From a book entitled "JAMES PATTON AND THE APPALACHIAN COLONISTS" is the following information as recorded by Anne Rhea Bruce.

The Pattons were originally landed gentry seated at Ferrochie, Fifeshire, Scotland. The progenitor of the Irish branch of the family, William Patton, M.A., was born in Scotland; had immigrated to Northern Ireland during the King James Plantation. He was in County Donegal by 1626 as Rector of the parishes of Ramoigh and Clonmary, Barony of Raphoe and later at Aughnish, Barony of Kilmacrenan. Reverend William Patton and his wife, Margaret, made their home at an estate called 'Groghan', and reared two sons, Henry and John. Henry's son, also named Henry, married Sarah Lynn, daughter of David Lynn of Kilmacrenan and a descendant of the Lynns of Loch Lynn, in Scotland. Henry and Sarah lived in the Manor of Springfield, Parish of Clondevaddock, Barony of Kilmacrenan, County Donegal. They became the parents of James, Elizabeth, Andrew, Richard and possibly Samuel Patton. James was a younger son, born in 1692 in Newton, Limavaddy, not slated to inherit any of the Patton estates, so he went to sea when very young. The book goes on to say, "A very impressive ship's master he must have been, as he was a 'man of gigantic statue, handsome and dignified and of remarkably commanding powers'. He was dark-haired and brown-eyed and over six feet two inches tall." It is said that James took part in the War with France called "Queen Anne's War" which terminated in 1713.

In the 'James Patton' book, p21 is a mention of Samuel Patton, as follows:

"The suggestion has been made that James Patton was responsible for the importation of the first Arabian horse into the English colonies in North America. An Arabian stallion named Bulle Rocke was imported into Virginia about 1730. One Samuel Patton had the first certificate for Bulle Rocke. It is thought that Samuel was a brother of James Patton already established in Virginia and Captain Patton, the ship's master, brought him Bulle Roche on one of his Trans-Atlantic voyages."

 Sarah Lynn had a brother William Lynn who married Margaret Patton, daughter of John Patton, granddaughter of William Patton. William Lynn and Margaret Patton had two children, Margaret Lynn who married John Lewis, and Dr. William Lynn who founded Fredericksburg, Va in 1727.

John Lewis lived in Northern Ireland on the estate of an old Catholic, Sir Mingho Campbell. When Sir Mingho Campbell died, his son insisted that John Lewis and his family vacate the premises. He came with a posse to drive them out. John Lewis's brother, Charles, was killed and Margaret was wounded. John Lewis then killed the Irish laird, killing him with his shillelagh. Lewis had to flee and hid until a ship could bring him to America. It is said in the book that perhaps Patton's ship picked up Lewis and took him to America. Margaret and their children followed 3 years or so later, to Lancaster County, Pa, then to Williamsburg, Va. to see if they could get land. "Engraved on John Lewis's tombstone at Bellefonte, Staunton, Virginia, is the inscription, 'Here lies John Lewis who slew the Irish Lord' ". This is the family of Thomas Lewis, Andrew Lewis, Charles Lewis and John Lewis, famous in the annals of frontier Virginia.

The following is from "The Family Tree" by Mary Preston Gray.

Henry Patton was a ship builder and ship owner, operating merchant ships. His son James was in the royal navy and held in high esteem by the King. Sometime after leaving the navy, James married Mary Borden (some accounts say Mary Osborne and others Burden) and had two daughters, Mary Patton b.1728 and Margaret Patton. James was Captain of a ship called the "Walpole", one of Henry Patton's ships. Not sure if it was a merchant ship or passenger but I would guess a merchant ship. It is said that James made as many as 20 or 25 passages from Northern Ireland to America, specifically, Hobbe's Hole, Virginia on the Rappahannack River. He carried Ulster immigrants to Virginia and returned with peltries and tobacco. In about 1738, James Patton received a grant of 120,000 acres of land in America. The King's only stipulation was that the land should be west of the 'Blue Mountains', and that settlements should be established for worthy and dependable British subjects. James Patton made one last voyage along with Alexander Breckinridge and his wife Jane, sister of John Preston, there were McCues, McClungs, McPheeters and many other Scottish names. Counties Donegal, Derry and Antrim had given refuge to the Protestant Scots who fled from Roman Catholic persecution and these descendents of those Presbyterian Scotchmen were ready to brave the dangers of the new world to found for themselves a home of religious freedom. James Patton brought his wife and two daughters, John Preston and his wife Elizabeth Patton Preston, their three daughters, Letitia, Margaret, and Mary and their one son, William Preston (founder of the Smithfield Prestons). Johns fourth daughter, Ann or Elizabeth Ann Preston was apparently born in this country in 1739. Others were John Buchanan and his two sisters Margaret and Martha, John Preston's sister, Mary Preston who later married Phillip Barger. The Walpole arrived in Belhaven, near Alexandria on the Potomac on August 26, 1738. There were supposedly 56 passengers aboard the Walpole on this trip and it is believed 30 of them were imported to settle a 30,000 acre tract, 1000 acres each. Patton, Lewis (a relative and land speculator) and William Beverley had entered a joint venture to obtain land from the Council of Virginia. The Pattons and Prestons settled adjacent to Tinkling Spring in the southern part of Beverley Manor (near what is now Staunton). See how the the Beverley Manor was divided. They were among those who in the fall of the same year formed the Triple Forks of the Shenando Congregation, which later became the Tinkling Spring Meeting House congregation. These Presbyterians were considered "dissentors", that is they dissented from the Anglican Church of England. (See also a page on James Patton which shows family connections better. John Preston is buried at Tinkling Spring Church near Staunton, VA. See pictures of the Church and its history.) Patton later built on the upper waters of the James River two villages and two forts. One was called Pattonsburg and the other, Buchanan. These two villages remain still, Pattonsburg is very small but Buchanan has grown into a thriving town.

He also took up large numbers of acres in Botetourt County, Va. His own home he named "Spring Farm", which is now within the corporate limits of Staunton, Va. The other place was called "Spring Hill" and was recently owned by a Mr. Leonard Hunter, near Waynesboro, Virginia. Young John Buchanan soon married Patton's oldest daughter, Margaret, and they lived for years at Buchanan's Fort. Martha Buchanan, John's oldest sister, married a cousin newly arrived in the colony, another John Buchanan. John's youngest sister, Margaret Buchanan, married Major Charles Campbell. They became parents of General William Campbell, the hero of the Battle of Kings Mountain.

James Patton took up several thousand acres on the New River, in what is now Montgomery County, Virginia. Here, on the river, Phillip and Mary (Preston) Barger built a fort and began a settlement. To this day it is known as the "Barger's Fort, and across the ridge Patton built a fort and began a settlement known as "Draper's Meadows". Here the Drapers, Ingles, McDonalds, Cloyds, etc. made their first home in the New World. Pattons home was called "Solitude" and it was here, on July 8, 1753, Col. James Patton met a tragic death when much of the settlement was wiped out on a bright Sunday morning by the savage tomahawk. (Mary Preston Gray's "The Family Tree" shows this date as 1755 and July 8th is not a Sunday, "The Preston Family" by John Mason Brown, shows it as 1753 which is a Sunday.) It is said that Patton had sent his nephew William Preston on an errand to Sinking Spring (near present day Newport). William had left early that morning. Drapers Meadows is now known as Blacksburg, the home of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, currently the largest (and best) college in the state of Virginia. Four generations of Pattons lived here (at what is now known as "Solitude") as well as Governor John Floyd.

The Duck Pond on Virginia Tech campus.

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