Historical and Genealogical Documents for Florence Resident and former Morgan County, Alabama Confederate Camp Slave or Body Servant Reuben Patterson (ca. 1837-1928).

Subject

People

Description

A collection of documents pertaining to former enslaved person Reuben Patterson.

Reuben Patterson (ca. 1837-1928), was born the slave of Andrew Malcolm Patterson (ca. 1791-1858) of Somerville, in Morgan County, Alabama. Reuben’s mother’s name was Julia Patterson (ca. 1806-1906). Since Reuben’s father’s name is not recorded speculation has tried to connect Reuben Patterson with Morgan County, Alabama Free Person of Color Pleasant Martin (ca. 1829-bet. 1900-1909). In 1861 Martin voluntarily petitioned the Morgan County probate court to become the slave of Malcolm Patterson’s son, Josiah Patterson (1837-1904) and allegedly changed his name.* However Pleasant Martin consistently shows up in Morgan (1860, 1867, 1868, 1880, 1896, 1900) and Madison County (1865, 1870), AL records under the name Pleasant Martin, while Reuben Patterson consistently shows up in Lauderdale County records (1867-1928) minus a few-months’ stay in Memphis, Tennessee in 1872.

* An 1861 law enacted by the Alabama Legislature allowed destitute free Blacks to petition their county probate court to be made slaves of whites of good moral character.

During the Civil War, Reuben, severely bow-legged, was the camp slave or body servant of Morgan County native, lawyer and later congressman of Tennessee Col. Josiah Patterson (1836-1904). Col. Patterson’s son, former Tennessee Governor Malcolm H. Patterson noted in a 1928 tribute to Reuben, written after his death, that “Rube was born a slave of my grandfather [Malcolm Patterson]. He and my father played together when they were children, only about six months separating their ages.”

According to the 1900 census, Reuben’s mother Julia Patterson had at least three children, all the still living at the time, but we don’t know the names of any but Reuben. According to the 1850 Morgan County census schedule Malcolm Patterson had 3 enslaved persons—two 45-year-old males and an 11-year-old female. These slave censuses did not normally record the names of enslaved people, only their sex, race (Black, Creole, Mulatto, etc.) and age but no one of Reuben’s mother’s age (about 44 in 1850) seems to be enumerated. Perhaps Julia was accidentally skipped (a common occurrence); perhaps her husband was enslaved on another farm or plantation and Julia was there visiting him and enumerated there; or perhaps she had been hired out by Patterson to work for someone else, as skilled slaves often were. We simply don’t know. At present only two records survive for Julia Patterson: her 1900 census enumeration and 1906 Florence Times obituary. After Malcolm's death in 1859 his slaves may have been willed to his son Andrew Patterson, who owned 3 slaves in 1850 though no 1860 slave enumeration has been found for Andrew yet.

In his 1928 will Reuben named Elsie Thompson, of Hillsboro, AL, PH Patterson of Hughes, Arkansas, Janie Bates and Maggie Freeman (his wife Abbie’s niece) as his only heirs but that Bates and Freeman were his sole beneficiaries. Nothing further is known of these relatives.

Josiah Patterson was Col. of the 5th AL Cavalry, CSA and his body servant or camp slave Reuben was the 5th Alabama’s company bugler, forager, and its unofficial “horse swapper.”

Prof. Robert Durden writes that: “The ‘Negro’s Civil War’ is perhaps vastly more complex and perhaps more ambiguous or paradoxical, than most of us have realized.” This is certainly true when it comes to Blacks who served the Confederate war effort. Because strange though it sounds, and despite all of the restrictions and prohibitions placed on them by white society, for a variety of reasons, none of which had anything to do with supporting slavery, some enslaved and free people of color were willing, and in a few cases even eager, to support the Confederate war effort in various ways, including serving as “support staff” in the Confederate military. Some served as body servants or camp slaves, while others served as musicians, cooks, hospital orderlies, in labor battalions, etc., thus were not officially enlisted. Yet at the same time, what Prof. Clarence Mohr noted of Georgia Blacks in his Masters and Slaves in Civil War Georgia probably obtained elsewhere:

“Wartime experiences proved repeatedly that black allegiance to either side in the sectional conflict was conditional. Guided by a visceral skepticism concerning the ultimate intentions of all whites, Georgia bondsmen pursued the substance of liberty with little apparent regard for political theories or moral abstractions.”

