Biography

10/20/1852 - 09/05/1904

Alexander Ennis Patton (R34) Centre, Clearfield, Clinton 1903-1904

Early Life:

Alexander Ennis Patton, born October 20, 1852, Curwensville, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania; son of John Antes Patton and Catharine Moore Ennis;  common schools education; Dickinson Seminary; Chester Military Academy; Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts; engaged, farming, nursery business, Iowa,1871-1877, returned, Curwensville, engaged, banking, coal, telephone lines, industrial world, 1877; delegate, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, National Republican Conventions; co-owner, Roaring Run Quarry; elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1903-1904; married, Jennie Mary Wright Patton (d. 1884) married, Mary Boynton Dill Patton, children, Alexander Ennis Patton, Jr., Edith Patton, Joseph Patton, Katherine Margery Patton, Henry Joseph Patton; died, in office, while playing cards at neighbors, heart disease, failure, September 5, 1904 (age, 51), in office of Senate, while playing cards at neighbors, heart disease, failure, Curwensville, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania; interment, Oak Hill Cemetery, Curwensville, Clearfield, Pennsylvania.  

Early Career: 

Engaged, Curwensville bank; October 31, 1879, a fire destroyed the buildings, southeast corner of State and Thompson Streets, which housed the Curwensville Bank, stores and the Public Library. The Patton Block and the bank building, later remodeled, built soon after. Director, National Bank of Patton, Cambria County. Engaged, coal lands in Clearfield and northern Cambria County, with former Congressman James Kerr. 

The first reference to telephone service found is in a letter dated August 4, 1881, written in reply to a request for service, Lumber City, Pennsylvania. It states in part, "We would suggest that you communicate with Mr. Alex Patton, Curwensville, who is now leading an enterprise to build a telephone line through that county. 

Professional titles; business ownership; board memberships; local government; club memberships:

Master, Noble Lodge No. 480, Free and Accepted Masons, Curwensville, 1883; officer, treasurer, Curwensville Cemetery Company (Oak Hill Cemetery), 1893; President, Directors Convention of Clearfield County, served, twice; Trustee, Dickinson College; Director, Dickinson Seminary; organized, Curwensville City Fire Company. Number 2, 1895.

Pennsylvania Politics:   

Delegate, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, National Republican Conventions,

Elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 34th district, Centre, Clearfield, Clinton Counties, 1903-1904; committee assignments, Bank and Building and Loan Associations, City Passenger Railways, Corporations, Education, Judiciary Special, Municipal Affairs, Public Printing Committees; died in office of Senate, September 5, 1904. 

Legacy: 

Father, John Antes Patton, United States Pennsylvania Congressman 24th Congressional District, 1861-1863, 20th Congressional District, 1887-1889.

Brother, John Patton, Jr., United States Senator, Michigan, appointed, 1894-1895.

Borough of Patton named for him. 

Family gifted pipe organ, Curwensville Methodist Church, in Alexander Ennis Patton memory, installed, 1905.  

Entertained, President Benjamin Harrison, his wife, at his home, Curwensville, Pennsylvania, September 20, 1890. The home later destroyed by fire, 1942.    

Legacy:

Dickinson Seminary was a preparatory school for Dickinson College which became Lycoming College located in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The two institutions were closely related during the nineteenth century when they were both affiliated with the Central Pennsylvania Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church.    

Chester Military Academy, now defunct school, located, Chester, Delaware County, Pennsylvania.   

Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts, one of the oldest incorporated boarding schools, United States. Presidents George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush attended. 

Patton Borough, Cambria County, Pennsylvania, 20 miles northwest of Altoona, best known for the Patton Clay Works. The Clay Works were one of the largest clay and brick concerns in the world in the first half of the 1900s. The company manufactured terra cotta products, building bricks, and pavers known as "Patton Pavers". Bricks were, made from clay excavated from the area, used in the construction of the Panama Canal and the pavers were, used around the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. 

Cited: 

Cox, Harold. "Senate Members P". Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Wilkes University.

Smull’s Legislative Handbook, (1904). Cochran, T.B., (Editor) Miller, H.P. (Assistant Editor) Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, pages 1020, 1025-1028, Biographical Sketches of Senators, page 995.

Harrisburg Daily Independent (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) Monday September 5, 1904, Page 1.

Alexander Ennis Patton (1852-1904) - Find a Grave Memorial