History is now a family affair as First Lady catches the history bug: "Unpacking" the mysterious Rev. S. J. Patterson

Disclaimer: I know that some of you will say I’m only doing this because my husband is a candidate for the office of Historiographer of the AME Church. Well, that is only partially true. You see, I’ve been bitten by the “history bug.” All it took was one find from my own personal past to convince me we need to build an International Archives for the AME Church NOW – so that our richness and greatness can get out of our boxes in our basements…

It was Christmas, 2007, my first time back at my parents house since my father died more than a year ago. The homecoming was bittersweet. My mom had just undergone a successful kidney transplant operation. While getting a new kidney was what we had prayed for more than four years, I dreaded being back in the house I had never been in without Daddy. So I, in all my nosiness, did what any other “daddy’s girl” who spent her lifetime as an investigative journalist would do… I started pouring through his things trying to, somehow, bring myself closer to him. “Super Snoop” is what Daddy dubbed me more than 20 years ago…

I found his baby pictures – old images that are hard to distinguish from pictures today of my 3 year old daughter, Sharon. In an instant, I reflected on him saying “She looks just like me” after seeing Sharon’s picture when she was born. And as if it were yesterday, I remember replying “No, Daddy, she looks like Mark…” Guess he was right, as always. I also found his high school diploma – a framed document that for my entire life hung prominently on the wall of every home we ever lived in. On this day, I actually took the time to read it…. Then I stumbled upon a box that was marked “Dr. WA Patterson, Jr., MD.” The box was filled with items that belonged to my late grandfather, who practiced medicine in Miami, Florida. I found hand written notes from my great-grandparents – written to my father when he was first born. I found old driver’s licenses, books and a ton of old pictures – grandpa loved to take pictures!

Then I stumbled upon something that really caught my attention… a large, manila envelope that had the words “Uncle Joe” scribbled on it in my father’s hand writing. Uncle Joe was my grandfather’s only brother. He died when I was 10 years old. All I ever really knew about Uncle Joe was that he had a very pretty wife, Edith, who died before I was born. He never had children and every time he visited us from his home in Winston Salem, NC, he always liked to be dropped off at the library. At his funeral, I learned that Uncle Joe was actually Rev. Dr. Joseph Patterson – distinguished professor at Winston Salem State University (a building on the campus bears his name today) and the pastor of the Wentz Memorial United Church of Christ in Winston Salem. He also lived off “Patterson Avenue” a street in Winston Salem named after him. As I grew older, Grandpa and Daddy would often share memories of Uncle Joe. Now that I’ve found this folder, it was an opportunity for me to learn more.

I tried making sense of all the papers I found. Among the documents: an obituary for Rev. SJ Patterson of Palatka, Florida, my grandfather and Uncle Joe’s hometown. In fact, our family still owns property in Palatka!

The obituary said Rev. SJ Patterson was the Presiding Elder of the South Florida Conference born in 1870, died in 1922. He graduated from Wilberforce University and was a trustee for Edward Waters College. The funeral had to last several hours because there was a long list of preachers on the program. As I flipped through the program I wondered – am I connected to Rev. SJ Patterson? If so, how? I asked my mother if she knew anything about Rev. SJ Patterson. She did not. I asked my father’s sister Pearl in Miami – she never heard of Rev. SJ Patterson. She looked at the picture from the obituary and said he looked a lot like my great grandfather – Dr. William A. Patterson, Sr. I called my grandfathers cousins in Daytona Beach – they had never heard of Rev. SJ Patterson. So Mark looked him up online in Richard R. Wright's Centennial Encyclopedia of the African Methodist Episcopal Church and found the following:

"Patterson, Rev. S. J., was born in Greenville, S. C., February 16, 1867 [I've found that the conflicting date of birth on the obituary is not an uncommon find in family research]. With his parents, Isaac and Rachel Patterson, he moved to Florida when six years old. Was converted May 1, 1887; licensed to preach July 8, 1889, by Dr. S. H. Coleman; joined the conference, March 6, 1894. He was made general missionary by Bishop T.D. Ward in February, 1896. His first appointment was to Cottage Hill, "Ybor City," a town with one member. He was ordained deacon by Bishop W. J. Gaines, March 9, 1897, and elder, March 5, 1899, at Orlando, by Rt. Rev. W. J. Gaines. He graduated June, 1903, from Payne Theological Seminary, Wilberforce, Ohio. He was elected delegate to the general conferences of 1908 and 1912. He was appointed presiding elder February, 1906, by Bishop B. T. Tanner and has been successively and successfully presiding elder since that time. He is well known and highly esteemed."

With this little bit of information I got so excited! I had to find out how I might be connected to Rev. S.J. Patterson. I launched an intensive search on Ancestry.com, where I found that Isaac and Rachel Patterson were in fact my great, great grandparents who relocated to Florida from South Carolina during Reconstruction! This helped to confirm that Rev. Samuel Joseph Patterson (likely who my Uncle Joe was named after) was the older brother of my great grandfather – Dr. William A. Patterson, Sr! That would make Rev. SJ Patterson my great, great uncle!

I cannot begin to tell you the sense of pride I felt when I realized my great, great uncle was a “highly esteemed” Presiding Elder in our home state of Florida! He served as a delegate to two general conferences and, like my husband, he graduated from Payne Theological Seminary in Wilberforce, Ohio. I wish my great, great uncle were alive today to see his legacy of distinguished scholars and church leaders. He would have been so proud that his great, great niece married an AME Pastor and scholar. I also wish I had known about my uncle, Rev. SJ Patterson before now. Had I not come home, missed my deceased father, and been snooping through his things – that box probably would have been thrown out. Sadly, all of this rich, storytelling history – like so much of ours – sits in boxes, in our basements waiting for an International Archives to call home…

Written by Mrs. Leslie Patterson Tyler, "Guest Blogger"