Nevertheless, though the numbers are ultimately negligible, conservative estimates are that anywhere from 30,000 to 90,000 men of color, slave and free, served behind the lines and in Confederate armies, a few near the end of the war as actual enlisted soldiers. Free men of color who voluntarily served, such as Florence barber and liveryman James Goin (ca. 1836-aft. 1900), who worked for three months as the cook of the 4th AL Inf, CS, were paid (in Goin’s case $40 a month); enslaved men weren’t paid and typically had no choice.

Reuben Patterson was thus one of eleven Blacks, slave and free, from Florence-Lauderdale who served as cooks or camp slaves to white Confederate officers and privates.

Reuben Patterson religiously attended both local and national United Confederate Veterans Reunions, with the local papers tracking his attendance. In her autobiography Outside the magic Circle Virginia Foster Durr, a granddaughter of Josiah Patterson from Birmingham, mentions Reuben, who, she said, “had never come out of the slavery period, and he expected us to provide for him.” Whenever Reuben came to Birmingham for a UCV reunion Reuben would show up at the Durrs’ expecting room, board, money and a shot of whiskey, which the Durrs felt compelled to provide for their former slave.

In 1899 Nashville Tennessean John Trotwood Moore, editor of Trotwood’s Horse Review, interviewed Reuben for the magazine (this interview was republished in May of 1906 in Trotwood's Monthly). Recounting a few of his exploits during the war in the interview, Reuben stated that “being crippled [severely bow-legged] I seldom could walk much, so I was might nigh raised on a horse.... The war suited me fine. I got a new horse every time I wanted him.”

When Col. Patterson relocated to Florence in 1867 Reuben accompanied him, marrying Colbert/Franklin native Abbarilla “Abbie” Thornton in 1870. For many years Reuben worked as a cook, for the Presbyterian Female Synodical College (that “prince of cooks”) for the US Gov't on the Muscle Shoals Canal (ca. 1887-ca. 1903) Commercial Hotel (1905), before the United Daughters of the Confederacy around 1915 presented him with a bootblack stand on the corner of Mobile and Court, which he had moved indoors into his own building by 1916, and later moved to Tennessee and Seminary by 1922.

Reuben and Abbie had no children, and were apparently parishioners of St. Paul AME Church. Though a registered voter and interested in the Civil Rights Bill of 1874, Reuben was recorded in his census enumerations as illiterate (as was Abbie). Reuben seems to have been a model citizen in every way—Reuben was one of several Black Florentines who worked heroically alongside their white neighbors to fight a large fire which destroyed a whole block of buildings on court Square in December of 1868; as a result of his actions Reuben was presented with an “elegant suit of clothes” by several whites; he published a “Card of Thanks” to these “gentlemen” in the Florence Journal of January 7, 1869. Reuben was a apparently a model citizen in every way—save one, that is. In October of 1907 he was arrested for moonshining however his attorney Emmett O’Neal persuaded the judge to dismiss the charge on several legal technicalities with the result that Reuben was acquitted.

Reuben and Abbie Patterson are buried in the black section of the City Cemetery in unmarked graves. Since the exact location of their graves is unknown, the Tennessee Valley Camp, Sons of Confederate Veterans, assisted by the City of Florence historical Board in February of 1999 erected markers for Reuben and Abbie in a part of the historic Black section of the Florence City Cemetery on the hillside beneath St. Joseph Catholic Church in a public ceremony.


