James William Pattillo 1848-1926 My Paternal Great Grandfather

James William Pattillo as a young
man

James is the last of my eight great grandparents that I have to write about. Like both of my maternal great grandfathers, he owned his own business, so there is a lot to write about. James is also one of my connections to the south which fascinates me – a life so different from mine. This is the man my father was named after. In many ways, he looms large though in reality he died a pauper and is buried in the potters field at the San Lorenzo Pioneer Cemetery. James is an interesting tale.

He was born on May 15^th in 1848 in the small town of Boydton, Virginia which is just a smidgen north of the North Carolina border. His mother, Susan C. Land, died the same month – most likely in childbirth or due to complications from the birth – I don’t know which. He had an older brother Robert Henry Pattillo who was shown as being one year older on the 1850 census. So, his widowed father, James Henry Pattillo had two young sons and no wife and did what many did at that time – he married his wife’s older sister Louisa sixteen months after Susan died. James William, my great grandfather, never knew his mother and was raised by his stepmother. Susan and Louisa were the daughters of Robert C. Land and Sarah (maiden name unknown). I wrote a bio for Robert Land and posted it on October 20, 2017, and there is a two-part bio for James Henry Pattillo posted on June 14, 2015.

Another portrait of James - one I got from
my cousin Joyce

The James Henry Pattillo family was recorded on the1850 census living in Mecklenburg County, Virginia. Decades later a woman named Melba C. Crosse published a book titled Patillo, Pattillo, Pattullo, and Pittillo Families. James H. Pattillo appeared on page 106 along with his wife Louisa J. age 35, Robert age 3 and James age 2. James H. was listed as the Superintendent of the Poor House. All four family members were born in the state of Virginia. Crosse added in the text, that the name of James’s first wife, mother of the two boys, needs to be researched. With this information and the rest of what is in the Crosse book, I began my research into this branch of the family. It would take me several years to identify and confirm the name of James Henry’s first wife. James and Robert had two half-sisters Sarah Zeralda was born in 1851 and Ada Pattillo who was born on November 4, 1857. I’ve often wondered where they came up with the name Zeralda.

The Pattillo family next appeared on the 1860 census still living in Boydton in house number 868. James was eleven years old and his father was listed as a farmer. By the 1870 census, the Civil War had taken place and severely impacted the Pattillo family. Robert and James had both left home. Robert had moved to the adjacent town of Christianville (now Chase City). He was 22 and working as a clerk. I have yet to find James W. on the 1870 census – possibly because he was traveling cross country to Texas. I have no hard evidence of where James was or what he was doing between 1860 and 1879 when he married Carrie Brooks Stover on April 5, 1879 – that is a 19-year gap at a critical time of his life.

A photo of the stockyards in Handley taken by F. L. Utley.
Found on the Portals of Texas History website. James would
have spent time there as a Cattle Dealer.

Time in Texas

James and Carrie, their infant son Wirt and Carrie’s mother, Joanna Gaines Stover appeared on the 1880 census living in the Village of Handley in Tarrant County Texas. James’s profession was recorded as a Cattle Dealer. I also found James on the 1880 Agricultural Census that showed that he owned ten acres of tilled land valued at $200 and $710 worth of livestock – presumably mostly cattle.

The Texas State Historical Association describes Handley as having developed “when the Texas and Pacific Railway arrived there in 1876 (shortly before James and Carrie had arrived); a post office opened that year and was named for Confederate major James Madison Handley. By the mid-1880s the community had a church, a school, and a half-dozen businesses. Handley's population in 1903 was 156, and by 1915 it reported 905 residents and forty businesses. Its population continued to grow rapidly, as did that of nearby Fort Worth, and by the mid-1940s Handley had more than 3,000 residents. Fort Worth's growth, however, outpaced the railroad town, and in 1946 it annexed Handley.”

One of my photos of one of the commercial buildings in
the Handley National Historic District, 2017.

I visited Handley in 2017 and looked for buildings that appeared old enough to have survived from that era but did not find many.  I did find a concrete stamp by Frank Black dated 1868. A portion of Handley that includes the commercial district on Lancaster Street and a few other private homes and commercial buildings were placed on the National Register as a Historic District in 2002. These properties were constructed between 1910 and 1933 so were built after the time that James and Carrie lived there.

On December 30, 1884, James executed a contract with S.W. Rudd and his wife A.L. Rudd to purchase five acres in nearby Shackelford County – in the town of Albany, Texas. James paid $550 for these five acres. Albany was one of my favorite towns while on my genealogy trip. I met several very friendly and helpful people who were a tremendous help in finding the graves of our ancestors.

