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University of Michigan William L. Clements Library

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George S. Patton family papers, 1789-1938 (majority within 1876-1919, 1934-1938)

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Summary

Creator:
Patton family
Abstract:
This collection is made up of correspondence, speeches, a travel diary, and a published history related to the family of General George S. Patton. The bulk pertains to Patton's parents, George S. Patton, Jr., and Ruth Wilson Patton, and to his sister, Anne W. Patton ("Nita"), though items written by and addressed to General Patton are also present.
Extent:
0.75 linear feet
Language:
English
Authors:
Collection processed and finding aid created by John C. Harrington and Meg Hixon, December 2013

Background

Scope and Content:

This collection (0.75 linear feet) is made up of correspondence, speeches, a travel diary, and a published history related to the family of General George S. Patton.

The largest selection of correspondence pertains to George S. Patton, Jr., and Ruth Wilson Patton. Letters written by Patton to Wilson during their courtship and after their marriage provide news of his life, work, and travels. Some items mention their son Georgie (George S. Patton III). Patton also wrote letters to his family, including five to his mother while participating in the punitive expedition to Mexico in 1916. Letters written by Nita Patton largely concern her experiences while living in London, England, in 1919. Some of her letters refer directly to her acquaintance and relationship with John J. Pershing, whom she met during a visit to New Mexico after the punitive expedition of 1916.

Multiple letters written by George S. Patton, Jr., relate to the future general's admission to and studies at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, in the 1900s. Patton provided his son with personal advice and encouragement, and news from home. The collection includes miscellaneous family letters, addressed to and exchanged between numerous family members between the 1870s and 1890s.

The Patton family papers contain a daily diary of Nelly Davenport and her father's trip to Antigua from December 1789-1790, taken in an attempt to improve Nelly's ailing health. The diary and an accompanying description relate Nelly Davenport's final illness, medical treatments, and death.

A selection of George S. Patton, Jr.'s, speeches is included in the collection. Most were delivered while Patton attended the Virginia Military Institute in the late 1870s, including his valedictorian speech. The speeches concern topics such as the Civil War, the Battle of New Market, and politics. One later item, the text of a speech delivered before the Sunset Club on November 25, 1904, concerns interactions between African Americans and Europeans, particularly with regard to black slavery and suffrage in the United States.

Biographical / Historical:

Robert Patton (d. 1828), a native of Scotland, settled in Charleston, South Carolina, in the mid-1760s, and moved to Fredericksburg, Virginia, around 1770. Following the death of his fiancée, Nelly Davenport, in February 1790, Patton married Ann Gordon Mercer (1765-1832), the daughter of General Hugh Mercer (1726-1777), on October 16, 1792. Their children included John Mercer Patton (1797-1858), who became a lawyer. John Mercer Patton married Peggy French Williams (1804-1873) on January 8, 1824; their son George Smith Patton (1833-1864) became a Confederate general during the Civil War and was killed in action during the Battle of Winchester.

George S. Patton (1856-1927) was the son of General George S. Patton and Susan S. Glassell (1835-1883). After graduating from the Virginia Military Institute in 1877, he became a lawyer and politician in and around Los Angeles, California. He married Ruth Wilson (1861-1928), the daughter of Benjamin Davis Wilson (1811-1878) and Margaret Hereford Wilson (1820-1898), on December 10, 1884, and they had two children: George Smith Patton III (1885-1945) and Anne Wilson ("Nita") (1887-1971).

George S. Patton III attended the United States Military Academy from 1904-1909 and participated in General John J. Pershing's punitive expedition into Mexico in 1916. During World War I, Patton commanded the 304th Tank Brigade in France, and he continued to win promotions and larger commands throughout the 1920s and 1930s. Patton commanded the I and II Armored Corps in North Africa, the 7th Army in Italy, and the 3rd Army in England and Western Europe during World War II. He died of injuries sustained in an automobile accident shortly after the war. He and his wife, Beatrice Ayer (1886-1953) had three children: Beatrice (1911-1952), Ruth Ellen (1915-1993), and George Smith Patton IV (1923-2004).

Acquisition Information:
1998. M-4020 .
Processing information:

Cataloging funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC). This collection has been processed according to minimal processing procedures and may be revised, expanded, or updated in the future.

Arrangement:

The collection is in a temporary arrangement.

Rules or Conventions:
Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

Contents

Using These Materials

Info for Visitors

How to Request

Ordering Reproductions

Download PDF Finding Aid
RESTRICTIONS:

The collection is open for research.

USE & PERMISSIONS:

Copyright status is unknown

PREFERRED CITATION:

George S. Patton Family Papers, William L. Clements Library, The University of Michigan