Nevada Genealogy Trails Elko County Hon. Webster Patterson Biography

HON. WEBSTER PATTERSON. Conspicuous in the role of names of men who have conferred honor upon the legal profession stands that of Webster Patterson, a prominent and well known resident of Elko. He is, however, a native son of the east, his birth having occurred in Wilmington, Delaware, on the 30th of March, 1863. In the same town his father, John C. Patterson, was born, and was there married to Miss Laura A. Webster, who was born in Maryland, and several generations of the family on both sides have had their nativity in this country. John C. Patterson was a graduate of Princeton College, and was a lawyer of prominence. He spent his entire life in the state which gave him birth, attaining the ripe old age of eighty years, while his wife was called to her final rest at the age of fifty years. During his active business career many honors were conferred upon him. He served as a United States district attorney under the administrations of Garfield and Arthur, was dean of the New Castle county bar, and was an active and influential Whig. Both he and his wife were valued members of the Presbyterian church, and in their family were four children, all of whom are living, but the subject of this biography is the only representative in Nevada.

Webster Patterson received his early educational training in the public schools of his native town and later matriculated in Cornell University, graduating from that well known institution with the class of 1886. Two years later, in 1888, he arrived in Nevada, where he began the reading of law in the office of Webster Dorsey, then one of Nevada's prominent lawyers, but now a practitioner of San Francisco. Admitted to the bar in this state in 1891, Mr. Patterson has ever since been actively engaged in the practice of his profession in Elko. In his political affiliations he has been a life-long Republican, and during the memorable silver movement was an active participant in behalf of both silver and gold as standard money. As a representative of his chosen party he was elected and served the county of Elko as district attorney for several years, was also county surveyor, and in 1898 was elected a member of the Nevada legislature, in which he served as chair-man of the judiciary committee and took an active part in all the legislation enacted during that term.

The marriage of Mr. Patterson was celebrated in 1888, when Miss Lizzie Dorsey became his wife. She is a native daughter of the Golden state, her birth occurring in Placerville, California, and her father was the Hon. John M. Dorsey. They have had five children, all born in Elko: Dorsey, Laura (who died at the age of five years), Dorothy E., John and Marguerite. The family reside in one of Elko's pleasant homes, and Mr. Patterson is a member of the Knights of Pythias fraternity.