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 DEATH 
 
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 Born in LONDONDERRY, N. H.. 
 
 Mmnber //, /799, 
 
 Died in AVESTFIELD, N. Y., 
 
 OcMer /5, i879. 
 
Death of Hon, George W, Patterson, 
 
 (From THE WESTFIELD REPUBLICAN, October 22, 1879) 
 
 The community was startled as by an 
 electric shock on Thursday morning, 
 by learning of the death of Hon. George 
 W. Patterson, who died at his home 
 at ten o'clock on Wednesday night, 
 October 15, 1879. And now, after 
 the sharp pain of the first intelli- 
 gence has passed, and the funeral obse- 
 quies have b<?en held, with the assem- 
 bling and the words of comfort and the 
 tributes to a great life — it is scarcely 
 possible to realize that the ruddy coun 
 tenance, the happy smile, the hearty 
 hand-shake, the commanding jjresence 
 ■which for years has been a prominent 
 feature in Westfleld life, has forever 
 gone out from our sight and lives only 
 in memory. Gov. Patterson's death 
 seemed, if such a thing be possible, 
 characteristic of his life. The day 
 came. He returned from a neighbor- 
 ing city whither he had gone in the 
 morning, and without any ado he went 
 to his bed unaided, and in a few hours 
 he was gone — gone while busy — gone 
 at the close of a day which he began 
 with a smile — gone without a murmur 
 or complaint — gone as expires the flame 
 from the consumed wick— with a bright 
 light even at the last. 
 
 On Wednesday morning Governor 
 Patterson arose and, apparently, in his 
 usual health, attended to various mat- 
 ters of business, being on the street at 
 an early hour, and at 8:45 he, with Mrs. 
 Patterson, took the train for Erie, where 
 they had accepted an invitation to dine 
 with Judge Marvin. In a short time he 
 was attacked with chills, which cort-. 
 tinned through the day. A physician 
 was called but no relief was experienced, 
 and at three o'clock he and Mrs. Pat- 
 terson returned to their home, arriving 
 
 there about 5 p. m. He expressed him- 
 self as very sick, having a dull heavy 
 pain in every part of his body. Dr. 
 Brown was called, who discovered that 
 Gov. Patterson was suflTering fx'om an 
 acute attack of congestion of the lungs. 
 Dr. Brown had no hope of a recovery 
 from the first. Dr. Strong was called 
 in counsel and his judgment confirmed 
 the conclusion arrived at by the former. 
 Although the patient was conscious he 
 failed rapidly, and ceased to breathe at 
 ten. For some months Mr. Patterson 
 had had a heart trouble (fatty heart), 
 but had made little mention of it. 
 This, in connection with the congestion 
 of the liings, doubtless produced the 
 sudden fatal result. 
 
 It now becomes our duty to give 
 briefly some facts in regard to this life 
 which was grand in so many ways, and 
 every phase of which is remembered with 
 the greatest warmth and tenderness ; 
 but our hands almost refuse to pen the 
 words which shall formally place Gov. 
 Patterson, in our local affairs, among 
 the dead. 
 
 Mr. L. L. Doty, private secretary of 
 Gov. Morgan, has given in the History 
 of Livingston County a sketch, which 
 we reproduce in full: 
 
 Mr. Patterson was the youngest of 
 four New England brothers (Judge 
 Peter Patterson of Perry and Warsaw, 
 Col. Robert Patterson of Perry and 
 Westfield, Hon. William Patterson of 
 Warsaw, Ex-Member of Congress) who 
 settled in Livingston and Genesee 
 .'Counties, N. Y. , soon after the close 
 of the war of 1812. They were men 
 of sterling worth, broad and liberal 
 in sentiment, and bore their full part 
 in moulding and directing the social 
 
