John J. Patterson

Who was John J. Patterson?

John James Patterson was a businessman and United States Senator from South Carolina. Born in Waterloo, Pennsylvania, he grew up there and attended the public schools, and then attended Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. During the 1850s he engaged in newspaper and banking businesses in Pennsylvania; he was publisher of the Juniata Sentinel in 1852 and became editor and part owner of the Harrisburg Telegraph in 1853. He first entered politics in 1859 when he was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, in which he served until 1861.

In 1861, when the Civil War began, he joined the United States Army and served as a captain in the Fifteenth U.S. Infantry. Meanwhile, he ran for a seat in the United States House of Representatives in 1862, but was unsuccessful.

After the war Patterson moved to Columbia, South Carolina and engaged in railroad construction. He again entered politics and in 1873 was elected by the South Carolina Legislature to the U.S. Senate as a Republican. He was criticized by many in South Carolina for being a carpetbagger.