Creator

1. John Trotwood Moore
2. John Trotwood Moore
3. John Trotwood Moore
4. John Trotwood Moore
5. John Trotwood Moore
6. John Trotwood Moore
7. Malcolm Patterson
8. Malcom Patterson
9. Malcom Patterson
10. Virginia Foster Durr
11. Virginia Foster Durr
12. Virginia Foster Durr
13. US Census 1830
14. US Census 1830
15. Florence Journal
16. Florence Journal
17. Florence Journal
18. Florence journal
19. Florence journal
20. Reuben Patterson
21. Florence (AL) Times-Journal
22. Florence (AL) Herald
23. Florence (AL) Times
24. Florence (AL) Herald
25. Florence (AL) Times
26. Florence (AL) Times
26. Florence (AL) Times
27. Florence (AL) Times
28. Florence (AL) Times
29. Florence (AL) Times
30. Florence (AL) Herald
31. Florence (AL) Times
32. Florence (AL) Herald
33. Florence (AL) Herald
34. Florence (AL) Herald
35. Florence (AL) Times
36. Florence (AL) Times
37. Florence (AL) Times
38. Florence (AL) Times
39. Florence (AL) Times
40. Florence (AL) Herald
41. Birmingham (AL) News
42. Birmingham (AL) News
43. Florence (AL) Times
44. Florence (AL) Herald
45. Lauderdale County, Alabama Probate Court
46. Florence (AL) Times
47. State of Alabama
48. State of Alabama
49. Lauderdale County, Alabama
50. Birmingham (AL) Age Herald
51. Malcolm Patterson
52. Sherhonda Allen, Times Daily
53. State Alabama
54. State of Alabama
55. US Government
56. US Government
57. US Government
58. US Government
59. US Government
60. US Government
61. RL Polk & Co
62 . RL Polk & Co
63. RL Polk & Co
64. RL Polk & Co
65. RL Polk & Co
66. RL Polk & Co
67. Lauderdale County, Alabama Probate Court
68. Lauderdale County, Alabama Probate Court
69. Lauderdale County, Alabama Probate Court
70. Lauderdale County, Alabama Probate Court
71. Lauderdale County, Alabama Probate Court
72. Lauderdale County, Alabama Probate Court
73. Lauderdale County, Alabama Probate Court
74. Lauderdale County, Alabama Probate Court
75. Lauderdale County, Alabama Probate Court
76. Lauderdale County, Alabama Probate Court
77. Lauderdale County, Alabama Probate Court
78. Florence (AL) Times
79. Florence (AL) Times
80. Florence (AL) Times-News
81. Florence (AL) Times
82. Florence (AL) Herald
83. State of Alabama, Bureau of Vital Statistics
84. State of Alabama, Bureau of Vital Statistics
85. Unknown
86. Unknown
87. GW Landrum, Landrum, Landrum Studios
88. Robert W. Bentley, Sr.
89. Tennessee Valley Camp, Sons of Confederate Veterans
90. Tennessee Valley Camp, Sons of Confederate Veterans
91. Robert W. Bentley, Sr.
92. Robert W. Bentley, Sr.
93. Donald W. Murks
94. Donald W. Murks
95. Donald W. Murks
96. Charles Kelly Barrow and JH Segars
97. US War Dept.
98. US War Dept.
99. Gadsden (AL) Daily Times-News
100. Lauderdale County Tax Assessor
101. John Trotwood Moore
102. Birmingham (AL) News
103. Birmingham (AL) News
104. Anniston (AL) Star
105. Birmingham (AL) Age-Herald

