David Trotter Patterson (February 28, 1818November 3, 1891) was a

United States Senator The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress. Party affiliation Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...

from

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

at the beginning of the

Reconstruction period The Reconstruction era was a period in US history that followed the American Civil War (1861-65) and was dominated by the legal, social, and political challenges of the abolition of slavery and reintegration of the former Confederate Stat ...

. A staunch Union supporter (as were most of his fellow East Tennesseans), he was elected by the

Tennessee General Assembly The Tennessee General Assembly (TNGA) is the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is a part-time bicameral legislature consisting of a Tennessee Senate, Senate and a Tennessee House of Representa ...

to the U.S. Senate when Tennessee was readmitted to the Union on July 24, 1866, the first

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

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.

Early life and education

David Trotter Patterson was born at Cedar Creek, near

Greeneville, Tennessee Greeneville is an incorporated town in and the county seat of Greene County, Tennessee, United States. The population as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census was 15,479. The town was named in honor of American Revolutionary War, Revol ...

, on February 28, 1818. He attended the common schools and later Greeneville College for two years. He studied law with a local attorney to prepare for a legal career.

Career

After being admitted to the bar in 1841, Patterson practiced in Greeneville. He also engaged in manufacturing. He owned slaves. He was appointed as a judge of the first circuit court of Tennessee and served from 1854 to 1863. In addition, he acquired substantial amounts of land in East Tennessee and grew commodity crops.

Marriage and family

On December 13, 1855, Patterson married Martha Johnson, daughter of

Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. The 16th vice president, he assumed the presidency following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a South ...

and Eliza McCardle. They had two children, a son named Andrew (1857–1932), and a daughter named Mary (1859–1891).

Political career

A Unionist from East Tennessee, Patterson was elected by the

to the U.S. Senate when Tennessee became the first

Confederate A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

to be readmitted to the Union on July 24, 1866. His father-in-law Andrew Johnson had succeeded as

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

following Lincoln's assassination the year before. Johnson was

impeached Impeachment is a process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements. In Eu ...

by the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

in February 1868, which caused Patterson personal conflict. According to the

U.S. Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, on March 4, 1789. Originally including seven articles, the Constituti ...

, the Senate had the duty to try Johnson on the charges, and did so from March to May 1868. Their vote was one short of the constitutional requirement of a

two-thirds majority A supermajority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority rules in a democracy can help to prevent a majority from eroding fund ...

for conviction. Patterson believed that his father-in-law was not guilty and that the charges against him were contrived. In the decades since the impeachment, historians generally have agreed to a consensus with the same conclusion, but some disagreed.

Post-political career

Patterson retired from public life when his Senate term expired on March 3, 1869. He returned to East Tennessee to manage his relatively vast agricultural interests. On November 3, 1891, Patterson died in the small community of Afton. He was interred with the Johnson family in the

Andrew Johnson National Cemetery The Andrew Johnson National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery on the grounds of the Andrew Johnson National Historic Site in Greeneville, Tennessee. Established in 1906, the cemetery was built around the resting place of Andrew John ...

in Greeneville.

References

External links

A Short History of the Andrew Johnson National Cemetery
National Park Service {{DEFAULTSORT:Patterson, David T. 1818 births 1891 deaths People from Greene County, Tennessee Family of Andrew Johnson American people of Scotch-Irish descent Unionist Party United States senators from Tennessee Democratic Party United States senators from Tennessee Tennessee state court judges Tennessee lawyers Southern Unionists in the American Civil War People of Tennessee in the American Civil War United States senators who owned slaves 19th-century United States senators