William Worth Patterson

William Worth Patterson (November 3, 1849 – March 28, 1921) was a Kentucky businessman, the sixth Mayor of Ashland, Kentucky (1886–1889),[2] and the Division Inspector of the Post Offices in Denver (1889–92).

William Worth Patterson
6th Mayor of Ashland, Kentucky
In office
June 9, 1886 – May 6, 1889
Preceded byThomas Russell
Succeeded byPatrick Moriarty
Personal details
BornNovember 3, 1849
Clarion, Pennsylvania
DiedMarch 28, 1921(1921-03-28) (aged 71)[1]
Denver, Colorado, US
Political partyRepublican
SpouseSallie Esther Geiger
ChildrenEarle Keith
Nellie Geiger
ResidenceAshland, Kentucky

Early life and business career

William Worth was born on November 3, 1849 in Clarion, Pennsylvania to William Evans and Ellen Patterson, both natives of Pennsylvania. In 1855, his father, William, a stonemason, moved to Jackson County, Ohio, where he was engaged in the iron business.[3]

W. W. Patterson received a good common-school and academical education. In 1870, he came to Kentucky and taught a term of five months in the public school at Beuna Vista Furnace.[3]

Patterson entered the store of Means & Co. as storekeeper, which position he held until the spring of 1878, when he engaged in general merchandising with W. L. Geiger.[3]

In 1880, Patterson located to Ashland, Kentucky, and entered the wholesale and retail grocery business in partnership with Col. Frank Coles; fifteen months later Mr. Patterson sold out and engaged in leasing land in Carter County, Kentucky, at which he continued about a year, and then joined the firm of Damarine & Co., of Portsmouth, Ohio.[3]

Government and politics

In 1881, Patterson was nominated by the Republicans as a candidate for the Kentucky Legislature. In 1885 he finished his first run as Post Office Inspector.[4] In June 1886, he was elected mayor of Ashland, Kentucky.[3]

Patterson was a Kentucky delegate at the 1888 Republican National Convention, held June 19–25 in Chicago.[5][6] He was an early supporter of Benjamin Harrison,[5] who came in only fifth place at the first ballot. After Harrison obtained the nomination and, later that year, narrowly won the elections (while losing the popular vote), Patterson chased "nice, fat government" positions as a Harrison man.[5] The Maysville Democrat newspaper, The Evening Bulletin, ran several items on the job search and retention of the Republican mayor.

After missing out on an appointment as Superintendent of the Louisville and Portland Canal, he next applied for Chief of Post Office Inspectors in the Louisville and St. Louis district.[7] This time he received the appointment from Postmaster General Walter Q. Gresham.

Patterson continued as Mayor of Ashland until May 1989. As the regional Post Office Inspector, operating from Louisville, Patterson investigated robberies, burglaries, and fraud.[8] In 1889 he was promoted to Division Inspector of the Post Offices in Denver.[9] Patterson finished his government employment in 1892,[10] at the advent of the Cleveland administration.

Personal, death and legacy

Patterson was a Freemason, an Odd Fellow and a Knight of Pythias.

Patterson died in Denver, Colorado on March 28, 1921. A street in Ashland, off 39th Street, is named after Mayor Patterson.

References
  1. "William Worth Patterson". Find A Grave.
  2. Ashland Centennial Committee (1954). A History of Ashland Kentucky 1786–1954. Kentucky culture series. Ashland, Kentucky: Ashland Centennial Committee.
  3. William Henry Perrin; J. H. Battle; G. C. Kniffin (1888). "William Worth Patterson". Kentucky: A History of the State. Louisville & Chicago: F. A. Battey. pp. 932–935. Retrieved June 17, 2018 – via Google Books.
  4. "Tuesday, April 14, 1885". Semi-Weekly South Kentuckian. Hopkinsville, Kentucky: Meacham & Wilgus. 14 April 1885. p. 2. ISSN 2332-5240. Retrieved June 20, 2018 – via Chronicling America.
  5. "Mayor W. W. Patterson". The Evening Bulletin. Maysville, Kentucky: Rosser & McCarthy. December 29, 1888. p. 3. ISSN 2157-488X. Retrieved June 17, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. Mayor W. W. Patterson, of Ashland, was an original Harrison man at the Chicago convention and would like to fill a nice, fat Government position under the next administration.
  6. "A Busted Boom". The Evening Bulletin. Maysville, Kentucky: Rosser & McCarthy. 20 June 1888. p. 2. ISSN 2157-488X. Retrieved June 20, 2018 – via Chronicling America.
  7. "Mr. W. W. Patterson". The Evening Bulletin. Maysville, Kentucky: Rosser & McCarthy. March 12, 1889. p. 2. ISSN 2157-488X. Retrieved June 20, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. Mr. W. W. Patterson, of Ashland, has retired from the contest for Superintendent of the Louisville canal, and will try for Chief of Post Office Inspectors in the Louisville and St. Louis district.
  8. "50th Congress, 1st Session, House of Representatives, Report No. 965". United States Congressional Serial Set. Vol. 2600. Washington DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. 1888. pp. 1–4 – via Google Books.
  9. "News Condensed". Semi-Weekly Interior Journal. Vol. 17. Stanford, Kentucky: W.P. Walton. 3 May 1889. p. 1. ISSN 1941-3009. Retrieved 20 June 2018 – via Chronicling America.
  10. "Ex-Mayor W. W. Patterson". The Evening Bulletin. Maysville, Kentucky: Rosser & McCarthy. 19 May 1892. p. 3. ISSN 2157-488X. Retrieved June 20, 2018 – via Chronicling America. Ex-Mayor W. W. Patterson, of Ashland, has been removed from the position of Post-office Inspector of the Denver division.
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