James W. Patterson

American politician (1823–1893)

James Willis Patterson (July 2, 1823May 4, 1893) was an American politician and a United States representative and Senator from New Hampshire.

Born in Henniker, Merrimack County, New Hampshire, he was the son of William and Frances M. Shepard Patterson. and was principal of the Woodstock Academy in Connecticut for two years. He attended the Theological Seminary at New Haven, Connecticut, where he studied law.

Patterson was a professor of mathematics, astronomy, and meteorology at Dartmouth College from 1854 to 1865. Patterson was a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives in 1862.

Elected as a Republican to the Thirty eighth and Thirty ninth Congresses Patterson was a United States Representative for the third district of New Hampshire from (March 4, 1863 March 3, 1867). He was elected to the U. S. Senate and served from March 4, 1867, to March 3, 1873. In the Senate he was chairman of the Committee on Enrolled Bills during the Forty first Congress and a member of the Committee on the District of Columbia during the Forty first and Forty second Congresses.

On September 4, 1872, The Sun reported that Patterson and many other politicians was found to have been bribed by the Union Pacific Railroad, and Crédit Mobilier. Later, the House of Representatives created the Poland Committee to investigate these accusations. On December, 1872, the Poland Committee found out that many high tier Republican officials were involved with the scandal. On February 4, 1873, he tried to convince the senate to appoint a specific committee. The committee found out that Patterson gave Crédit Mobilier official Oakes Ames 7,000 dollars to invest for him. Patterson claimed that since Ames gave him no written receipt, he was unaware that he owned some of the stock. A report to the Senate said that Patterson gave a false testimony to both the House and Senate committees. by this time both the house and the senate were recommending that he be expelled. Pattersons term ended before congress could’ve taken further action.

Patterson was a regent of the Smithsonian Institution and in 1877 1878 was again a member of the State house of representatives. He was State superintendent of public instruction from 1881 to 1893, and president of American Institute of Instruction.

Patterson died in Hanover, Grafton County, New Hampshire, on May 4, 1893 (age 69 years, 306 days). He is interred at Dartmouth College Cemetery, Hanover, New Hampshire. The Patterson School, which was merged with the Garnett school in 1929 and then became Shaw Middle School at Garnett Patterson, in Washington, DC was named in his honor because he sponsored the legislation creating a public school system for black students in Washington, DC. It was closed in 2013.