Alexander E. Patterson

'''Alexander Evans Patterson''' (June 23, 1887 – September 10, 1948) was an American insurance executive who served as president of the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York. He was the grandson of U.S. Senator John J. Patterson.

==Early life== Patterson was born in Washington, D.C., on June 23, 1887. He was a son of attorney William H. Patterson (1856–1908) and Georgie Anna ({{nee}} Evans) Patterson (1856–1923), who later moved to Battle Creek, Michigan,<ref name="1954Engagement"/> and his elder brother was William Hart Patterson,<ref name="Miller2007">{{cite book |last1=Miller |first1=Darlis A. |title=Matilda Coxe Stevenson: Pioneering Anthropologist |date=2007 |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |isbn=978-0-8061-3832-9 |pages=3, 104 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r5FgC0mu2nwC&dq=Georgie+Anna+Evans+Patterson&pg=PA293 |access-date=18 March 2022 |language=en}}</ref> a "pioneer in the development of high-speed electric elevators and perfection of automatic control for elevators."<ref name="1944WHPObit">{{cite news |title=WILLIAM H. PATTERSON; Pioneer in Developing Electric Elevators of High Speed |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1944/11/17/archives/william-h-patterson-pioneer-in-developing-electric-elevators-of.html |access-date=18 March 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=17 November 1944}}</ref> His paternal grandparents were U.S. Senator John James Patterson and Lucretia ({{nee}} Moore) Patterson.<ref name="1912Obit">{{cite news |title=Ex-Senator John J. Patterson. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1912/09/29/archives/exsenator-john-j-patterson.html |access-date=18 March 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=29 September 1912}}</ref>

He graduated from the University of Pittsburgh.<ref name="AEPObit1948"/>

==Career== Patterson began his career at the Equitable Life Assurance Society of Pittsburgh. During World War I, he served overseas as a major in the field infantry with the 79th Division. After the War, he returned to the Pittsburgh office of Equitable before being transferred to New YOrk City in 1922 to establish a new agency there. In 1925 he moved to Chicago to lead Equitable's largest agency there. In 1928 he joined Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company as general agent for Chicago and the State of Illinois. In 1937 he was made vice president of Penn Mutual.<ref name="AEPObit1948"/>

He joined the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York in 1941, resigning as vice president of Penn Mutual of Philadelphia.<ref name="1941Mutual">{{cite news |title=Official of Penn Mutual Life Shifts to Mutual Life Company; A.E. Patterson to Keep Title of Vice President in His New Post -- E.G. Johnson His Successor Put in Charge of Agencies |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1941/06/12/archives/official-of-penn-mutual-life-shifts-to-mutual-life-company-ae.html |access-date=18 March 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=12 June 1941}}</ref> He was made executive vice president in January 1942 and was elected to the board of trustees of Mutual Life in February 1942.<ref name="1942EVP">{{cite news |title=Executive Vice President Named by Mutual Life |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1942/01/13/archives/executive-vice-president-named-by-mutual-life.html |access-date=18 March 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=13 January 1942}}</ref> In 1947, Patterson was elected president of Mutual Life to succeed Lewis Williams Douglas, who had been appointed as the United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom by President Harry S. Truman.<ref>{{cite news |title=GREATER SAVINGS URGED; Mutual Life President Stresses Need for More Investment |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1948/01/02/archives/greater-savings-urged-mutual-life-president-stresses-need-for-more.html |access-date=18 March 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=2 January 1948}}</ref> While president, he initiated the construction of the Mutual of New York Building at 1740 Broadway, which was completed in 1950 after his death.<ref name="1948NewHome">{{cite news |title=NEW HOME OFFICE FOR MUTUAL LIFE; 11-Story Structure Is Planned for Broadway Blockfront at 55th and 56th Sts. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1948/05/18/archives/new-home-office-for-mutual-life-11story-structure-is-planned-for.html |access-date=18 March 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=18 May 1948}}</ref>

Patterson served four years as an officer and trustee of the National Association of Life Underwriters before being elected vice president and then president in 1936. IN 1939 he was named chairman of the Association of Life Agency Officers. He also served as a trustee of Roosevelt Hospital in New York, a director of the New York chapter of the American Red Cross and was a national trustee of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.<ref name="AEPObit1948"/>

==Personal life== In 1920, Patterson was married to Eleanor Morgan (1895–1999), a daughter of Henry G. Morgan and Rhoda ({{nee}} Price) Morgan.<ref name="1999Obit">{{cite news |title=Paid Notice: Deaths PATTERSON, ELEANOR MORGAN |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/02/14/classified/paid-notice-deaths-patterson-eleanor-morgan.html |access-date=18 March 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=14 February 1999}}</ref> Together, they lived at 455 East 57th Street in Manhattan and had a summer home in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Together, they were the parents of two children, Alexander E. Patterson Jr. and Portia Coxe Patterson (who married Robert H. Westerfield).<ref name="1954Engagement">{{cite news |title=PORTIA PATTERSON BECOMES FIANCE Vassar Alumna Is Betrothed to Lieut. (j.g.) Robert H. Westerfield of Navy |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1954/01/31/archives/portia-patrson-sec0m-finger-vassar-alumna-is-betrothed-i-to-lieut.html |access-date=18 March 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=31 January 1954}}</ref><ref name="1954Wedding">{{cite news |title=MISS PATTERSON IS MARRIED HERE; Gowned in Ivory Satin To Wedding to R. H. Westerfield at St. Bartholomew's |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1954/06/19/archives/miss-patterson-i15-mried-heri-gowned-in-ivory-satin-to-wedding-to-r.html |access-date=18 March 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=19 June 1954}}</ref>

Patterson died of heart attack in East Orange, New Jersey while visiting his grandnephew, Rolon Reed, a patient in East Orange General Hospital on September 10, 1948.<ref name="AEPObit1948">{{cite news |title=A. PATTERSON DIES; MUTUAL LIFE HEAD; President of Company Since Last Year Had Been in Field for More Than 30 Years |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1948/09/12/archives/a-patterson-dies-mutual-life-ijtulihfehbid-president-of-company.html |access-date=18 March 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=12 September 1948}}</ref> His funeral was held at St. James' Episcopal Church in Manhattan.<ref name="1948Tribute">{{cite news |title=FINAL TRIBUTE PAID TO A. E. PATERSON; Leaders in Banking, Insurance Worlds at Rites for Head of Mutual Life Co. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1948/09/15/archives/final-tribute-paid-to-a-e-paterson-leaders-in-banking-insurance.html |access-date=18 March 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=15 September 1948}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist|30em}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Patterson, Alexander E.}} Category:1887 births Category:1948 deaths Category:University of Pittsburgh alumni Category:People from Turtle Bay, Manhattan Category:Businesspeople from Washington, D.C. Category:20th-century American businesspeople Category:American chief executives of financial services companies