Iowa City’s Lemuel B. Patterson & Family.

Developed by Lemuel B. Patterson in the late 1890’s, the Patterson Block of downtown Iowa City stretched primarily southward along Dubuque Street from Iowa Avenue to Washington Street. Patterson focused much of his attention on four properties, placing storefronts at 9, 11, 13, & 15 South Dubuque.

Iowa City businessman and attorney Lemuel Bausman Patterson (see pic below) was born on September 24, 1824 in Rushville, Indiana, the son of Rev. Peter H. Patterson and Elizabeth E. Bausman Patterson.

The Patterson Family - Peter & Elizabeth and their seven children – came to Iowa City from Rush County, Indiana in April 1841, with father Peter serving as one of Johnson County’s earliest attorneys (see 1846 list below).

Rev. Peter H. Patterson was born in Pendleton County, West Virginia in 1795. A man of Scotch, Irish and German descent, Peter married Elizabeth E. Bausman, living in Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and Covington, Ohio before settling in nearby Rushville, Indiana, where he worked as a lawyer. Family records indicate that the Pattersons headed west in 1841, arriving in Iowa City in April, just as the city was two years old. As you can see from the two newspaper articles above (1929 & 1946), Peter made a name for himself here in Iowa City, first as a lawyer – teaming with his son-in-law – Judge James P. Carleton, and also as one of the early founders of the local Methodist church.

The Constitutional Compromise of February 1847.

One Peter H. Patterson story, now seemingly lost in Iowa City history, involves the major role he played in saving Iowa City from obscurity. The date is **February 23, 1847**. The newly-formed State of Iowa (December 1846) brought its first State Legislative Assembly together in Iowa City in the fall of 1846. Once statehood was “official” (December 28, 1846), the map of Iowa (as we know it today) was solidified, and for many forward-looking politicians, Iowa City – which became the Territorial capital in 1840 – was located too far east in this now-expanded state that stretched from the Mississippi to the Missouri River. So, on February 18, 1847, the Legislature voted that the state’s capital would eventually be moved westward – near what was then called Ft. Des Moines, leaving Iowa City empty-handed. The next day, as word got out around Iowa City – which had just started to become comfortable being known as Iowa’s capital city – panic hit the streets. As you can read from the articles above, it was **Peter H. Patterson**, on February 19, 1847, who immediately drew up a legal petition stating that if and when the state moved its capital out of Iowa City, it would be legally obligated to make Iowa City the host of the newly-formed (February 25, 1847) State University of Iowa. With 225 signatures on the petition, both the Senate and the House passed the bill on **February 23, 1847**, and while the reality of this decision wouldn’t unfold until ten years later (1857), it was the quick-thinking of Peter H. Patterson who literally saved Iowa City – legally making it the home of SUI from the very beginning!

One more **Peter H. Patterson** story. When the word arrived, in 1849, that gold had been discovered in California, Rev. Patterson, like so many other Iowa Citians, left his family and his thriving law office to pursue riches in the west. Sadly, the 55-year-old Patterson died of cholera on **October 27, 1850**, and is buried in the Sacramento City Cemetery. Peter’s wife, **Elizabeth E. Bausman** **Patterson**, died, eight years later, of cholera (1858) and is buried in Oakland Cemetery in Iowa City.

Which brings us, now, to the children of Iowa City pioneers – Peter & Elizabeth Patterson. Records indicate that the couple had seven children, but we can only locate the histories of four: Emeline M. (1818-1872), Louisa (1819-1849), Lemuel B. (1824-1897), and Onias A. (1827-1905). Emeline married Henry D. Brown in 1843, lived in Tipton, Iowa (Cedar County), had seven children, and died, at age 53, from congestion in the lungs. Louisa married the Iowa City attorney James P. Carleton (law partner of her father, Peter Patterson) in 1838, lived in Iowa City, had six children, and sadly, died at age 29. Which brings us, now, to…

As we discussed earlier, Lemuel B. Patterson (1824-1897), like his father before him, had a successful law office in Iowa City, beginning his practice in the late 1840’s. Now, allow me to introduce Lemuel’s younger brother – Onias A. Patterson (1827-1905)…

According to records we found in Iowa City newspapers of the 1850’s, L.B. & O.A. Patterson & Company was a highly-successful shop that handled just about everything! Books, stationery, drugs, medicines, oil, glassware, window glass, soap, and yes, pure brandy and wine – for medical purposes, of course! It appears that the Patterson brothers purchased the drug store from the famed Iowa Senator James B. Harlan in 1850, just as Harlan was transitioning his occupation – from business to practicing law here in Iowa City. Interestingly, Harlan was, most likely, studying law and apprenticing with the Patterson brothers’ father – Peter, at the time of his transition. Read more here.

