Hi folks! I am trying to find information out about William Patterson’s and Nancy
Hamilton’s ancestors. The remarks in brackets are mine.
William Patterson was born in Apr 1802 in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. He died in
Sep 1870 in Indiana or Illinois. From an article about William’s son-in-law, David Hanley
[Handley], there is the following excerpt:
“Mrs. Hanley [Hannah Patterson Hanley] is the daughter of William Patterson, a native of
Pennsylvania and born near the city of Pittsburg. His father, William Patterson, Sr., was
a native of Ireland and upon coming to America located in Pennsylvania where he spent his
last days. William, Jr., removed from Pennsylvania to Warren County, Ohio, when a lad of
ten years [about 1812]. There he grew to man's estate and worked in Cincinnati in a
rope factory until his marriage [1823]. Afterward he engaged in farming in Southern Ohio,
and lived there until the fall of 1833. Then coming to Illinois he located at Walnut
Grove, in Kansas Township, where he engaged in farming and milling. Subsequently, however,
he returned East, as far as Lake County, Ind., where his death occurred. He was a
Republican, politically, and in religious matters a member of the Methodist Episcopal
Church.”
The reason I am not sure about his place of death is that in the 1870 census, he and his
family are shown as living in Illinois. Would he have returned to Indiana to die so
shortly after the census was taken? I cannot find any other information about his
Patterson ancestors. Can anyone help?
William Patterson married Nancy Hamilton, daughter of Thomas Hamilton and Sarah Seymour,
on 16 Oct 1823 in Warren County, Ohio. Nancy was born in Jan 1802 in Hardy County,
Virginia [now WV]. She died in Oct 1885 in Kankakee County, Illinois. From the same
article about her son-in-law, David Hanley [Handley], there is the following excerpt:
“The maiden name of the mother of Mrs. Hanley [Hannah Patterson Hanley] was Nancy
Hamilton. She was a native of Virginia, born near the town of Moresfield [then Virginia,
now West Virginia] and was the daughter of Thomas Hamilton, who was born in England. He
served in the English army and as a soldier of that army was brought over the Atlantic to
fight the colonists. This he did not wish to do, so deserted the ranks and located in
Virginia and lived in Palmyra, Warren County, the remainder of his days. The mother of
Mrs. Hanley was reared to womanhood in Ohio [married in Ohio in 1823] and died in Momence,
Ill. in 1881, when 84 years old. [The last is incorrect. Nancy Hamilton Patterson died in
Oct 1885.]
I do know that Nancy's brother, Thomas Hamilton, Jr., fought in the War of 1812. I
also have reason to believe that she had a brother John Hamilton born about 1798. Does
anyone else have information about this line?
Thanks,
Rebecca
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