{{short description|American physician, professor and 6th director of the U.S. Mint (1787–1854)}} {{For|other people with the same name|Robert Patterson (disambiguation)}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Robert Maskell Patterson | image = Robert Maskell Patterson.jpg | caption = | office = 6th [[Director of the United States Mint]] | term_start = 1835 | term_end = 1851 | president = [[Millard Fillmore]] | preceded = [[Samuel Moore (congressman)|Samuel Moore]] | succeeded = [[George Nicholas Eckert]] | birth_date = {{birth date|1787|3|23}} | death_date = {{Death date and age|1854|9|5|1787|3|23}} | birth_place = [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]], US | death_place = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US | resting_place = [[Laurel Hill Cemetery]], Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | party = | spouse = Helen Hamilton Leiper | relations = [[Robert Patterson (educator)|Robert Patterson]] (father) }} '''Robert Maskell Patterson''' (March 23, 1787 – September 5, 1854) was an American professor of mathematics, chemistry and natural philosophy at the [[University of Pennsylvania]] from 1812 to 1828 and professor of [[natural philosophy]] at the [[University of Virginia]] from 1828 to 1835. He served as the 6th director of the [[United States Mint]] from 1835 to 1851 and as president of the [[American Philosophical Society]] from 1809 to 1854.<ref name=r1>[http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM74MP_Robert_Patterson_Philadelphia_PA Robert Patterson – Philadelphia, PA]. waymarking.com</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=APS Member History|url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Robert+patterson&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced|access-date=2021-04-02|website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref>
==Early life and education== Patterson was born on March 23, 1787, in [[Philadelphia]],{{sfn|Bache|1859|p=60}} one of eight children of [[Robert Patterson (educator)|Robert Patterson]] and Amy Hunter Ewing.<ref>{{cite web |title=Robert Patterson 1743-1824 |url=https://archives.upenn.edu/exhibits/penn-people/biography/robert-patterson/ |website=archives.upenn.edu |publisher=University of Pennsylvania |access-date=28 November 2023}}</ref> Patterson attended the [[University of Pennsylvania]] and graduated in 1804 with a [[Bachelor of Arts|B.A.]]. He studied medicine under [[Benjamin Smith Barton]]{{sfn|Breck|1854|p=9}} and graduated with a [[Doctor of Medicine|M.D.]] in 1808.<ref name=NationalArchives>{{cite web |title=Robert M. Patterson to Thomas Jefferson, 7 January 1814 |url=https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-07-02-0058 |website=founders.archives.org |publisher=National Historical Publications & Records Commission |access-date=1 December 2023}}</ref> He continued his education in Paris, France at the [[Jardin des plantes|Jardins des plantes]], and studied with [[René Just Haüy]],{{sfn|Bache|1859|p=61}} [[Louis Nicolas Vauquelin]], [[Adrien-Marie Legendre]] and [[Siméon Denis Poisson]].<ref name=APSpapers/> In 1811, Patterson travelled to England and studied with [[Humphry Davy]].{{sfn|Bache|1859|p=61}}
==Career== He returned to the United States in 1812 and was appointed professor of natural philosophy, chemistry and mathematics in the department of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. He was appointed vice provost in 1814.{{sfn|Bache|1859|p=61}} Patterson remained at Penn until 1828 when he joined the faculty of the University of Virginia. He was chairman of the university's faculty from 1830 until 1832.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Virginia |first=University of |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Installation_of_the_First_President_of_t/MyAXQ6Kvs3EC?hl=en&gbpv=1 |title=Installation of the First President of the University of Virginia, Dr. Edwin Anderson Alderman, April 13, 1905 |date=1905 |publisher=Eddy Press Corporation |pages=60 |language=en}}</ref> He was elected an Associate Fellow of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] in 1834.<ref name=AAAS>{{cite web|title=Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter P|url=http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterP.pdf|publisher=American Academy of Arts and Sciences|accessdate=September 13, 2016}}</ref> Patterson was nominated as director of the U.S. Mint by President Andrew Jackson<ref>{{cite web |title=U. S. Mint Medals Presented to Mint Director Robert M. Patterson ** 2012 ANA EXHIBIT ** |url=https://coins.www.collectors-society.com/wcm/CoinCustomSetView.aspx?s=10662 |website=coins.www.collectors-society.com |publisher=Collectors Society |access-date=1 December 2023}}</ref>{{sfn|Bache|1859|pp=61-62}} and served from 1835 to 1851.