Robert Patterson, son of James and Margaret Osborn Patterson
My goal and desire in life is to find the resting place of Robert Paterson who was born in Scotland in 1825 according to 1851 Bentinck Twp., Grey County, Ontario West, Canada census records where he was living north of Durham Road. He was living with whom I believe to be his father, James, and his younger brother, William.Robert may have been the son of James and Margaret Osborn Patterson.A cousin in England believes that this Patterson family may have come from Balquhidder, Perthshire, Scotland.I have no verification of this being accurate, however.I would appreciate any information on Robert's ancestors from Scotland if someone can help me.
In 1861, I found a census record of Saugeen/Port Elgin, Bruce County, Ontario West, Canada of Robert Paterson who was living with his mother, Margaret, his brother, William and his wife Margaret (who was a Kellenbeck and there were Kellenbecks living on Durham Road near the Patersons in 1851) and five of their six children - William was born in 1854(who is my husband's great-great grandfather) and he married Charlotte Anna Lane in Schuyler County, Illinois where they lived for many years before moving to Douglas, WY; Anna D. who married William F. Bailey in Iowa and later moved to Omaha, Douglas County, NE (Anna had been adopted by William & Sophie Butcher in Knox County, IL); James who I know nothing about; John Osborn Paterson who married Adelia May Lang in Schuyler County IL and later lived and died in Dexter, Cowely County, KS; and Margaret who married Seth H. Clay in Knox County, IL and then lived in Omaha, NE. Elizabeth was born after the census. She married Frank Wetmore and lived in Adair, Iowa. Margaret and Seth had three children who lived that I know about - Hattie M., James Earl and Roger Williams Clay. Margaret was adopted by a Williams family when her father gave her away in Knox County, IL so I'm sure Roger's middle name is in honor of her adopted family. Margaret is buried in Omaha, NE. Hattie married Erastus Barlow Elliott in Rock County, NE and she died and is buried in Long Pine, NE. She had one son that I know about, Eugene Allen Elliott, who died in 1994 in Grand Island, NE. He was married to Bernice Litz and they had a daughter named Andrea Elliott. Roger married Esther Nettie Dunham. He had a daughter named Rogerina Wilhelmina Clay and I have had contact with her granddaughter but have not received any information from her. It comforts me to know that even though the family was broken up, the girls knew each other. I don't know if they knew their brothers, however.
Robert and Margaret Paterson came to Galesburg, Knox County, IL in 1866 according to a very old story written by a Patterson school boy from information he gathered from his grandmother. The story states that Margaret died in Galesburg in 1866 and is buried in an unmarked grave there. The story goes on to say that Robert kept the two boys and gave the two girls away. (Note: By 1863, there should have been 6 children.) The two boys that were mentioned, William and John, showed up in Schuyler County, IL in the 1880s where they got married. I finally found the two little girls, Margaret and Elizabeth, a couple years ago just by digging and digging everywhere I could. I did not know about James and Anna until just a couple weeks ago when I found the 1861 census. Then I found Anna's marriage report on Family Search. I can find nothing about James. He may have died young and not been among the family when they came to America.
So, you asked what I want - I want to know where Robert is buried. A granddaughter of Robert (one of William's daughters) remembers in a letter to one of my husband's cousins that her Grandfather Robert was a stern Scottish gentleman who got on his white mule one day and said he was going to Florida. She never saw him again and I think that would have been between 1900 and 1905. As far as I know, he had no kin in Florida - as far as I know!!
I have no obituaries of any of the family members except for William and his family. I have no pictures of any family members but William and his wife. I would like to have anything like that if possible. I am just not skilled enough to know where to look or how to access obituaries in old newspapers on the internet.
I have found on Family Search two marriage records for a Robert Patterson that I have not yet checked out. A Robert Patterson who was born in 1825, 57 years old, son of James and Margaret Osborn Patterson (please note that one of his son's had the middle name of Osborn), married Mary Knott Roebuck in June 1882 in Davenport, Scott, Iowa. In August 1886 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, a Robert Patterson born in Scotland (no age given), son of James and Margaret Osborn Patterson, married a Mary E. Culver Burrell.
I do not know what occupation Robert pursued. He must have been a farmer in Canada as he settled in the Huron Land Tract in Grey/Bruce Counties. William, Robert's oldest son and my husband's great-great grandfather, and many of his sons were railroaders and the railroad was a big business in Galesburg, Knox County in 1866. Many tracks were being laid around the state at that time. He could have been a miner or a farmhand. I can't find him in Find a Grave or if he owned any land anywhere. I just simply can't find him. But, if and when I do, I plan to dance on his grave! Please don't think I'm a bad person for saying that, but I've been trying to find this man for 35 years and I want to find him before I die!
I have been to the graves of William who is buried in Schuyler County, IL (right across the Illinois River from me), John who is buried in Dexter, Cowley County, KS, and Elizabeth who is buried in Adair, IA. I hope to visit Margaret's grave this year - and I would love nothing more than to visit Robert's anywhere! I have more research to do regarding James and Margaret Paterson, Robert's parents. James died before the 1861 Canadian Census because Margaret is listed as a widow. I also don't know if William, Robert's brother, came to the United States in 1866 when Robert and Margaret did.