there h0P^^^^'^^^ tendencies of those early 
 city lot'» ^8 well as in promoting the rua- 
 gba-ivifial enterprises of the settlers wlio 
 pecto rapidly changed onr western wilds 
 turriito well cultivated farms. Mr. Patter- 
 v-!»_,n was born at Londonderry, New 
 Hampshire, on the 11th day of Novem 
 ber, 1799. A noted ancestor of his, 
 John Patterson, removed from Argyle- 
 shire, Scotland, about the year 1600 to 
 the parish of Priestland in the county 
 of Antrim, Ireland, where he pu'-^aased 
 a large lauded estate (a leasehold) of the 
 Lord Antrim who became so distinguish- 
 ed a partisan of the Stuarts. A descend- 
 ant of this John Patterson in the fourth 
 generation, Peter by name, emigrated 
 from Ireland, in 1737, to Londonderry, 
 New Hampshire, and soon after mari'ied 
 Grisey Wilson, whose grandfather had 
 taken part in the noted siege of Lon- 
 donderry, a fact that quite likely deter- 
 mined the name of their New England 
 home. Peter had three sous, Rob^irt, 
 Thomas and John, the second of whom 
 married Elizabeth Wallace. Five daugh 
 ters and seven sons were born to them, 
 of whom Peter was the eldest and the 
 subject of our sketch the youngest. 
 The maternal grandfather, James Wal- 
 lace, came from the county of Antrim, 
 Ireland, to the New Hampshire settle- 
 ment, where he married Mary Wilson, 
 of whom an incident is related : The 
 vessel on which her parents had taken 
 passage to this country, was captured 
 in mid-ocean by a pirate, and while a 
 prisoner the mother gave premature 
 birth to this child. In a capricious mo- 
 ment the pirate captain offered to re- 
 lease both crew and passengers, on con- 
 dition that the parents of the newly 
 bom child would call it Mary. They 
 assented, and after making the infant 
 presents of jewelry and a piece of rich 
 brocade silk, the pirate released the 
 captives, who were no doubt ready 
 enough to part company with so roman- 
 tic a godfather. 
 
 The brocade, it may be added, be- 
 came the wedding'gown of the grown- 
 
 up Mary. [Gov. Patterson has a part 
 of the brocade wedding dress in his pos- 
 session.] The father of the future 
 Lieutenant-Governor was a farmer in 
 comfortable circumstances, who dn]y 
 valut'd education. The son was there- 
 fore afforded such advantages as were 
 offered by the common school and a 
 neighboring academy, and at eighteen 
 the father proposed to him, first, that 
 he might go through college, or second, 
 he might take a certain hundred and 
 twenty acres of land near the home- 
 stead and make a farmer of himself. 
 Both offers were declined, for with na- 
 tive independence he had already deter- 
 mined to swim without corks. He rea- 
 soned that the four years spent in col- 
 lege would subtract too large a sum 
 from his early lifetime, and as to the 
 land, New Hampshire farming as then 
 conducted, seemed a pursuit well cal- 
 culated to make a poor man of him to 
 the end of his days. Neither proposi- 
 tion being accepted, his father was con- 
 tent to let him try the experiment of 
 striking out for himself, and lived to see 
 him a prosperous man of business, hon- 
 ored by his adopted State in her coun- 
 cils, and advanced to the second office 
 in rank in the commonwealth. On his 
 eighteenth birthday Mr. Patterson en- 
 gaged to keep a district school in Pel- 
 ham, near his home, for the winter ; 
 and on the 2d of June following, the 
 winter's wages in his pocket, and ac- 
 companied by his brother William, and 
 Wm. D. Barnett, now of Attica, he left 
 New Hampshire for Western New York. 
 A journey of three weeks brought them 
 to the Genesee country, Mr. Patter- 
 son's first home was in the family of 
 Daniel Kelly of Groveland, and " a bet- 
 ter one no young man will ever find 
 outside of his father's house." Yankee 
 observation soon suggested to him that 
 the great harvests of the finest wheat 
 of the continent, being gathered when 
 he reached this region, needed some 
 better machinery for winnowing it than 
 any then in use, and his first step was 
 