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Seijas |first1=Tatiana |last2=Frederick |first2=Jake |title=Spanish Dollars and Sister Republics - The Money that Made Mexico and the United States |date=2017 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. |location=Lanham, Maryland |isbn=978-1-4422-6520-2 |page=123 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1lzCDQAAQBAJ |access-date=1 December 2023}}</ref> In 1807, Patterson and his father were consulted by [[Ferdinand Rudolph Hassler]] for guidance on the [[United States Coast and Geodetic Survey]]. In 1826, Patterson was Consulted by the governor of Pennsylvania to determine the best source of water for a state canal.<ref name=APSpapers/>
He was active in the [[Franklin Institute]], the Musical Fund Society of Philadelphia and the [[Overbrook School for the Blind|Pennsylvania Institution for the Instruction of the Blind]].<ref name=NationalArchives/>
Patterson died on September 5, 1854, in Philadelphia,{{sfn|Bache|1859|p=62}} and was interred at [[Laurel Hill Cemetery]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Robert M. Patterson |url=https://remembermyjourney.com/memorials/robert-m-patterson?id=ENROODLj |website=remembermyjourney.com |publisher=webCemeteries |access-date=4 January 2025}}</ref> He was married to Helen Hamilton Leiper, daughter of [[Thomas Leiper]], on April 20, 1814,{{sfn|Breck|1854|p=12}} and together they had six children.<ref name=APSpapers>{{cite web |title=Robert M. (Robert Maskell) Patterson papers, 1775-1853 |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/collections/view?docId=ead/Mss.B.P274-ead.xml |website=search.amphilsoc.org |publisher=American Philosophical Society |access-date=4 December 2023}}</ref>
==American Philosophical Society== Patterson was the youngest person elected to the [[American Philosophical Society]] at the age of 22 in 1809. He served as secretary in 1813, as vice-president in 1825, and as president in 1849.{{sfn|Bache|1859|p=62}}
==References== '''Citations''' {{reflist}}
'''Sources''' * Frederik Nebeker, Astronomy and the Geophysical Tradition in the United States in the Nineteenth Century: A Guide to Manuscript Sources in the Library of the American Philosophical Society, APS Publication No. 16 (Philadelphia, 1991), p. 75–76. * {{cite book | last = Bache | first = Franklin | year = 1859 | title = Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society held at Philadelphia for promoting useful knowledge. v.6 1854-1858 | publisher = American Philosophical Society | url = https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=inu.30000099915070&view=1up&seq=68 }} * {{cite book | last = Breck | first = Samuel | year = 1854 | title = A Short Biography of Robert M. Patterson, M.D. | publisher = John C. Clark & Son | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=B3mHz_fv-_oC }}
==External links== * [https://philamuseum.org/collection/object/302651 Philadelphia Museum of Art - Portrait of Robert M. Patterson] * [http://www.amphilsoc.org/collections/view?docId=ead/Mss.B.P274-ead.xml Robert M. (Robert Maskell) Patterson papers, 1775-1853]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Patterson, Robert M.}} [[Category:1787 births]] [[Category:1854 deaths]] [[Category:19th-century American chemists]] [[Category:19th-century American educators]] [[Category:19th-century American mathematicians]] [[Category:19th-century American medical doctors]] [[Category:American people of Irish descent]] [[Category:Burials at Laurel Hill Cemetery (Philadelphia)]] [[Category:Chemists from Pennsylvania]] [[Category:Directors of the United States Mint]] [[Category:Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] [[Category:Fillmore administration personnel]] [[Category:Jackson administration personnel]] [[Category:Mathematicians from Philadelphia]] [[Category:Presidents of the American Philosophical Society]] [[Category:Medical doctors from Philadelphia]] [[Category:Polk administration personnel]] [[Category:Taylor administration personnel]] [[Category:Tyler administration personnel]] [[Category:University of Pennsylvania alumni]] [[Category:University of Pennsylvania faculty]] [[Category:University of Virginia faculty]] [[Category:Van Buren administration personnel]] [[Category:William Henry Harrison administration personnel]]