JAMES W. PATTON is a prominent and well known lawyer of Springfield and is associated in a large practice with Lloyd F. Hamilton, under the firm name of Patton & Hamilton. He is a native of this county, and was born here February 15, 1840. His parents were William May and Elizabeth Ann (Moore) Patton, natives of Kentucky.
In 1820 James Patton, the grandfather of our subject, came to Sangamon County from his old Kentucky home accompanied thither by his family including his sons William May, Matthew, his daughter Rebecca A., and his wife. His son David H. and his daughter Elizabeth were born in this county. He located near Auburn where he engaged in farming and he opened the first tanyard ever operated in this county, he having been a tanner in the State of Kentucky. The ancestors of our subject were in America long before the Revolutionary War, coming originally from Wales and locating in Maryland. The great-grandfather of our subject was extensively engaged in the saddlery and harness trade in the city of Baltimore, and he equipped one of Washington's regiments during the war. Two or three of his brothers were soldiers in the Revolutionary War, one of whom was killed.
The mother of our subject was the daughter of Joseph Moore, who came to Sangamon County about 1835 from Montgomery County, Ky., and located where Morrison M. Moore now lives, two miles south of Chatham. She died in Christian County, August 27, 1884, thus closing a long life which lacked just a month of seventy years. She was a member of the Christian Church and was thoroughly devoted to its work.
Our subject was but eight years old when his father died January 8, 1848, leaving his mother with two other children, younger than himself, Matthew, and Julia A., now Mrs. Basil Hill, of Edenburg, Christian County, this State. She continued to reside on the hold homestead and carefully reared her children to honorable and useful lives. James W. passed his boyhood days on the home farm near Auburn until he was sixteen years old, laying the foundation of his education in the local district schools. At the age mentioned he left his mother to attend college at Jacksonville, Ill., where he closely pursued his studies nearly three years. He taught school in his neighborhood two years, using that calling as a stepping stone to other professional life. In the meantime he studied law to some extent and after giving up teaching entered the office of Hay & Cullom, of Springfield, Ill., with whom he read regularly about eighteen months. At the expiration of that time he passed successfully a rigid examination and was admitted to the bar in 1865.
After the completion of his preparation for entering the legal profession, our subject opened an office in Springfield and practiced alone here for several years. He then formed a partnership with C. M. Morrison, then State's Attorney, which continued until the death of Mr. Morrison in January, 1870. Mr. Patton was alone for a while after that and then associated himself with John C. Lanphier. In 1880 he formed a partnership with Lloyd F. Hamilton and they are still practicing their profession together.
The marriage of Mr. Patton with Miss Francine Elizabeth Lanphier was duly celebrated December 8, 1869. Mrs. Patton's parental history will be found in the biography of her father, Charles H. Lanphier on another page of this volume. The following is the record of the five children born to Mr. and Mrs. Patton, four of whom are living: William Lanphier, was born October 11, 1870; James Moore, December 24, 1874; Charles Lanphier, August 13, 1879; Henry Lanphier, December 8, 1884; and Lanphier Mathew, who was born August 17, 1872, and died September 19, 1874.
Mr. Patton's record as a lawyer and his public service reflect honor on the citizenship of his native county. He is well grounded in professional knowledge, has won a high reputation as a lawyer of marked ability, and with his partner has tried many local cases that have brought him into prominence as a successful advocate. He is devoted to his business and his clients feel that their cause is in the hands of one whose probity is as well known as his reputation as a skillful lawyer. In the years 1864 and 1865, he represented Sangamon County in the State Legislature, and gave ample proof of loyalty to the county of his birth and of his desire to advance its interests. He is one of the leading members of the Masonic order and in politics stands high among the Democrats.