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Marshall, Calhoun County, attorney, Republican state senator, 1878-1882; contain correspondence, legal files, diaries and financial records concerning business and family affairs and the history of Marshall; also family papers, including Civil War letters of brother, Philo D. Patterson, student letters from the University of Michigan of son, Frank D. Patterson, 1892-1894, and records of business partner William H. Brown.

The John C. Patterson collection is divided into the following series: Correspondence; Letterpress books; Legal files; Diaries; Miscellaneous business records; John C. Patterson personal; and Other family members and miscellaneous. Much of the correspondence is addressed either to Patterson or to William H. Brown and pertains to their law practice. Other correspondence relates to family matters, politics, and Hillsdale College. Included in the correspondence are nine letters of Philo D. Patterson written while he was serving in Company H, Ninth Michigan Infantry, February-September 1865. Two of the letters reflect on the assassination of President Lincoln. There are also letters from Frank Dean Patterson, 1892-1894, when he was a student at the University of Michigan.