Whatever happened to the Industrialist families of Dayton? (Dalton, Patterson: big house, neighborhood)

[randomparent]

The Patterson descendants continue to stymie me. John H. Patterson lost his wife, Katherine Beck, very early on. Their children were Dorothy Forster Patterson and Frederick Beck Patterson. (Here's a tidbit for those of you who haven't already run across it: Dorothy Lane is named after Dorothy Patterson.) Dorothy was married twice: first to a Chicago attorney named Noble Brandon Judah and second to an Italian businessman named Randolph Santini. I have not identified any children, but there might have been. Still looking.

Frederick Beck Patterson was also married twice. His first wife was Evelyn Huffman, with whom he had at least one daughter named Fredericka Beck Patterson and possibly a second daughter named Evelyn. Frederick's second wife was Armenal Wood, and Frederick was her second husband just to make things confusing. After Frederick's time as President of NCR following his father's death, he and second wife Armenal took up cattle ranching in southern Arizona. And to make things even more complicated, after divorcing Frederick Beck Patterson, Evelyn Huffman married again, too. Her second husband was Robert Dickey.

Frederick's daughter Fredericka was educated overseas and attended Bennington College in Vermont. She then went on to work for the State Department where she met a Harvard-educated attorney named Robert Lewis. They married and lived in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia. I suspect they did have children, but I have yet to find them. Fredericka and Robert eventually ended up in California where she died at age forty-seven. I have not yet located an obituary for her.

According to news clippings, Fredericka and her sister, Evelyn, both of whom are said to be adopted in the article, brought suit against Frederick Beck for reneging on a financial agreement to provide each with $2M. There's something weird about the claim of adoption, though, and I'm still trying to get to the bottom of it. Fredericka's marriage announcement lists a sister, Evelyn, and a half-sister, Leila Dickey, as attendants. In any case, Fredericka and Evelyn claimed their father willfully transferred his assets to his second wife, Armenal Wood, to thwart their inheritance. Not sure about the outcome of the case.

So that's where I stand at the moment. I told you it was messy.

As an aside, I recently learned that John H. Patterson's maternal grandfather was Colonel John Johnston. The Johnston estate is located near Piqua and is open to the public. On-site, you can see a remnant of the Miami-Erie canal and ride in a mule-drawn canal boat. It's a fun day trip, and I've visited many times. Not sure how I missed the Patterson connection!

[randomparent]

Originally Posted by CarpathianPeasant

Keep going, for goodness sake!

Glad you're enjoying it! Any requests? I'm kind of on a roll.

[randomparent]

More about the Frederick Beck Patterson/Evelyn Van Tuyl Huffman line...

Fredericka did have a younger sister named Evelyn, born in 1926. Evelyn first married painter William Linzee Prescott, and they lived for some years in Mexico, where he made a study of fresco, before divorcing. Evelyn married her second husband, James McConnell Truitt, in 1972.

Here's an article about Evelyn's son, William. I found this quote to be a sad testament to the stress of growing up in such an illustrious family...

I've got to live up to all of these people. ... It's hard.

I can only imagine.

[SWOH]

Wow, lots of great info randomparent, thank you!

[randomparent]

Still having fun with this, so how about some information on the Meads?

George Houk Mead married his first cousin, Elsie Talbott, in 1914. She was quite a bit younger than him, having been born in 1894 to his 1877. They had six children together: Elsie Louise (b. 1915), George Houk, Jr. (b. 1917), Harry Talbott, Nelson Strobridge (b. 1921), Katherine (b. 1924), and Marianna (b. 1930).

Elsie Louise married physician John Mercer Walker, maternal uncle to President George Herbert Walker Bush. They had seven children together, four boys and three girls. One daughter died of polio and two others were born with Down syndrome. Their eldest son, John, Jr. serves on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.

George Houk, Jr. died at Guadalcanal in 1942. He was close friends with John F. Kennedy, who wrote poignantly about his grief following George's death.