Source

1. Trotwood's Monthly
2. Trotwood's Monthly
3. Trotwood's Monthly
4. Trotwood's Monthly
5. Trotwood's Monthly
6. Trotwood's Monthly
7. Florence (AL) Times
8. Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
9. Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
10. 1850 Morgan County, Alabama Slave Census.
11. Outside the Magic Circle
12. Outside the Magic Circle
13. 1830 Alabama US Census
14. 1830 Alabama US Census
15. Outside the Magic Circle
16. Florence Journal
17. Florence Journal
18. Florence journal
19. Lauderdale Tim,es
20. Florence Times-Journal
21.Florence Times-Journal
22. Florence (AL) Herald
23. Florence (AL) Times
24. Florence (AL) Herald
25. Florence (AL) Times
26. Florence (AL) Times
27. Florence (AL) Times
28. Florence (AL) Times
29. Florence (AL) Times
30. Florence (AL) Herald
31. Florence (AL) Times
32. Florence (AL) Herald
33. Florence (AL) Herald
34. Florence (AL) Herald
35. Florence (AL) Times
36. Florence (AL) Times
37. Florence (AL) Times
38. Florence (AL) Herald
39. Florence (AL) Times
40. Florence (AL) Times
41. Florence (AL) Herald
42. Birmingham (AL) News
43. Florence (AL) Times
44. Florence (AL) Times
45. Florence (AL) Herald
46. Florence (AL) Times
47. Florence (AL) Times
48. Florence (AL) Times
49. Florence (AL) Times
50. Birmingham (AL) Age Herald
51. Florence (AL) Times
52. Times Daily (Florence, AL)
53. Alabama, US Voter Registration 1867.
54. Alabama, US Voter Registration 1867.
55. 1870 Census Lauderdale County, Alabama
56. 1880 Census Lauderdale County, Alabama
57. 1900 Census Lauderdale County, Alabama
58. 1900 Census Lauderdale County, Alabama
59. 1910 Census Lauderdale County, Alabama
60. 1920 Census Lauderdale County, Alabama
61. R. L. Polk & Co.'s Tri-Cities Directory Comprising Florence, Sheffield and Tuscumbia, Ala., 1913-1914
62. R. L. Polk & Co.'s Tri-Cities Directory Comprising Florence, Sheffield and Tuscumbia, Ala., 1913-1914
63. R. L. Polk & Co.'s Tri-Cities Directory Comprising Florence, Sheffield and Tuscumbia, Ala., 1920-1921
64. R. L. Polk & Co.'s Tri-Cities Directory Comprising Florence, Sheffield and Tuscumbia, Ala., 1920-1921
65. R. L. Polk & Co.'s Tri-Cities Directory Comprising Florence, Sheffield and Tuscumbia, Ala., 1926
66. R. L. Polk & Co.'s Tri-Cities Directory Comprising Florence, Sheffield and Tuscumbia, Ala., 1926
67. Lauderdale County, Alabama Will Record, vol. 3, 1910-1929
68. Lauderdale County, Alabama Will Record, vol. 3, 1910-1929
69. Lauderdale County, Alabama Will Record, vol. 3, 1910-1929
70. Lauderdale County, Alabama Will Record, vol. 3, 1910-1929
71. Lauderdale County, Alabama Will Record, vol. 3, 1910-1929
72. Lauderdale County, Alabama Will Record, vol. 3, 1910-1929
73. Lauderdale County, Alabama Will Record, vol. 3, 1910-1929
74. Lauderdale County, Alabama Will Record, vol. 3, 1910-1929
75. Lauderdale County, Alabama Will Record, vol. 3, 1910-1929
76. Lauderdale County, Alabama Will Record, vol. 3, 1910-1929
77. Lauderdale County, Alabama Will Record, vol. 3, 1910-1929
78. Florence (AL) Times
79. Florence (AL) Times
80. Florence (AL) Times-News
81. Florence (AL) Times
82. Florence (AL) Herald
83. State of Alabama Bureau of Vital Statistics
84. State of Alabama Bureau of Vital Statistics
85. Reuben Patterson with an unnamed Confederate Veteran and Mrs. Ludie Patton of Sweetwater from a collection of photos from Sweetwater Mansion.
86. Mrs. Maggie Dalla Tanna
87. Landrum Studios
88. Robert W. Bentley, Sr.
89. Tennessee Valley Camp, Sons of Confederate Veterans
90. Tennessee Valley Camp, Sons of Confederate Veterans
91. Robert W. Bentley, Sr.
92. Robert W. Bentley, Sr.
93. Donald W. Murks
94. Donald W. Murks
95. Donald W. Murks
96. Black Southerners in Confederate Armies: A Collection of Historical Accounts
97. US Register of Civil Military and Naval Service 1863-1959
98. US Register of Civil Military and Naval Service 1863-1959
99. Gadsden (AL) Daily Times-News
100. Lauderdale (County, AL) Times
101. Courtland (AL) Enterprise
102. Birmingham (AL) News
103. Birmingham (AL) News
104. Anniston (AL) Star
105. Birmingham (AL) Age-Herald

