{{short description|American lawyer (1843–1882)}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = James French Patton | image = James French Patton (1890) (cropped).jpg | alt = | caption = Patton in a 1890 publication | office = Judge West Virginia Court of Appeals | term_start = June 1, 1881 | term_end = March 30, 1882 | predecessor = Charles Page Thomas Moore | successor = Adam Clarke Snyder | birth_date = {{birth date|1843|09|19}} | birth_place = Richmond, Virginia, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1882|03|30|1843|09|19}} | death_place = Wheeling, West Virginia, U.S. | resting_place = Union, West Virginia, U.S. | spouse = {{marriage|Malinda Caperton|1869}} | children = 2 | father = John M. Patton | relatives = Isaac W. Patton (brother)<br />George S. Patton Sr. (brother)<br />George S. Patton (grand nephew) | education = Andover Academy | profession = Confederate officer, lawyer, judge | party = Democrat |}} '''James French Patton''' (September 19, 1843 – March 30, 1882) was an American lawyer, Confederate army officer, and Democratic politician who briefly served on the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia.
==Early life== James French Patton was born on September 19, 1843, in Richmond, Virginia, to Peggy French (née Williams) and Congressman John M. Patton. His great-grandfather was Gen. Hugh Mercer, who fought at the Battle of Princeton in 1776. At age 14, Patton was enrolled in Andover Academy. After his father died in 1858, the family moved to Culpeper County, Virginia. At the age of 18, he joined the Confederate States Army as a private in the 22nd Virginia Infantry Regiment, led by his brother George S. Patton Sr. He attained the rank of lieutenant. He was wounded in battle.{{sfn|Atkinson|Gibbens|1890|pp=288-291}}<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/spirit-of-jefferson-death-of-judge-patto/159597415/ |title=Death of Judge Patton |date=1882-04-04 |newspaper=Spirit of Jefferson |page=2 |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=2024-11-23}}{{Open access}}</ref>{{citation needed |date=November 2024 |reason=rank of lieutenant}} After the war, he returned to Virginia and studied law under his brother-in-law John Gilmer of Pittyslvania County. He was admitted to the bar.{{sfn|Atkinson|Gibbens|1890|pp=288-291}}
==Career== Patton then began practicing law. In 1870, he joined a law partnership with Allen T. Caperton and relocated to Union in Monroe County, West Virginia, after his marriage.{{sfn|Atkinson|Gibbens|1890|pp=288-291}} In 1872, Patton was elected as a Democrat as prosecuting attorney of Monroe County and served four years. On June 1, 1881, Governor Jacob B. Jackson appointed Patton to a vacated seat on the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia caused by the retirement of Justice Charles Page Thomas Moore.{{sfn|Atkinson|Gibbens|1890|pp=288-291}}
==Personal life== In April 1869, Patton married Malinda Caperton, the daughter of U.S. Senator Allen T. Caperton.{{sfn|Atkinson|Gibbens|1890|pp=288-291}} They had two children, Harriet Echols Patton Edwards (1870-1929) and Allen Gilmer Patton (1871-1910). A. Gilmer Patton was also a lawyer and was elected to the West Virginia legislature shortly before his death.<ref>''Hinton Daily News and Leader'', December 10, 1910, p. 1</ref> After he died, his wife married judge Edward Franklin Bingham.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofcityofw00wash/page/354/mode/2up |title=A History of the City of Washington: Its Men and Institutions |publisher=The Washington Post |editor-last=Slauson |editor-first=Allan B. |year=1903 |pages=355–356 |via=Archive.org |access-date=2024-11-22}}{{Open access}}</ref>
Patton died suddenly of a heart condition on March 30, 1882, in Wheeling, West Virginia, at the age of 38. He was buried in Union.{{sfn|Atkinson|Gibbens|1890|pp=288-291}}<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-register-death-of-judge-patton/159588353/ |title=Death of Judge Patton |date=1882-03-31 |newspaper=The Daily Register |page=4 |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=2024-11-23}}{{Open access}}</ref> His brother Isaac W. Patton was a soldier, plantation owner, and the mayor of New Orleans, Louisiana. World War II General George S. Patton was the grandchild of James French Patton's brother George S. Patton Sr.
==See also== *List of justices of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia
==References== {{reflist}}
==Sources== *{{Cite book | last1 =Atkinson | first1 =Wesley George | last2 =Gibbens | first2 =Alvaro Franklin | title = Prominent Men of West Virginia | place =Wheeling | publisher = W.L. Callin | volume = | year =1890 | edition = | url =https://archive.org/details/prominentmenwes00gibbgoog | pages =288–291 | doi = | id = | isbn = | oclc = 3886825 }}
==External links== {{commons category}} *[https://books.google.com/books?id=plbyimuc1qwC&pg=RA1-PA215 ''Men of West Virginia, Vol. 1'', pg. 215]
{{s-start}} {{s-legal}} {{succession box | before = Charles P.T. Moore | title = Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia | years = 1881–1882 | after = Adam Clarke Snydor}} {{s-end}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Patton, James French}} Category:1843 births Category:1882 deaths Category:Lawyers from Richmond, Virginia James French Category:West Virginia Democrats Category:Confederate States Army officers Category:County prosecuting attorneys in West Virginia Category:People from Union, West Virginia Category:Phillips Academy alumni Category:Justices of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia Category:Caperton family (Virginia and West Virginia) Category:Military personnel from Richmond, Virginia Category:19th-century American lawyers