Both Harry Talbott and Nelson Strobridge served as executives of the Mead Corporation. He was the last of the Mead heirs to have a role in Mead Corporation. Harry had a son, also named Harry Talbott, who was an accomplished race car driver.

I believe Katherine Mead remained unmarried.

Marianna married Frank "Junie" O'Brien, who taught English and coached baseball and hockey at The Groton School in Massachusetts. They had four children together.

[randomparent]

Update: I now believe Katherine Mead to have married Maurice Sicault, but further information is sparse.

Who next? Any suggestions?

BTW, feel free to jump in any time. I hate monopolizing the thread, but this kind of stuff is right up my alley. I've been researching Dayton for years in my own quest to fill in the blanks of my family's deep roots in west central and southwestern Ohio.

[randomparent]

Originally Posted by randomparent

Still having fun with this, so how about some information on the Meads?

George Houk Mead married his first cousin, Elsie Talbott, in 1914. She was quite a bit younger than him, having been born in 1894 to his 1877. They had six children together: Elsie Louise (b. 1915), George Houk, Jr. (b. 1917), Harry Talbott, Nelson Strobridge (b. 1921), Katherine (b. 1924), and Marianna (b. 1930).

Elsie Louise married physician John Mercer Walker, maternal uncle to President George Herbert Walker Bush. They had seven children together, four boys and three girls. One daughter died of polio and two others were born with Down syndrome. Their eldest son, John, Jr. serves on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.

George Houk, Jr. died at Guadalcanal in 1942. He was close friends with John F. Kennedy, who wrote poignantly about his grief following George's death.

Both Harry Talbott and Nelson Strobridge served as executives of the Mead Corporation. He was the last of the Mead heirs to have a role in Mead Corporation. Harry had a son, also named Harry Talbott, who was an accomplished race car driver.

I believe Katherine Mead remained unmarried.

Marianna married Frank "Junie" O'Brien, who taught English and coached baseball and hockey at The Groton School in Massachusetts. They had four children together.

Correction: three sons and four daughters

[randomparent]

Back to the messy Patterson family...In the 1930 census, Fredericka and her sister, Evelyn, are living with their mother in Hills & Dales with a handful of servants. The girls' mother Evelyn (Huffman) Patterson is designated head of household, and both girls are listed as adopted, but that doesn't make much sense, since both girls were definitely Evelyn's. Skip forward a few years to Fredericka's marriage to Dean* Lewis, and she's being given away by her step-father, Robert Dickey, which leads me to believe that Frederick gave up his parental rights when his marriage to Evelyn Huffman fell apart. That might explain why there was tension over Patterson inheritance money later on and why Frederick moved his assets into his second wife's name. I do find it interesting that Fredericka and Evelyn continued to use their father's name even after they were (apparently) adopted by Robert Dickey.

Note: I referred to him as Robert Lewis in my above post about the Pattersons, but her husband's name was definitely Dean.

[randomparent]

So I suppose now would be a good time to ask if anybody gives a whit about these posts. Looks like the thread is being read, but you all are verrrry quiet. Can anybody else chime in with information that would add to the conversation? I mean, I'm enjoying myself, but I feel a bit like one hand clapping. Come on...somebody out there has to have at least a little curiosity about another prominent Dayton family. Or maybe there's a house you drive by on your way to work that you've always wondered about. Let's find out who lived there and learn something about our city's history. It's good stuff!

[CarpathianPeasant]

Originally Posted by randomparent

So I suppose now would be a good time to ask if anybody gives a whit about these posts. Looks like the thread is being read, but you all are verrrry quiet. Can anybody else chime in with information that would add to the conversation? I mean, I'm enjoying myself, but I feel a bit like one hand clapping. Come on...somebody out there has to have at least a little curiosity about another prominent Dayton family. Or maybe there's a house you drive by on your way to work that you've always wondered about. Let's find out who lived there and learn something about our city's history. It's good stuff!

I just sent a link to this to Curt Dalton for Dayton History Books Online facebook page.