Publisher

1. John Trotwood Moore
2. John Trotwood Moore
3. John Trotwood Moore
4. John Trotwood Moore
5. John Trotwood Moore
6. John Trotwood Moore
7. Bell & Howell Micro Photo Division
8. Newspapers.com
9. Newspapers.com
10. Ancestry Library Edition.
11. University of Alabama Press
12. University of Alabama Press
13. University of Alabama Press
14. Ancestry Library Edition
15. Ancestry Library Edition
16. Unknown Microfilm
17. Unknown Microfilm
18. Unknown Microfilm
19. Newspapers.com
20. Newspapers.com
21. Newspapers.com
22. Newspapers.com
23. Bell & Howell Micro Photo Division
24. Newspapers.com
25. Bell & Howell Micro Photo Division
26. Bell & Howell Micro Photo Division
27. Bell & Howell Micro Photo Division
28. Bell & Howell Micro Photo Division
29. Bell & Howell Micro Photo Division
30. Newspapers.com
31. Bell & Howell Micro Photo Division
32. Newspapers.com
33. Newspapers.com
34. Newspapers.com
35. Bell & Howell Micro Photo Division
36. Bell & Howell Micro Photo Division
37. Bell & Howell Micro Photo Division
38. Harwell Goodwin Davis Library, Samford University
39. Bell & Howell Micro Photo Division
40. Bell & Howell Micro Photo Division
41. Newspapers.com
42. Newspapers.com
43. Bell & Howell Micro Photo Division
44. Bell & Howell Micro Photo Division
45. Newspapers.com
46. Bell & Howell Micro Photo Division
47. Bell & Howell Micro Photo Division
48. Bell & Howell Micro Photo Division
49. Bell & Howell Micro Photo Division
50. Newspapers.com
51. Bell & Howell Micro Photo Division
52. UMI Microform
53. Ancestry Library Edition
54. Ancestry Library Edition
55. Ancestry Library Edition
56. Ancestry Library Edition
57. Ancestry Library Edition
58. Ancestry Library Edition
59. Ancestry Library Edition
60. Ancestry Library Edition
61. R. L. Polk & Co.
62. R. L. Polk & Co.
63. R. L. Polk & Co.
64. R. L. Polk & Co.
65. R. L. Polk & Co.
66. R. L. Polk & Co.
67. Genealogical Society, Salt Lake City Utah
68. Genealogical Society, Salt Lake City Utah
69. Genealogical Society, Salt Lake City Utah
70. Genealogical Society, Salt Lake City Utah
71, Genealogical Society, Salt Lake City Utah
72. Genealogical Society, Salt Lake City Utah
73. Genealogical Society, Salt Lake City Utah
74. Genealogical Society, Salt Lake City Utah
75. Genealogical Society, Salt Lake City Utah
76. Genealogical Society, Salt Lake City Utah
77. Genealogical Society, Salt Lake City Utah
78. Bell & Howell Micro Photo Division
79. Bell & Howell Micro Photo Division
80. Bell & Howell Micro Photo Division
81. Bell & Howell Micro Photo Division
82. Newspapers.com
83. FamilySearch.org
84. FamilySearch.org
85. Florence-Lauderdale Public Library
86. Florence-Lauderdale Public Library
87. The Landrum Collection
88. Robert W. Bentley, Sr.
89. Florence-Lauderdale Public Library
90. Florence-Lauderdale Public Library
91. Florence-Lauderdale Public Library
92. Florence-Lauderdale Public Library
93. Florence-Lauderdale Public Library
94. Florence-Lauderdale Public Library
95. Florence-Lauderdale Public Library
96. Southern Lion
97. Ancestry Library Edition
98. Ancestry Library Edition
99. Newspapers.com
100. Newspapers.com
101. John Trotwood Moore
102. Birmingham (AL) News
103. Birmingham (AL) News
104. Newspapers.com
105. Newspapers.com

Contributor

Lee Freeman

Rights

Images are available for educational and research purposes. This image may not be reproduced for commercial purposes without the express written consent of the copyright holder. It is the responsibility of the interested party to identify the copyright holder and receive permission.