Handley Feed Store - also part of the historic district, 2017

Texas, and particularly Fort Worth was known for cattle during this time period. They had huge stockyards that processed millions of horses, mules, cattle, sheep and hogs that were raised in southern Texas and shipped out to Kansas, Missouri, New Mexico and Colorado. The boom years of the cattle industry ended in the late 1880s which is probably the reason James and Carrie decided to continue moving west. Their daughter Jo was born in Texas in 1885 and Mary was born in 1887. Then falling cattle prices and two severe blizzards that killed many cattle ended the boom era in 1886. By 1887 our Pattillo ancestors were living in Los Angeles.

Historic remnant stamped into the Handley sidewalk by
Frank Black in 1868

James and Carrie sold their property in Albany in 1893 but they only got $343 for it, losing over $200 after owning it for nine years. This seems hard to believe today but the loss of the cattle industry would have devalued land in the Fort Worth area – given that this makes sense.

James’s older brother Robert Pattillo died on July 13, 1889 at the age of 41. He is buried in Woodland Cemetery next to his son Robert Watkins Pattillo 1879-1957. Woodland is in Chase City – just one town away from Boydton where Robert H. and James were raised. I have not found a death certificate for Robert but the most common cause of death in the 1880s was consumption now known as tuberculosis – a highly infectious lung disease. I wonder how Robert’s death affected James?

James and an unknown man
from Joyce's album.

A New Life in California

By 1890, at the age of 42, James had reinvented himself. He had started a concrete finishing business in Los Angeles, California and had formed a partnership with a man named James A. Lovie. The name of the company was Pattillo & Company so James must have started the business and then Lovie joined him. The business was located at 9 North Main Street. According to his voter registration on August 1, 1890 the family home was at 3443 Del Monte. I found an interesting piece of information about James that was published in the Los Angeles Herald newspaper on October 23, 1890. They reported that James served on the election board as a Judge in the 26^th Voting District of the Third Supervisor District. The voting place was in a store owned by John Maskell and was located on the southeast corner of Main and 13^th Street in Los Angeles. So, I guess I was mistaken when I wrote in my previous post that Anna Vetter Pattillo started the tradition of serving on election boards. It seems that Anna was emulating her father-in-law.

In May of 1891, the Herald again published an article about James’s activities. On May 26^th he and a man named Osborn “spent a few days beautifying the town of Santa Monica by installing concrete paving on the grounds of Dr. Elliott”. Sounds like a lucrative contract.

The Los Angeles Herald article is about
James and Lovie's contract

Later that same year James was recommended for a contract to pour the sidewalks on 24^th Street between Main Street and Grand Avenue in Los Angeles. Two weeks later on November 24^th the Herald wrote that J.W. Pattillo’s bid to construct the concrete sidewalks on the west side of Pearl Street between 10^th and Ottawa was accepted. His bid price of 12.48 cents per square foot just beat out David Mulrein’s bid of .13 cents. On December 5^th the paper wrote that J.W. Pattillo’s protest was accepted. Apparently, the Street Superintendent had threatened to not accept the work that James had installed. James filed protest No. 700 which led to a second inspection after which acceptance of the work was recommended.

I also found a long article about an upcoming election where they were selecting delegates to attend the Democratic City Convention to elect the Mayor. The article gave a detailed narrative of how each candidate fared in each of ninth districts. James was listed as one of ten members of the “Regular Democratic Taxpayers Ticket” in the Fifth Ward. They were opposed by the “Regular Democratic Caucus Ticket”. The ticket that James was part of prevailed. They supported T.E. Rowan who was running against four other candidates for Mayor. Later in life James registered as a Republican.

Article about the Pearl Street
contract. Click on the article
to enlarge

James’s successful business efforts continued the following year when on February 13, 1892, he won the contract to pour the sidewalk on Flower Street from the south line of 23^rd Street to the north line of Adams Street. 

I found an article about James being delinquent on paying his property taxes on their Del Monte Street home in 1893. He owned property taxes and poll taxes totally $18.58 which is equivalent to $543 in 2020, so it makes you wonder why he hadn’t paid it. 

On May 23, 1893, the Herald wrote that Pattillo & McCombs bid 16.40 per square foot for sidewalks and .31 cents per linear foot for new curb for a new project in Pasadena. In the article they wrote that the specifications called for a Portland cement base, an asphalt topping, and granite block gutters. James’s firm was one of three that submitted bids – not sure if he ended up winning the bid.

Between 1893 and 1906 I found no additional news clips that mentioned James or his business but on February 26, 1906 there was an article announcing that Pattillo, Pattie and Huddleston won the contract to install the improvements on Dominquez Avenue. The scope of the contract included grading, laying a gravel base and pouring new curbs, gutters and sidewalk. This was in the town of Redondo Beach. In November of 1906 a Herald headline said “New Building Added to List for the Improvement of the City”. The article was about several new building projects and James was mentioned in reference to a new building to be built on South Figueroa Street. It was to be a two-story building designed by A.C. Smith. The builder was listed as Pattillo & Pattie. So, it appears that James was expanding beyond just doing concrete flatwork.