to open a shop for the manufacture of 
 fanning mills, on the present Benway 
 farm in Groveland, then owned by Wm. 
 Doty. This modest shop of logs stood 
 near a small pond north of the house, 
 which still goes by the name of Patter- 
 son pond. To be nearer his work he 
 became a boarder at Doty's tavern, 
 " where he had a good time generally 
 with the sons of the landlord, two of 
 whom were older and five younger than 
 himself," And here at night, his day's 
 work done and well done, he would 
 meet a knot of the pioneers, men older 
 than himself, who were in the habit of 
 collecting about the broad and cheerful 
 fireside of the log hostelry. The new 
 comer was a favorite at once. No one 
 could tell a more pithy story, and his 
 trenchant discussion of politics, then 
 running high, was listened to with sat- 
 isfaction by those of his way of think- 
 ing, and with marked respect by his op- 
 ponents. The latter were not the men 
 to let an error of fact or argument go 
 unchallenged, and Mr. Patterson here 
 strengthened himself for debates in 
 more notable assemblies. He spent but 
 a year here. 
 
 His brother William bad settled near 
 Havens' tavern, and in the spring of 1818 
 he there joined him. In the year 1821 
 he lived in Warsaw, N, Y,, where he was 
 engaged in the fanning mill raanuftictur- 
 ing business for himself. In 1822 be 
 removed to Ripley, Chautauqua County, 
 where he stayed until the fall of 1824, and 
 then came back to Livingston County and 
 purchased and occupied the farm now 
 owned by Wm. Elliott iu Leicester, TLe 
 manufacture of fanning-mills continued 
 to occupy bis time until his removal to 
 Westfield in 1841. How much of the 
 superior market quality of Genesee wheat 
 was due to the facilities his fanning-mill 
 afforded in preparing it for eastern mark- 
 ets, it might beidifflcult'to show, but it is 
 certain that a very large part of the crops 
 of this famous wheat growing section was 
 fitted for market for many years by the 
 use of "Patterson's" or "Patterson & 
 
 Dickey's" machines. Indeed, for aW 
 a generation, no other fanning millf 
 used. In the spring of 1821, Mr. Pat.^ 
 son had a quantity of wheat in store at Al-j 
 mond, N. Y., where it could not be sola 
 for ready money. The cost of transport-i, 
 ing it to Rochester, then the nearest cash 
 market, was three"?shilliugs a bushel, and 
 once there it was worth but two shillings 
 and sixpence. Instead, therefore, of send- 
 ing it to the Rochester market with the 
 certainty of a sixpence margin on the 
 wrong side, he exchanged it for boards on 
 the Allegany river at Olean, Seven bush- 
 els of wheat at Almond for one thousand 
 feet of boards at Olean, and on the open- 
 ing of navigation he became a raftsman 
 for one trip only, floating down the Alle- 
 gany and the Ohio rivers on board his raft 
 in quest of a market. He sold at Cincin- 
 nati, and without assistance took the 
 boards from the water and piled them on 
 shore, receiving seven dollars a thousand 
 in Miami Exporting Company's paper, a 
 wild cat currency, worth on that particu- 
 lar day sixty cents on the dollar, the next 
 day but fifty, and continued to rapidly 
 depreciate until it became entirely worth- 
 less. On reaching home, his neighbors 
 were anxious to know how he had made 
 out. He had but one answer for all, "I 
 have saved — myself." The " West" was 
 just now opening, and the great stories of 
 its opportunities were finding their way 
 back to the settlements along the Genesee. 
 As he was on the road to the newer region 
 of promise, he determined to see for him- 
 self. So investing the meagre proceeds 
 of his lumber in a horse, saddle and bridle, 
 he "set out to find a better country than 
 Livingston county,'' traveling through 
 Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky, returning 
 to Cincinnati after a month's absence. In 
 going from Brookville, Indiana, to Fort 
 Harrison, on the Wabash, by way of Ind- 
 ianapolis, he was compelled, for want of 
 belter accommodations, to sleep in the 
 woods several nights, and to follow blazed 
 trees for forty miles through the wilder- 
 ness, by day, to reach the site of the pres- 
 ent city of Indianapolis. On arriving 
 
