Abner Edwin Patton
Abner Edwin Patton | |
|---|---|
| First president of Sigma Alpha Epsilon | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | September 14, 1835 Knoxville, Alabama, U.S. |
| Died | July 14, 1862 (aged 27) Richmond, Virginia, U.S. |
| Resting place | Hollywood Cemetery (Richmond, Virginia) |
| Alma mater | University of Alabama Cumberland College |
| Profession | Lawyer |
Abner Edwin Patton (September 14, 1834 – July 14, 1862) was an American lawyer and Confederate soldier best known as a founder and the first president of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.[1][2]
Early life[edit]
Abner Edwin Patton was born in Knoxville, Alabama on September 14, 1835.[1][3] His parents were Elizabeth (née Steele) and William Patton, a doctor who came to Alabama from South Carolina in 1826.[1][4][5] Patton spent his childhood in Greene County, Alabama.[4]
Patton entered the University of Alabama on October 4, 1854.[1][4] In his junior year on March 9, 1856, he founded the fraternity of Sigma Alpha Epsilon with seven others, including Noble Leslie DeVotie and Nathan Elams Cockrell.[6][7][8][9] Patton was selected as the fraternity's first president.[2][4] In the fall of 1856, Patton was the only Sigma Alpha Epsilon founder still enrolled at the university and continued to serve as its president.[2][4] His efforts led to the expansion of the fraternity to the University of Nashville (now Vanderbilt University), Union College, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in January and February of 1857.[10][6][2][4]
After graduating from the University of Alabama in 1857, Patton studied law at Cumberland College, receiving an LL.D. in 1859.[4][5] He then traveled to Canada and the northern United States for a year.[4]
Career[edit]
Patton established a law practice in Eutaw, Alabama in 1860.[4][3]
Military[edit]
At the start of the Civil War, Patton was one of the 370 Sigma Alpha Epsilon brothers to join the Confederate Army.[11] He was a private with the 11th Alabama Infantry Company B, serving in the Army of Virginia.[12][13] He was made adjutant of the regiment.[4][13][3] Patton was mortally wounded at the Battle of Gaines' Mill on June 27, 1862.[13] He died in a hospital in Richmond, Virginia on July 14, 1862.[1][4][13] He is buried in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond.[12][13]
Legacy[edit]
Sigma Alpha Epsilon went on to become the largest fraternity in the world, by the number of initiates.[10] Chapters that Patton helped establish in Alabama, North Carolina, and Tennessee are still active as of February 2023.[14]
Patton is included in a historic marker for the fraternity placed by the Alabama Historical Association in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.[15][16]
On September 14, 1951, Sigma Alpha Epsilon alumni joined representatives of the Confederate Memorial Literary Society, the Order of the Stars and Bars, the Sons of Confederate Veterans, and the United Daughters of the Confederacy in unveiling a memorial stone for Patton at Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond.[13]
Patton's Civil War letters are housed in the special collections of the University of Alabama's library.[1]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 "Collection: Abner E. Patton Letters". University Libraries Special Collections, The University of Alabama. Retrieved 2023-03-11.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Myhre, Erik L. (2007). "The History of Sigma Alpha Epsilon: Part One: 1856 - 1865". Washington State University (published 1997). Retrieved 2023-03-11.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Jones, Walter B. (1951-03-05). "Off the Bench: Sigma Alpha Epsilon". The Montgomery Advertiser. p. 4. Retrieved 2023-03-12 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 Levere, William Collin (1911). The History of Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity. 1. Chicago: R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company. pp. 68–69, 71 – via Google Books. Search this book on
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Ball, Marie (April 12, 1981). "Pattons Meet". The Tuscaloosa News. pp. 16A. Retrieved March 11, 2023 – via Google Books.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Baird, William Raimond, ed. (1905). "Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities" (6th ed.). New York: The Alcolm Company – via Hathi Trust.
- ↑ Stewart, Austin and G. W. Lambert. March 29, 2018) "Levere Memorial Temple, Sigma Alpha Epsilon." Clio: Your Guide to History. Accessed March 11, 2023.
- ↑ Owen, Thomas McAdory (1921). History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography. S. J. Clarke Publishing Company. p. 1247. Search this book on
- ↑ "Sigma Alpha Epsilon Group Will Observe Anniversary". The Daily Oklahoman. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. 1956-03-04. p. 54. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Anson, Jack L.; Marchenasi, Robert F., eds. (1991) [1879]. Baird's Manual of American Fraternities (20th ed.). Indianapolis, IN: Baird's Manual Foundation, Inc. p. III-111-116. ISBN 978-0963715906. Search this book on
- ↑ "Brothers' Mark Sigma Alpha Epsilon Centennial". The Boston Globe. 1956-03-11. p. 8. Retrieved 2023-03-12 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 "Burial Records : Abner Edwin Patton". Hollywood Cemetery. Retrieved 2023-03-11.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 "Fraternity Honors One of Its Founders". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Richmond, Virginia. 1951-09-13. p. 10. Retrieved 2023-03-11 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ Lurding, Carroll and Becque, Fran. (February 19, 2023) "Sigma Alpha Epsilon." Almanac of Fraternities and Sororities. Urbana: University of Illinois. Accessed March 11, 2023.
- ↑ Carr, Timothy (April 8, 2010). "Sigma Alpha Epsilon Historical Marker". Historic Marker Database. Retrieved 2023-03-11.
- ↑ "Tuscaloosa". Alabama Historical Association. Retrieved 2023-03-11.
External links[edit]
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