Format

Jpegs

Language

English

Type

Still Images

Files

Trotwood's Monthly May 1906 Cover.jpg
Trotwood's Travel Article 1st pg.jpg
Trotwood's Travels p 451.jpg
Trotwood's Travels p 452.jpg
Trotwood's Travels p 453.jpg
Trotwood's Travels p 454.jpg
Southernn People and the Negroes FT Fri Jan 5 1923 p 6.jpg
Day By Day The_Commercial_Appeal_Tue__Jun_29__1926_ p 6.jpg
Day by Day Memph Commercial Appeal Sat May 19 1928 p 6.jpg
Outside the Magic Circle Cover.jpg
Outside the Magic Circle Copyright Pg.jpg
Outside the Magic Circle p 35.jpg
Malcolm Patterson's 1830 Morgan Co Census p 204 p 1.jpg
Malcolm Patterson's 1830 Morgan Co Census p 204 p 2.jpg
Malcom Patterson's 1850 Morgan Co Slave Census Enum.jpg
Disastrous Fire FJ Wed Dec 16 1868 p 2 p 1.jpg
Disastrous Fire FJ Wed Dec 16 1868 p 2 p 2.jpg
Card of Thanks FJ Thurs Jan 7 1869 p 3.jpg
Barbecue Laud _Times _Tue__Oct_1__1872_p 3.jpg
Report of Board of Trustees Florence_Times_Journal_Wed__Dec_31__1873_p 3.jpg
Civil Rights Bill FTJ Wed July 29 1874 p 3.jpg
A Colored Veteran The_Florence_Herald_Thu__May_5__1898_ (1).jpg
Reuben's horse takes fright FT Fri March 20 1903 p 8.jpg
Uncle Reuben Came Down from the Canal FH Fri May 22 1903 p 1.jpg
Reuben Patterson Who Followed Col Patterson FT Fri June 23 1905 p 5.jpg
Reubern Patterson the Head Cook FT Fri Dec 8 105 p 8.jpg
UDC Meeting I FT Fri Mar 8 1907 p 5.jpg
UDC Meeting 2 FT Fri Mar 8 1907 p 5.jpg
Off for Richmond FT Fri May 31 1907 p 1.jpg
Negro Bootlegger Caught The_Florence_Herald_Fri__Oct_18__1907_ p 1.jpg
Circuit Court Still Grinding 1 The_Florence_Herald_Wed__Mar_18__1908_ p 1.jpg
Circuit Court Still Grinding 2 The_Florence_Herald_Wed__Mar_18__1908_ p 1.jpg
Circuit Court Still Grinding 3 The_Florence_Herald_Wed__Mar_18__1908_ p 8.jpg
Circuit Court FT Fri March 20 1908 p 1.jpg
The Faithful Old Confederate Reuben Patterson FT Fri April 20 1908 p 9.jpg
Among the Visitors FT Friday June 8 1909 p 1.jpg
At the Late Reunion FT Fri Msay 6 1910 p 4.jpg
Alex Jones and Reuben Patterson FH Thurs June 5 1913 p 1.jpg
Reuben Patterson Who Went FT Fri Sept 4 1914 p 1.jpg
Reuben Patterson the Faithful Old Colored Follower FT Fri Jan 28 1916 p 1.jpg
Reuben Patterson the Faithful Old The_Florence_Herald_Thu__May_18__1916_.jpg
Reuben Patterson Colored Veteran The_Birmingham_News_Fri__May_19__1916_.jpg
Reuben Pasterson Veteran FT Fri May 26 1916 p 6.jpg
Uncle Reuben FT Fri Oct 10 1919 p 1.jpg
Uncle Rube Patterson The_Florence_Herald_Thu__Oct_21__1920_ (1).jpg
The Veterans Entertained.jpg
Reuben Patterson the Faithul Colored Ex-Confederate.jpg
Delightful Reunion.jpg
List of Colored Voters FT Fri Mar 31 1922 p 4.jpg
