John emigrated to the United States in 1854 and came to Keokuk County Iowa.
He had very little
when he started farming in Keokuk County, but by hard work
he prospered. In 1880, he had 80 acres in Section 2 of English
River Township in Keokuk County. This land was the West half of the
SW 1/4 of Section 2.
He served in the Civil War. He enlisted on August 11, 1862,
in company I, Twenty-eighth Iowa Infantry, and served with
his regiment until the expiration of his term; he was discharged
August 1, 1864.
His company is named as Company I in his biography in the 1880 Keokuk Co.
history, but a list of Civil War volunteers from Iowa County lists
a John Patterson as a private in Company H of the 28th Iowa.
The first list of members of the North English Christian Church
which was made in February 1864 shows John, age 40, as a charter member.
In the 1895 Iowa census,
John Patterson, age 70, lives with David E. Gilchrist.