there he found the surveyors running out 
 city lots, and quartered in a small log 
 shanty, then the only hotel in the pros- 
 pective Capitol. From Cincinnati he re- 
 turned by way of Chilicothe, Cleveland, 
 Erie and Buffalo, the latter place being 
 then a village of 700 inhabitants. The 
 Erie Canal was "staked out," but not a 
 shovel full of earth had been removed from 
 its bed in that (now) city. At thai time 
 there was but one steamboat on Lake Erie 
 (the Walk-in-the- Water), and three small 
 ones on the Ohio river above the falls, and 
 not a single post-coach at any point in the 
 United States, west of Buffalo. The mails, 
 yet few and far between, were carried on 
 horseback or on foot. Railroads were not 
 yet born, or telegraphs thought of. After 
 making this tour he returned to Living- 
 ston county, concluding that "the people 
 of Livingston county might travel tlirough 
 the States, north of Carolina, and as tar 
 west as Kansas, and would find no spot 
 equal to the valley of the Genesee." 
 
 Mr. Patterson for many years took an 
 active part in politics, displaying the same 
 zeal and conscience in that relation as in 
 business affairs. His fidelity in every po- 
 sition, and his practical wisdom, secured 
 him the unwavering support of an intelli- 
 gent constituency through more than a 
 quarter of a century, and until business 
 engagements not only, but inclination, in- 
 duced him to retire to private life. His 
 first oflice was that of commissioner of 
 highways of Leicester, and when the posi- 
 tion of justice of the peace became elect- 
 ive, he was chosen to that office and re- 
 tained it by re-election until he removed 
 to Chautauqua county. He was eight 
 times elected to the Assembly from Liv- 
 ingston county by the Whigs, (in 1832-33 
 -34-35-36-37-38-39 and 40) and was 
 twice made speaker of that body while 
 representing this county. He took a prom- 
 inent part in the memorable presidential 
 campaign of 1840, and at the great mass 
 meeting held in Qeneseo in the autumn of 
 that year, among the most noticeable feat- 
 ures of the day was the farmer's dinner 
 
 of pork and beans, hard cider and corn 
 bread, given out in the Leicester carry- ail. 
 Mr. Patterson had been speaking, and 
 coming down from the speaker's s'and — 
 the roof of the log cabin — at precisely 
 twelve o'clock, he mounted the wagon, 
 took out a great tin horn, and in true farm- 
 er fashion called his tribesmen together, 
 and amid a tumult of applause sat down 
 with them to the substantial fare spread 
 upon a bark table. 
 
 He was elected Lieutenant-Governor in 
 1848 on the Whig ticket, headed by Ham- 
 ilton Fish, and presided over the sessions 
 of 1849 and 1850 with remarkable dignity 
 and fairness. His name has been repeat- 
 edly mentioned with the office of Gov- 
 ernor, but never at his instance. Indeed 
 it may be said with entire truth that office 
 has uniformly sought him. He has never 
 been a seeker after place. His sterling 
 integrity, mature judgment, and withal his 
 manliness of character, have long given 
 him a high place among public men, and 
 first and last have distinguished him many 
 times as the fit man to act for the State 
 on commissions and special service. Two 
 or three instances may be given. The 
 question of selecting a proper quarantine 
 station at the port of New York, for the 
 protection of the inhabitants of the me- 
 tropolis and of the whole country from 
 imported diseases, had long perplexed the 
 Legislature and the executive authorities. 
 To reach a solution of a question so im- 
 portant, a commission of eminent men 
 were named of which Mr. Patterson was 
 one, and after a careful examination they 
 presented a plan which, while it avoided 
 the local prejudices occasioned by the sit- 
 uation of so formidable a pest-house, reach- 
 ed the end in view in a practical way. 
 Another subject of the first importance to 
 the commerce of the port was referred to 
 a commission of which he was a member. 
 Several years ago encroachments of a seri- 
 ous nature threatened with danger the 
 harbor of New York. Not only were the 
 piers run far out into the North river, but 
 structures had been commenced which 
 
