Patton Family Papers

The collection consists of personal and business correspondence, political papers, account books, legal documents, and land papers related to the Patton family, and is particularly focused on the activities of George Smith Patton (1856-1927).

Note: this collection originally formed an addendum to the Benjamin Davis Wilson Collection known as Wilson Addenda II.

Topics covered include railroads, Patton's senate campaign, irrigation, land sales, and the development of the San Marino area. Some notable items include a letter from George Smith Patton (1833-1864) to his father John Mercer Patton (1797-1858) announcing the birth of George Smith Patton (1856-1927); typescripts of letters from Susan Glassell Patton and her children to Sally Taylor Patton and Margaret Williams Patton describing their early life in the California; letters from Ruth Wilson to Patton (1856-1927) written shortly before their wedding in 1884; letters from a family friend named Rose Gray regarding the birth of George Smith Patton (1885-1945); letters from Patton (1856-1927) to Annie Wilson regarding their potential financial difficulties and the childhoods of Patton (1885-1945) and Anne Wilson Patton; multiple verbose letters from Patton (1856-1927) regarding topics such as World War I (letter to Kerchoff, June 1, 1915) and the political campaign in California (1916); correspondence and legal records related to, among other things, the Pacific Electric Railroad and Collis Huntington's plans to construct a harbor at Santa Monica (1894); and a telegram from Patton (1885-1945) to his father advising him to prevent General John Pershing's brother James from giving a speech in London "compromising the general politically" (Dec.10, 1917).

Notable businesses represented in the collection include the Wilmington Transportation Company, Porter Brothers Co., San Gabriel Wine Company, Alhambra Addition Water Company, the Lindsay Water Development Company, Garvey Water Company, Huntington Land and Improvement Company, Banning Company, Pasadena Electric Light and Water Company, and the Santa Catalina Island Company.

Notable individuals represented in the collection include Ruth Wilson, Annie Wilson, Anne Wilson Patton, James DeBarth Shorb, George Hugh Smith, Collis P. Huntington, Henry E. Huntington, Arthur J. Hutchinson, William Banning, William Reeves Banning, James P. Donahue, Maria de Jesus Wilson Shorb, William Howard Taft, Frank Putnam Flint, Ellen Banning Ayer, Robert W. Patton, Arvin Harrington Brown, and Benjamin Davis Wilson.