Our friend, Jim Petersen, has provided us with one unique postal cover/letter (above) that comes from the early days of the Patterson brothers’ Iowa City business. The letter is dated November 8, 1851, and it’s postmarked two days later on November 10th in Muscatine, headed for L.B. & O.A. Patterson in Iowa City. It’s interesting that there is a two-day delay in the mailing of the letter, since the sender/vendor – John Lamp – needs an immediate response on the purchase of 20 bushels of apples. You can read the full content of his letter below…

Muscatine Nov 8^th 1851
Messrs L.B. and O.A. Patterson & Co.

Gents, I have just arrived from St. Louis and can not get apples to cost you less than 4 ¼ dollars here which I did not think would suit, consequently did not get them. If you want 20 (Bushels) at 3.75, please write by tomorrow’s mail if you wish us to get them. I have requested the man who owns them to hold on until tomorrow.

Yours in haste, John Lamp – for CS Foster

Sadly, we’ll never know if the Patterson brothers took the offer for 20 bushels of apples at $3.75 per bushel, but we do know from their advertising that wines and brandy were part of their inventory. So, we’re guessing that some hard cider made from Muscatine apples just might be the best remedy for what ails you going into the winter of 1851-52!

According to family records, Onias A. Patterson managed the store in Iowa City for twenty years (1850-1870), before he moved his family westward to Sioux City to open a similar store in Woodbury County. Apparently, Onias, in 1856, married Eliza Ann Sanders (1834-1865), had five children, dying, at age 78, in 1905 in Sioux City.

As we mentioned earlier, Lem (his nickname) Patterson came to Iowa City with his family at age 16 (April 1841), where he, according to one biographer, grew up studying law in his brother-in-law, James P. Carleton’s log cabin located on Iowa Avenue. In 1846, when Iowa became a state, Patterson was elected State Librarian by the Iowa Legislature, serving in that capacity for two terms. And though he was considered a mere youth, Lem apparently wrote up the first Homestead Law that was passed by the Iowa Legislature and placed on the statute books of Iowa!

On May 10, 1851, while serving as State Librarian, Patterson married Jane (Jennie) Hazard. Together, they had two children – Lillian (Lillie) (1852) and Carroll (1854), but sadly, Jane, along with their infant son, died of cholera in 1855. Just prior to Jane and Carroll’s deaths, the Patterson’s purchased a large home owned by banker Hugh D. Downey and Dr. Henry Murray – located at 630 E. Washington Street (see pics below).

Over the next half-century, this beautiful home located on the northwest corner of Washington & Dodge Streets became the welcoming home of bachelor Lem Patterson, his daughter Lillian, and her husband – Iowa City businessman Willard J. Welch.

From 1857 to 1859, Patterson served on the Iowa City City Council, and from 1868 to 1870, and again from 1874 to 1876, he served as City Attorney. In 1860, in partnership with Levi Robinson. Lemuel opened the highly-successful law firm of Patterson & Robinson, located in offices located at 18 1/2 South Clinton, while winning a good reputation across the entire state. As a twenty-year member of Iowa City Board of Education, Patterson is credited for authorizing the ground-breaking resolution that made employment of women as teachers in our public schools first possible!

In business, Lem owned a huge portion of the Coralville Woolen Mills, served as a director for both the Iowa City State Bank and the Johnson County Savings bank, was president of the Old Settlers Association (OSA) of Johnson County, and offered his traveling memoirs as a European correspondent for The Iowa City Daily Press. One biographer wrote…

“Lemuel B. Patterson, though a staunch, life-long Democrat, enjoyed the thorough confidence of both parties, for he was man of honor and uprightness.”

Lemuel B. Patterson – age 72 – died on March 15, 1897 at his home in Iowa City, and along with his wife, Jane, his infant son – Carroll, and his mother, Elizabeth, is buried at Oakland Cemetery in Iowa City. After his death, his one surviving daughter, Lillian Patterson Welch and her husband, Iowa City businessman Willard J. Welch, donated Patterson’s entire book collection to the Iowa City Public Library, which was just getting off the ground at the time. Read more here.

What an amazing impact the Patterson family had on the early history of Iowa City. From 1841 right into the 20th century, there’s no doubt this pioneer family made one big difference in our fair city. Godspeed!