were essentially changing the channel and 
 threatened to lessen the capacity of the 
 giand roadstead. The records were over- 
 hauled, the public archives examined, to 
 ftscerlain the origital boundaries of the 
 Slate. The exterior lines were then laid 
 down and the report of the commission 
 was adopted and confirmed, and remains 
 the authority on the subject. The threat- 
 ened evil was thereby averted. It will be 
 recollected that iu obedience to public sen- 
 timent the Legislature in 1860 appropri- 
 ated a large sum of money to be expended 
 in Kansas for the starving and suffer iug 
 colonists of that much afflicted territory, 
 while it was passing through its ordeal of 
 trial. Tte proper expenditure of the 
 grant was a delicate and difficult task, biU 
 the commission of which Mr. Patterson 
 was one of the most active members, were 
 eminently successful in meeting the needs 
 of the settlers, while doing notliing to 
 merit the adverse criticism of excited 
 partisans. 
 
 In all the varied duties committed to 
 Governor Patterson through a long public 
 career, no breath has ever been raised 
 against his integrity ; no act has lessened 
 the confidence of attached friends, and 
 while enjoying many marks of general 
 regard, he has never seemed more grati- 
 fi<d than when, his duties ended, he might 
 return to his home and to the important 
 business charge committed to him by the 
 Holland Land Company in superintending 
 their landed interests, in which trust he 
 succeeded Governor Seward when the lat- 
 ter was elected Governor. In February, 
 1825, he married Hannah Whiting Dickey, 
 daughter of John Dickey of Leicester. 
 He lias two children. In person Mr. Pat- 
 terson is but one inch short of six feet in 
 height, and his weight of two hundred 
 and twenty-five pouuds is not at the ex- 
 pense of his activity or disproportioDed to 
 hid well-knit frame. 
 
 A summary of the oflBces held by Mr. 
 Patterson is as follows : 
 
 He was Commissioner of Highways, 
 School Commissioner, Justice of the Peace, 
 
 Brigade Paymaster, and Supervisor of Lei- 
 cester ; was a member of the State Assem- 
 bly eight years, the last two of which, 
 1839 and 1840, he was Speaker of the 
 House; removed to Westfield, N. Y., in 
 1841, to take charge of the Chautauq"u» 
 Land Office; was appointed Basin Com- 
 missioner at Albany by Gov. Seward, Har- 
 bor Commissioner at New York by Gov. 
 Clark, and Quarantine Commissioner for 
 the port of New York by Gov. Morgan ; 
 was a delegate to the National Republican 
 Convention that nominated John C. Fre- 
 mont for President, and to the National 
 Republican Convention that renominated 
 Abraham Liucoin for a second Presiden- 
 tial term ; has been Supervisor of West- 
 field three years; President of Westfield 
 Academy and President of the Board of 
 Education of Westfield many years; 
 represented the County of Chautauqua 
 in the State Constitutional Convention 
 in 1846 ; was elected Lieutenant-Governor 
 of the State of New York in 1848 ; and 
 in 1876 was elected to the 45th Con- 
 gress as a Republican, receiving 16,910 
 votes Hgainst 10,601 votes for James Fre- 
 land. Democrat. He was a Director in 
 the Buffalo & Slate Line Railroad from 
 its organization, June, 1849, till its con- 
 solidation. May, 1867; and from that date 
 till June, 1868, a Director in the Buffalo 
 & Erie Railroad, now a part of the Lake 
 Shore & Mich. Southern Railroad. 
 
