The Thomas & Narcissa Patterson family owned a mid-sized farm in White Plains, NC. Today, White Plains is known as Kings Mountain and their farm was in the vicinity of Galilee Church Road outside of the current city limits. Information about the Patterson family is largely available to us in the form of census records and their personal papers - which you are transcribing this week!
Prior to 1850, we have limited information about the family beyond birth and death records. The 1840 census only recorded male heads of households and numerated any free or enslaved people living within the household. Another challenge of the 1840 census is that a lot of place names changed between 1840 and 1850 - making it very difficult to correctly identify which Thomas Patterson might be the Thomas Patterson married to Narcissa. ** Note - Cleveland County was formed from parts of Rutherford and Lincoln Counties in 1841**
What do we know? (Concrete facts supported by primary documents)
- Narcissa Patterson was widowed in 1844 at the age of 37. She was pregnant with John J. who was born several months after his father Thomas died. As of 1850 two of her seven children had died. In the 1850 census she is listed as "Head of Household" but without occupation. She owned 5 enslaved persons (all female, ages 28, 10, 8, 4 years, and 4 months). She operated a 770 acre farm, only 100 acres of which were "improved" or cultivated for crops. The Patterson farm produced wool, butter, wheat, corn, oats, peas, beans, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and flax. By the 1860 census she is listed as both the "Head of Household" and Farmer as her occupation. By the 1870 census she is living as an occupant in her son Robert's home.
- Alexander B. Patterson died in 1862 shortly after the Seven Days Battle in Richmond, VA. In the 1850 census he is a member of his mother's household with the occupation of Farmer. By the 1860 census he is listed as a member of his mother's household with the occupation of Doctor.
- Dixon Carr Patterson died in 1901 with descendants. In the 1850 census he is a member of his mother's household with the occupation of Farmer. By the 1860 census he is listed as a member of his mother's household with the occupation of Farmer. By 1870 he has his own farm and is married to Artamessa Hamrick Patterson. His daughter, Sarah "Sallie" Patterson Rollins is born in 1871.
- Sarah Patterson died in 1846 at the age of 9 or 10. There are no surviving records other than her headstone in the Dickson-Patterson Cemetery in Kings Mountain. She would have been enumerated in the 1840 census, but not named.
- Thomas Calvin Patterson died in 1908 with descendants. In the 1850 census he is a member of his mother's household with no occupation due to his age. By the 1860 census he is listed as a member of his mother's household with the occupation of Mill Wright - which suggests he worked outside of the farm property. At some point Thomas moves to Alabama, where he is currently buried.
- Robert S. Patterson died in 1862. In the 1850 census he was listed as a member of his mother's household but without occupation due to his age. In the 1860 census he is listed as Cow Leader (another term for "cattle driver").
- Martha Patterson died in 1843 at roughly 4 months old. Her birth and death occurs between census collections and predates official death records, other than her headstone.
- John J. Patterson died in 1858. He is listed as a member of his mother's household in the 1850 census with no occupation due to his age.
What might we know? (Based on documented and historical evidence)
- Alexander Patterson might have died as a result of injury or disease after the Seven Days Battle based on the timing and location of the battle and his death date/location.
- "Sallie" in the letter could be either Narcissa's daughter Sarah or Dixon's daughter Sarah/Sallie. During this time period it was common for Sarah's to be nicknamed "Sallie." Use context clues to determine if the contents of the letter take place before or after 1846.
