Samuel L. Patterson

Samuel Legerwood Patterson
7th North Carolina Commissioner of Agriculture
In office 1899–1908
Appointed by	State Board of Agriculture
Preceded by	John R. Smith
Succeeded by	William A. Graham
4th North Carolina Commissioner of Agriculture
In office 1895–1897
Preceded by	John Robinson
Succeeded by	James M. Mewborn
Member of the North Carolina State Senate
In office 1893–1893
Member of the North Carolina House of Representatives
In office 1899–1900
Member of the North Carolina House of Representatives
In office 1891–1891
Personal details
Born	1850 Caldwell County, North Carolina
Died	1908

Samuel Legerwood Patterson (1850–1908) was a North Carolina politician and farmer.

The son of Samuel F. Patterson and his wife, Phoebe Caroline, Patterson was born at Palmyra, the family plantation in Caldwell County, North Carolina.

He served in the state House of Representatives in 1891 and 1899 and in the North Carolina Senate in 1893. In the legislature, he was chair of the committee on agriculture. He was also a trustee of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Patterson was appointed commissioner of agriculture from 1895 to 1897, when he was removed by the Fusion of Republicans and Populists that came to power that year. He was reappointed in 1899 and then became the first popularly elected commissioner in 1900. He served until his death in 1908. Patterson Hall at North Carolina State University is named in his honor. He and his wife bequeathed Palmyra to the Episcopal Church as a school, which operated as The Patterson School from 1909 through 2009.

References

• Inventory of the Jones and Patterson Family Papers
• Patterson School closed for 2009-2010 school year
• Patterson Hall is 100 years old