 Reference is made above to Mr. Pat- 
 terson making a trip into Kansas in 
 1860 to distribute funds, &c. Some 
 years since a friend inquired of him in 
 relation to this item of history, when 
 he replied that Mr. Doty, who was pri- 
 vate secretary of Governor Morgan, 
 probably w-as not informed as to the 
 particular object of this mission aside 
 from that given, the fact being that a 
 number of friends of the free State 
 cause in Kansas determined to do all 
 they could to make Kansas a free State. 
 They accordingly raised a fund and 
 securing the best man possible — Gov. 
 Patterson — sent him to Kansas, where 
 
be addressed mass-meetings and en- 
 gaged other speakers for the same pur- 
 pose, often participating in them incog. 
 The result of this campaign is known, 
 but this is the fiist publication of 
 „ ihese facts which led to the result, and 
 the people of Kansas probably have 
 never known how much they owed to 
 Governor Patterson for a correctly- 
 guided public sentiment which after 
 ward made Kansas a free State. When 
 Gov. Patterson made his report to Gov. 
 Morgan, he had one dollar left, (without 
 taking anything for his own services,) 
 which still stands to the credit of free 
 Kansas. 
 
 An interesting incident is related in 
 regard to his name. He was first named 
 John, but the death of Gen. Washing- 
 ton, occurring shortly after, his name 
 was changed to George Washington — a 
 name which has always seemed most 
 appropriately bestowed. 
 
 During the latter part of the war of 
 1812 he evinced his patriotic blood by 
 enlisting a company of youth of his 
 village. He was chosen captain and 
 his company was given a place in the 
 regiment of his brother Robert (who 
 died some years since in Westfield) he 
 being Colonel. The young company 
 was said to have been the best drilled 
 of any in the regiment. Hon. John 
 Fisher, ex-member of Congress from 
 Genesee county, was a member of 
 the company and relates the circum 
 stance. The father of Gov. Patterson 
 was a commissioned ofl5cer in the Ee- 
 volutionary war (the commission being 
 preserved to this day in the family 
 relics). 
 
 Of the life of Gov. Patterson at his 
 home in Westfield it is impossible to 
 speak particularly. His hospitality 
 was in keeping with his generous na- 
 ture, and he entertained as a prince. 
 His board was bountifully spread, not 
 for his own, but for the enjoyment of 
 others ; and it was a rare treat to spend 
 an hour at bis home, where the most 
 delicate of social grace was illumined 
 
 by his pointed emphatic converse and 
 lively repartee. When a subject was in 
 danger of a gloomy turn, he was sure to 
 come to the rescue with an anecdote or 
 a pleasant reminiscence. 
 
 He was ever foremost in good 
 works. His hand, which had been 
 prospered wonderfully, was always 
 ready to distribute, and a worthy 
 needy person never went empty away. 
 Nor was this all ; in his extreme gen 
 erosity he continually sought out ob- 
 jects of benevolence. In all his giving, 
 which seemed a part of his life, no one 
 was ever humiliated in being a recipi- 
 ent. There can be no doubt but there 
 are today scores of people who received 
 regularly at his hand who have not 
 known whence came the aid which 
 helped in an important way toward a 
 comfortable existence. But the gen- 
 erosity which was evident toward the 
 poor was not limited to them alone. 
 Everything that had in it the advance 
 ment of the cause of education, tem- 
 perance or morality found in him a sub- 
 stantial supporter. The public school 
 was always an object of deep interest 
 to him, and he gave many days of close 
 attention and hard work to our own 
 Academy and Union School. His 
 largest gifts were usually to the church. 
 While he was not a church member, 
 his life was a pattern of good works. 
 He was strictly honest to the last de- 
 gree. He reverenced the Sabbath and 
 was a constant attendant upon the Sab- 
 bath day services, and was most humble 
 in all that he did, and claimed nothing 
 of merit for himself. The benevolent 
 work of the church had his sympathy, 
 which was expressed not by words but 
 by deeds. 
 
