Moses L. Patton
1806–1883 |
Moses L. Patton, born in Twiggs County, Georgia on January 23, 1806, was the son of Major James H. Patton, a veteran of the War of 1812. Forsaking ventures in gold mining and steamboat navigation on the Ocmulgee River in Georgia, Moses arrive in Nacogdoches, Texas on May 1, 1835 and proceeded to become an early Texas leader in river navigation, mercantile business, land development, farming, and governmental affairs.
In January 1836, he volunteered to serve in the Army of Texas, joined Captain Dimmitt’s Company at Victoria, and acted as a special agent for General Thomas J. Rusk at Harrisburg and San Jacinto. After the war Moses and his brother Robert established a boat business on the Angelina River and founded the port town of Pattonia, which they developed with Thomas J. Rusk. There Moses operated a store and a thriving river freight business which ran pole boats and steamboats on trading voyages to Sabine Pass from the 1840s to 1870s. He also continued to serve the Republic of Texas. Participating in the Cherokee War of 1839, he was present when Chief Bowles was killed. In 1839 and 1840 he served as an Indian Agent for the Texas Republic to evaluate and repay the Shawnees and Cherokees for lands to expedite their removal from East Texas. Moses was elected Justice of the Peace in Nacogdoches in 1840. That year he married Susan Henrietta Buford of South Carolina, who became the mother of his ten children. In 1841, he was appointed Consul to Bangor, Maine from the Republic of Texas faro the purpose of obtaining and personally delivering a ship for the Texas Navy.
Following the decline of river transportation, Moses moved his family to his acreage at Oak Ridge. There he continued operating a store in Nacogdoches, farming , acquiring, and trading land, and private lending. He died in 1883 and was buried in the Patton family cemetery at his home place. His many endeavors, marked with courage, prudence, and integrity, helped shape the progress, prosperity, and history of Texas.
Nacogdoches Hall of Fame Inscription, 1989
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