Book Synopsis
Family history of author's father Kenneth Patterson (1918-1990) who was born in Springfield, MO. This book traces the Patterson and Smith ancestors back to colonial days and earlier in Scotland, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, England and France. The book discusses persons with other surnames who intermarried with the Patterson and Smith, including Graham, Kobel, Brechin, Stalcop, Cook, Mauser, Maxey, Nelson, Allen, Martiau and Armistead. Remarkable ancestors featured include Edward Patterson Cook who joined the California gold rush, narrowly escaped a murder plot and chronicled his return home with port stops in Acapulco and Panama. The frontiersman Jesse Maxey served in the Revolutionary War; hunted deer in Kentucky; signed the Cumberland Compact; and survived being scalped after having his throat stabbed. Thirteen-year-old immigrant Johann Andersson who began as a farm worker and before age thirty owned 1000 acres in Delaware. He was the progenitor of the Stalcop family.