Thomas MacDonald Patterson

Thomas MacDonald Patterson

Thomas MacDonald Patterson (born November 4, 1839 in County Carlow , Ireland , †  July 23, 1916 in Denver ) was an American politician ( Democratic Party ) who represented the state of Colorado in both chambers of the US Congress .

When Thomas Patterson was a boy, he left Ireland with his parents and emigrated to the United States, where the family settled in New York in 1849 . A few years later, the Pattersons moved to Crawfordsville , Indiana , where young Thomas worked in a printing shop, a watchmaker, and finally a jeweler. When the Civil War broke out in 1861, he joined the Union Army and fought for the 11th Regiment of the Indiana Volunteer Infantry . He returned home the following year and graduated from Indiana Asbury University and Wabash College .

In 1867 Patterson was inducted into the bar, after which he began to practice in Crawfordsville. In 1872 he was resident in Denver and also opened a law firm there; from 1873 to 1874 he was the city's trial lawyer. His political career also began in 1874 when he was elected to the Democratic National Committee , where he remained until 1880. From 1875 to 1876 he represented the Colorado Territory as a non-voting delegate to the United States House of Representatives . After the admission of Colorado into the union, James B. Belford was the first congressman of the new state; Patterson successfully challenged his election and took the mandate from December 13, 1877 to March 3, 1879. He did not stand for re-election.

Patterson then worked again as a lawyer in Denver, before he acquired the Rocky Mountain News in 1890 and later another newspaper with the Denver Times . During this time, he also ran for governor of Colorado twice without success . On March 4, 1901, he returned to Congress as the US Senate ; After a six-year term in office, he waived a possible re-election this time and concentrated again on the newspaper business until his death in 1916.

Web links

• Thomas MacDonald Patterson in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• Thomas MacDonald Patterson in the database of Find a Grave (English)