David T. Patterson
| David Trotter Patterson | |
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United States Senator from Tennessee |
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In office July 28, 1866 – March 4, 1869 |
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| Preceded by | Andrew Johnson |
| Succeeded by | William G. Brownlow |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
February 28, 1818 Greeneville, Tennessee |
| Died | November 3, 1891 (aged 73) Greeneville, Tennessee |
| Political party | Democratic |
David Trotter Patterson (February 28, 1818 – November 3, 1891) was a United States Senator from Tennessee at the beginning of the Reconstruction Period.
A staunch Union supporter (as were most of his fellow East Tennesseans), he was elected by the Tennessee General Assembly to the U.S. Senate when Tennessee was readmitted to the Union on July 24, 1866, the first state of the former Confederacy to do so. He presented his credentials to the Senate on July 26, but they were challenged; he was not permitted to take the oath of office until July 28.
David Trotter Patterson was born at Cedar Creek, near Greeneville, Tennessee, on February 28, 1818. He attended the common schools and later Greeneville College for two years. He "read the law" with a local attorneys' office to prepare for the bar.
After being admitted to the bar in 1841, Trotter practiced as an attorney in Greeneville. He also engaged in manufacturing. He was appointed as a judge of the first circuit court of Tennessee 1854-1863. In addition, he acquired substantial amounts of land in East Tennessee and grew commodity crops.
In 1855, Patterson married Martha Johnson, daughter of the former Tennessee Governor and Senator Andrew Johnson (later 17th President of the United States, 1865–69) and his wife Eliza McCardle.
A Unionist from East Tennessee, Patterson was elected by the Tennessee General Assembly to the U.S. Senate when Tennessee became the first Confederate state to be readmitted to the Union on July 24, 1866. His father-in-law Andrew Johnson had succeeded as President of the United States following Lincoln's assassination the year before.
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