 Gov. Patterson's life had in it none of 
 those dark blots which so frequently 
 mar the lives of public men. His pub- 
 lic 1' was absolutely spotless and his 
 privctce walks were more beautiful upon 
 the closer scrutiny. It cannot be won- 
 dered that a gloom has come over our 
 community, and that the sense of a per- 
 
sonal loss has entered every household. 
 Many more pretentions men will claim 
 attention, bat our village may never 
 again know one so gifted in those things 
 which pertain to public duties, and yet 
 so generous, kind and thoughtful in 
 private, as was this most lamented 
 friend. Of his life of lifty-five wedded 
 years we dare not speak, and into the 
 home circle we will not intrude, know- 
 ing that he was the ideal of the house- 
 hold — the strong man loved. We can 
 but offer the assurance of a sympathy 
 which is universal, in the loss of one 
 who filled a house with light and life 
 with his presence, and whose death 
 must be like the going down of the 
 sun at noonday ; and long will it be be- 
 fore the memory of Gov. Patterson will 
 fade from the memory of those who 
 knew, who loved, and who honored him. 
 
 KESOLUTIONS. 
 
 Westfield, N.Y., Oct. 17, 1879. 
 
 At a meeting of the Trustees of the 
 First Presbyterian Society of Westfield, 
 called for the purpose of recording their 
 sympathy with the bereaved family of 
 the late ex-Lieut. -Gov. George W. Pat- 
 terson, whose remains are to-day laid in 
 the grave, and to express our sense of 
 the bereavement we suffer in his depar- 
 ture from earth ; the following resolu- 
 tions Avere adopted : 
 
 1st. That inasmuch as for many years 
 he was associated with us in the finan- 
 ' cial management of the affairs of our 
 corporation, and especially in times of 
 severe trial when twice we were called 
 upon to erect sanctuaries to take the 
 place of those which had been destroyed 
 by fire, in which his wise coiinsels, lib- 
 eral benefactions and indefatigable la- 
 bors accomplished so much towards car- 
 rying us successfully through our trials 
 — we will cherish his memory with 
 grateful hearts. 
 
 2d. That we tender to his family our 
 heartfelt sympathies ia this period of 
 severe affliction. 
 
 THURLOW WEED'S TRIBUTE. 
 
 In a letter to the N. Y. Tribune, the 
 venerable Thurlow Weed, the intimate 
 friend of Gov. Patterson for over fifty 
 years, says : 
 
 "Sir : My heart was deeply saddened 
 this morning by a telegram from West- 
 field, Chautauqua County, announcing 
 the death of George W. Patterson in Ws 
 eightieth year. * * * ]\jj.^ Patterson 
 acted for many years as an agent for the 
 English proprietors who purchased the 
 Holland Laud Company's interest in 
 Chautauqua County. His thorough 
 business capacity and habits enabled 
 him first to adjust the difficulties be- 
 tween the settlers and the proprietors, 
 and then to close wji the business in a 
 manner highly satisfactory to both par- 
 ties. Mr. Patterson's public life term- 
 inated with the last Congress, of which 
 he was a member , 
 
 "All the elements and qualities which 
 elevate and adorn human life were har- 
 moniously blended in the character of 
 George W. Patterson. His life was not 
 only entirely blameless but eminently, 
 useful. To those who knew him as P- 
 did no form of eulogium will be deemed 
 inappi-opriate. As a. citizen, as the head 
 of a family, and as a public servant, he 
 was a model man. In the discharge of 
 legislative duties he was conscientious 
 and i^atriotic. He was always in. his 
 seat, and no bad, defective, equivocal 
 or suspicious bill ever evaded or escaped 
 his vigilant and watchful eye. He had 
 troops of friends, and, so far as I know 
 or believe, was without an enemy. In 
 private life he was exceptionally fault- 
 less. Without making proclamation of 
 temperance, he was always a cold water 
 drinker. Whether he was or not a— 
 church member, he certainly lived the 
 life of a Christian. His bereaved wid- 
 ow, son and daughter will find conso- 
 lation in the reflection that they have 
 enjoyed his affectionate and devoted 
 guidance and protection for many happy 
 years, and that when called on to ren- 
 der an account of his stewardship below 
 a seat will be assigned to him above 
 among the 'good and faithful.' Be- 
 tween the deceased and the writer of 
 this feeble tribvite to his virtues and 
 memory a close friendship existed for 
 more than half a century." 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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