Aged Darkeys The_Birmingham_Age_Herald_Thu__Oct_19__1922_.jpg
Southernn People and the Negroes FT Fri Jan 5 1923 p 6.jpg
Fight for Freedom TD Feb 15 1999 p 1D.jpg
1867 Laud Co Voters Reg List p 1.jpg
1867 Laud Co Voters Reg List p 2.jpg
1870 Census p 597A.jpg
1880 Laud Co Census p 231C.jpg
1900 Census 1.jpg
1900 Census 2.jpg
1910 Census.jpg
1920 census p 79B.jpg
Polk's 1913 - 1914 Cover.jpg
Polk's 1913 - 1914 p 85.jpg
Polk's 1920 -1921 Cover.jpg
Polk's 1920 - 1921 p 145.jpg
Polk's 1926 Cover.jpg
Polk's 1926 p 174.jpg
Abbie Will Book Title Pg.jpg
Abbie's Will p 546.jpg
Abbie's Will p 547.jpg
Abbie's Will p 548.jpg
Abbie's Will p 549.jpg
Abbie Will Book Title Pg.jpg
Reuben's Will p 482.jpg
Reuben's Will p 483.jpg
Reuben's Will p 484.jpg
Reuben's Will p 485.jpg
Reuben's Will p 486.jpg
Josiah Patterson is Dead FT Fri Feb 19 1904 p 2.jpg
Death of Aged Colored Woman Florence (AL) Times, Friday, September 21, 1906, p. 1..jpg
Respected Woman Dies Florence Times News Sunday, June 27, 1926, p. 1.jpg
Uncle Rube Passes Away FT Mon May 14 1928 p 1.jpg
Uncle Reuben Patterson Dies The_Florence_Herald_Fri__May_18__1928_ p 1.jpg
Abbie Patterson Death Cert.jpg
Reuben Patterson Death Cert.jpg
Reuben Patterson and Lutie Patton UCV Reunion 1920s from Sweetwater Collection.jpg
Reuben Patterson and Mary Gardner Patterson.jpg
Confederate Veterans Aug 1921 Mars Hill UCV Reunion Landrum Collection.jpg
Reuben Mem Program Flyer.jpg
Reuben Mem Program p 1.jpg
Reuben Mem Program p 2.jpg
Reuben's Stone.jpg
Abbie's Stone.jpg
Reuben Mem Program Photo 1.jpg
Reuben Mem Program Photo 2.jpg
Reuben Hat and Rifle.jpg
BSICA.jpg
US Register of Civil Military and Naval Service 1863-1959.jpg
US Register of Civil Military and Naval Service 1863-1959 II.jpg
Two Colored Men The_Gadsden_Daily_Times_News_Tue__Oct_17__1922_.jpg
City Taxc Collector's Sale Lauderdale_News_Wed__Feb_7__1883_ (2).jpg
Uncle Rube The_Courtland_Enterprise_Fri__Dec_1__1899_.jpg
Gray Clad Hordes 1 The_Birmingham_News_Wed__May_18__1921_.jpg
Gray Clad Hordes 2 The_Birmingham_News_Wed__May_18__1921_.jpg
Col. Patterson's Body Servant Dies The_Anniston_Star_Mon__May_14__1928_.jpg
Negro War Valet Dies at Florence The_Birmingham_Age_Herald_Tue__May_15__1928_ (1).jpg
An Unreconstructed Rebel FT Jan 23 2005.jpg

Collection

Military

Citation

1. John Trotwood Moore et al., “Historical and Genealogical Documents for Florence Resident and former Morgan County, Alabama Confederate Camp Slave or Body Servant Reuben Patterson (ca. 1837-1928).,” Shoals Black History, accessed May 1, 2024, https://shoalsblackhistory.omeka.net/items/show/1320.