander. The three grantees divided this tract in 1764.¹

     He was apparently a bachelor.¹ His brothers Robert and John were appointed administrators on 11 December 1770, James being described as a mariner.¹ They brought in an inventory of £506, including his interest in the saw-mill, his fifty acre farm with a house and barn thereon, and his share in the Deerwander purchase, then estimated at four hundred and twenty-nine acres. Some real estate was sold to discharge debts, among the creditors being his uncle, William Patten of Boston.³ James was mentioned as a deceased son in his father's will of 31 August 1773.⁴