Life and Times of William Penn Patterson
Contributed by his grandson, Ted Paxton
Note: The picture mentioned is not included and its whereabouts
is unknown.
"My grandfather, William Penn Patterson, is pictured standing in front
of his bus. He is the one in the middle. As I understand it from my
mother, he was the leader in stepping forward and organizing the building
of the first school buses for Chestatee School."
"In addition to being the local blacksmith, he also owned a store. They
lived on the Cumming - Gainesville highway near where Harmony Grove Church
is now located. The homeplace, store, and blacksmith shop were all together.
The store and blacksmith shop were near the road, with the house farther
back."
"My grandfather's parents also lived on the same property. My grandfather
was born there August 16, 1893. The entire family lived in the area.
He married my grandmother, Gertrude Bennett, who was also from Forsyth County.
They had three children: my mother, Virginia Patterson Paxton; daughter,
Evelyn Patterson Kinsey; and son, Heyward Patterson. My mother and father
live in Tucker; Evelyn lives in Forest Park on the south side of Atlanta;
and Heyward resides in Gainesville."
"My grandfather, Penn Patterson, was a very ingenious person with strong
community ties. My mother said from her earliest recollection she remembers
they always had electricity, even though the EMC had not gotten electricity
into the rural areas. My grandfather had a generator which produced electricity
for their house and the other family homes on the property."
"The store he operated, in addition to the blacksmith shop, was basically
a grocery store. He did carry a limited supply of dry goods, such as cloth.
The store was a trading center for area residents. Many times he would be
in the blacksmith shop or out driving the school bus when customers would
come by the store. There was a bell out front which they would ring and my
grandmother would go down from the house and wait on them."
"The school buses were built with the help of the other gentlemen pictured.
My grandfather, being the blacksmith, basically designed the buses as they
went along. They had no formal plans to build from. The bus which he personally
drove was built from a Dodge truck body which he bought from the Nalley
dealership."
"In 1938, he sold his portion of the property and moved the family to Flowery
Branch in Hall County. His parents remained at the homeplace. The reason
for their moving is as follows. My grandfather entered into a business agreement
with Mr. Worth Connor of Flowery Branch. Mr. Connor had a large tract of
land which he wanted to clear. My grandfather agreed to build and operate
a sawmill in Flowery Branch to achieve this venture. Every day for
approximately six months he would leave home and drive to Flowery Branch to
operate the sawmill. Eventually, he realized this venture was going to take
three to four years to complete. He had no desire to make that journey
everyday so he convinced my grandmother the sensible thing to do would be to
move to Flowery Branch."
"She was reluctant but finally agreed when faced with the prospect of more
modern conveniences. Even though he [William Penn Patterson] had a generator
which produced electricity, it was only enough to run the lights. They could
not have a refrigerator or other appliances. Flowery Branch had electricity
and therefore they would have full power. My mother remembers him promising
my grandmother an electric iron. Up until then she a had to rely on an iron
which she heated on the hearth. He drove to Atlanta just after the move and
purchased the iron for her."
"In making the move, he moved the store building from Forsyth County to the
new homeplace in Flowery Branch. He never operated a store there, but converted
the building into a barn for the cows. In Flowery Branch, he continued to
operate a blacksmith shop, the sawmill and a gristmill. In later years he
also taught himself the trade of plumbing."
"My grandfather was an outstanding person who stood on his principles, always
stepping forward to help out in the community without expectation of reward
or recognition. I am honored to have known and learned from him."
"Even though he moved his family to Flowery Branch, he always kept Forsyth
County as his home. He would constantly drive back to Cumming to trade and
buy goods. Dr. Mashburn was his doctor and he would never go to any other
doctor. He always drove back to Cumming to see Dr. Mashburn. He never considered
seeing any other doctor other than one of the Mashburns. When he fell ill
in 1977, he made my mother take him back to Cumming to Dr. Mashburn. He spent
several weeks in the hospital here until he passed away, just before his
84th birthday."