An excerpt from the Los Angeles Directory listing James's business
 J.W. Pattillo & Co. and his nephew's business - the Pattillo Contracting Co. Inc.

In June of 1908 James’s company was referenced in the article Commercial Strength – All Testify to Prosperity. I found James listed in the 1909 Directory as J.W. Pattillo & Company but then was surprised to see that James was shown as “unemployed” on the 1910 census. He was 62 in 1910 so I guess he had a right to retire after twenty years of running a construction company. It seems that his primary business entity was J.W. Pattillo & Company but for larger projects he teamed up with other small firms to compete for contracts. He was listed as a contractor in the 1914 directory but I’m not sure he was doing much work, if any. At that time, he and Carrie were living with their son Elmer and daughters Mary and Ruby at 1309 W. 51^st Street in San Pedro - a town in Los Angeles County.

One of the interesting things about James’s contracting career is that he had to compete with his nephew James Nelson Pattillo, Robert’s son. James Nelson first appeared in Los Angeles in 1896 when he registered to vote. At that time, he was living with his uncle and working as an employee of J.W. Pattillo & Company. But by 1908 James Nelson had formed his own concrete construction company. An article in the Herald reported that he had submitted a bid to build the sidewalks on Sunset Boulevard. His business name was Pattillo Contracting Company. The story of James Nelson Pattillo’s career is very interesting …. But I’ll save that for a future blog post.

Home Life in Los Angeles

James and Elmer seated in the middle. Carrie and Lewis
standing behind him. The twins Maude and Ruby in front,
Mary and Jo seated and standing by their bikes.

When the 1900 census was taken James, Carrie and their six children were living at 212 Jefferson Street. James was actively engaged in community affairs. On June 5^th, 1902 the Herald reported that James was a member of the Labor Day Committee and that the group was considering hosting a July picnic to raise funds for a Labor Day event. By 1909 the family had moved to an upscale neighborhood known as West Adams District. Their street address was 1176 W. 37^th Place. They were still at that address when the 1910 census was taken.

The rest of James and Carrie’s children were all born in Los Angeles – Lewis in 1890, twins Maude and Ruby in 1893, and Elmer in 1895 when James was 47. James William lived to see each of his children get married and he enjoyed spending time with his grandchildren while retired and living in Los Angeles.

James’s father James Henry Pattillo, having survived being ruined after the Civil War, died sometime after 1900. Then James’s wife, Carrie Brooks Stover died on January 22, 1916 and is buried in Los Angeles. James was 67 when Carrie died and for his remaining eleven years of his life James seemed to be a bit lost. He moved to Fresno around 1918 and lived in a rooming house with ten other men at 1233 N. Street. He was there until 1926. Later he lived at 1911 Fresno Street, and at 3011 Mackenzie Street.  In between he spent time living with his daughter and son-in-law Maude and Otto Baty, and for a time he lived with his son Lewis and his family in Oakland.

James died in Oakland on August 13, 1926. His cause of death was listed as Uremia which is kidney disease. He was 78 years old. He died at Fairmont Hospital and is buried at the San Lorenzo Pioneer Cemetery in a plot for indigent people. His name is misspelled as “Pattello” on the engraved monument. I found this clue while accompanying my business partner, Cathy Garrett on a consultation at the cemetery. After finding James’s name on the monument I went to the county to obtain his official death certificate and that confirmed the circumstances of his death. In 1892 James was described on his voter registration as being 5’10” tall, with brown hair and blue eyes.

This photo is from when James was living in Fresno.
He is with his son Lewis, grandsons Ed and Bert and
an unknown young woman.

My favorite family portrait. James seated on the right.
Carrie standing behind him and probably one of her sisters.
I believe Carrie's mother Joanna Gaines with her
grandson Lewis in her lap and granddaughters Mary
and Jo.

Handley Bank photo by David Dunnett from the Portal to
Texas History website

Family outing in Handley by F.L. Utley. The clothes the women
are wearing in this photo are very similar to ones worn by
James and Carrie's daughters a few years later.

One of my photos from my 2017 visit to Handley.

James and Carrie Pattillo's Los Angeles home

Another photo of James from Joyce's collection

James's brother Robert H. Pattillo headstone, 2017

Pattillo concrete stamp that belonged to James

James and his three oldest children - Jo, Mary
and Lewis

Names of those buried in the paupers grave in
the San Lorenzo Pioneer Cemetery. My reflection.

Sources For This Post: James and Carrie's marriage record and death certificates, US censues, voter registrations, and newspaper articles from the Los Angeles Herald.