The Oak Grove Historical Society
1300 S Broadway
Oak Grove, Missouri
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Shining a Light to Our Past
The Pattersons of Oak Grove, Missouri
Contributed by Mike Brewer
Hi, my 3rd great grandfather was Joel Patterson, a long-time resident of Oak Grove. While I know quite a bit about him, there are many details that are missing. The attached obit shows him living near Oak Grove for 58 years from 1836-1894. I have been searching for local newspapers for this period but have only found the Kansas City Star. I have visited his lands in Oak Grove and I visited both the Oak Grove Cemetery and the Thomas H. Brown Cemetery.
Here's some of his story:
I just discovered a connection to history during my stay with mom in Shawnee Kansas for two weeks. Just down the street is the location where Quantrill's Raiders, a Confederate guerilla group led by William Quantrill, burned down the small town in 1862. He repeated this action in 1863 prior to his final act - the Lawrence Massacre on August 21st. It turned out that the Shawnee burnings were practice for the main event in Lawrence.
Within days of the Lawrence massacre, Union General Thomas Ewing, Jr., issued General Order 11, which forced the evacuation of rural areas in four counties in western Missouri, including Jackson County, where the grandfather of Lena Patterson, Joel Patterson, lived (remember that Lena was Hubert's mother). This action was taken because some people in these counties were supporting the Confederate guerillas.
Joel took his family and all that he could carry to Carroll County while the Union Army proceeded to burn everything to the ground, including his home and $2,000 grist and lumber mill in Oak Grove. The Union Army also looted any remaining possessions, killed any remaining livestock, and burned the crops. Joel eventually returned to Oak Grove but life would never be the same.
Stay tuned for the rest of the story - it is fascinating! Hint: Within a year of this event, Lena's father Jesse Patterson married Henrietta Brown, the sister of Confederate soldiers Thomas and William Brown. The father of Lena's husband George B. Brewer, Thomas Jefferson Brewer, served in the Union Army from 1863 through 1866.
The following from "The History of Jackson County, Missouri," published 1881 by Union Historical Company
Farmer and bridge contractor, section 25, post-office Grain Valley was born in
Surry County, North Carolina, June 19, 1816. Was reared and educated in his native county, and there remained till the fall of 1836, the time of his immigration to Jackson County, having come by land, and being sixty days on the road. He was for several years engaged in milling, both saw and grist mills. His mill at one time being burned his loss was about $2,000. By Order No. 11 he moved to Carroll County, where he remained about six months and returned to Jackson County, since which time has been farming and bridge contracting. His farm contains 124 acres. Was married September 8, 1833, to Miss Sarah Patterson; she is a native of same county as himself. They have had ten children; three only are living: Jesse, Joel B. and Mollie.