August 7, 2004 was a great day for our Patterson family in that we celebrated my Uncle Derral Patterson and Aunt Frankey Patterson's 50th wedding anniversary. This celebration was a family reunion for many of us. It was held in Thomasville, NC. Derral and Frankey have five children, many grandchildren, and one great-grand child. Also in attendance were many of Frankey's family members from Thomasville. Other Patterson kin in attendance were Derral's two surviving siblings, and many of their children and grandchildren, as well as other nephews of Derral from Derral's deceased brothers, Baxley and Kenneth. Here is a link to the photo gallery from that day http://wespatterson.com/images/derral/index.htm. The following picture is of Derral (sitting), along with his wife, sister, brother, his five children, and six of his nine nieces and nephews on the Patterson side of the family.
Front row (left to right): Steve Patterson (son of Derral), Rick Patterson (son of Derral), me - Wes Patterson (son of Frank Patterson), Terry Patterson Dempsey (daughter of Derral).
Second row (left to right): Tor Kilstrom (son of Jean Patterson Kilstrom), David Patterson (son of Kenneth), Brian Patterson (son of Baxley), Jerry Patterson (son of Kenneth), Frankey Patterson, Derral Patterson, Jean Patterson Kilstrom (sister of Derral), Frank Patterson (brother of Derral), Vanza Patterson (wife of Frank), Sherry Patterson Melville (daughter of Derral), Lynn Patterson Malphurs (daughter of Derral).
Third row (left to right): Chip Patterson (son of Frank), George Malphurs (son-in-law of Derral).
My
genealogy research has on the following
areas:
-
My
wife's ancestors (FISHBURNE,
BELLINGER, BULL, CANTEY, HOLTON, etc.)
-
- Biblical
and Royal genealogies
In
2000 I was able to link my mother's ancestors to the
royal families of Europe for the first time. This is
through her Langley-McGhee-Fuller-Duke-Byrd lines.
The royal families of Europe can be traced through multiple
lines back to the Biblical genealogies, most commonly
back to Judah, son of Jacob (Israel).
In
June of 2001 I was able to trace a line of my wife's
ancestors back to the Biblical genealogies, through
her Fishburne -Bellinger-Bull families. And then
in July 2001 I was able to connect my dad's ancestors
back to the Biblical genealogies, through his Stephens-Byers-Ratcliff
lineage.
Since
2001 however, most of my efforts have focused on my
PATTERSON ancestors as I have been networking
with other great researchers across the U.S. in a quest
to learn more about our immigrant ancestors. Great clues
have been uncovered since 2001 as pieces of "our
puzzle" begin to be put together (by many of us
working together).
In
July, 2002 a friend of mine and cousin from the Patterson
line (Harald Reksten) made an important trip to
the South Carolina Archives to do on-site research of
Robert Patterson's 1775 will. Robert Patterson
was my GGGGGG-Grandfather, who lived from the early 1700's
until 1775. Harald was able to take some very good quality
photos of the different sections of this will in an effort
to share with us the handwriting and signatures of different
family members during the different stages of probation
on this will (1775, 1775, 1791). Harald very graciously
allowed me to share HIS notes and photos
with everyone on my web site so that we all may view his
findings, and possibly add insight as well. Thanks, Harald.
You may view this 1775 will and the associated probates
on my web site at http://wespatterson.com/patt/patt_reksten.html.
This is a must read! Please allow about 5 - 10
seconds for the page to load. There are 12 images (photos)
that will need to load in your web browser while this
page loads.
In
late 2002 I built what I called a "Biographical
Sketch of Robert "R" Patterson". It
is located at http://wespatterson.com/patt/bios/patt-robt-1775-p1.htm
and includes much of the knowledge we have gained from
the research that Harald Reksten, myself, and many others
have put together over the years, regarding the life of
Robert Patterson. Much is still to be learned about him
and his family. It is my belief that he was my immigrant
ancestor, perhaps having immigrated in the 1710's or 1720's.
At this time I do NOT know when that took place.
A
distant cousin of mine named Leah Koehn relayed
a story to me in 2002 that her late grandmother had passed
down to their family that "our immigrant ancestor"
was named Robert Patterson, and that he was born somewhere
between 1700-1735, and that he came over from Ireland
(he was Scotch-Irish) on a ship named "Importance".
Leah's "Patterson line" intersects with my line
at George and Rebecca Chastain Patterson. George was born
in 1800 in Buncombe Co., NC, and was the son of John and
Margaret Black Patterson. George was also the grandson
of Thomas Patterson, and the g-grandson of Robert "R"
Patterson. Robert was the son of William and Margaret
Donnell Patterson, so there was only one Robert in this
line of Pattersons. If Leah's grandmother was correct,
the shoe fits with Robert "R" Patterson. The
name fits, the dates fit, the heritage fits, the migration
patterns fit. Finding a ship manifest would be the find
of all finds!
Happy
hunting as you browse my web site. I hope that some of
the information I have may help you in your research.
If you have anything to add or correct, or any other suggestions
for that matter, please contact me. Thanks. |
