Handbook N-P - Fulton County Public Library

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In the extreme northwest corner of Citizens Cemetery, along West Ninth Street, there is a
small gray granite gravestone that proclaims: “John Patton, Died May 15, 1905, Patriot of Civil
War 1861-1865, Colored.”
Behind this curious inscription is the unusual story of a Negro slave who escaped from
his masters in the South, joind a Union Army regiment containing Rochester soldiers and ended
his days as “Uncle Johnny Patton,” a respected citizen of this community.
It is a tale that became a part of my 1997 book concerning the Civil War experiences of
that regiment, the 87th Indiana, entitled “A Stupendous Effort.” Not long ago a woman came to
our office to inquire about the meaning of the headstone’s lettering, thereby forcing me to accept
the astonishing fact that not everyone has read that excellent book. Such dereliction will not,
however, stand in the way of a repetion of this interesting bit of local history.
The 87th Indiana, which had 300 Fulton County men among its 10 companies, was
encamped in Tennessee at Triune, south of Nashville, in the spring of 1863 when John Patton
wandered into its midst. He had become aware of President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation
that freed all slaves in territories then in rebellion against the federal government. So he escaped
from his slaveowning master and sought refuge with the nearest Union Army. Thousands like him
were doing the same thing at the time.
As it happened Patton encoutered soldiers of the 87th’s Company F, whose commander,
Captain Horace Long of Rochester, allowed him to stay as a personal cook and body servant. He
remained with Long the company and regiment for the rest of the war, through the battle of
Chickamauga, the overland campaign leading to the capture of Atlanta, the resulting March to the
Sea and finally, the Carolinas campaign to war’s end.
When that came in April of 1865, Patton was invited by Long and other soldiers from
Rochester to return here and live out his life.
That he did and for the next 40 years he was a familiar figure on the local scene. He
lived in a small frame house in the southeastern part of the town and performed all manner of
useful work for his fellow citizens. They treated him generaly as one of their own and described
him as “willing, honest and genteel.” Late in his life they bought him a peanut and popcorn stand
which he operated for many years along Main Street.
Patton’s age at his death was listed only as “over 80” and not much is known of his
background before he appeared at Triume. He once said that he married as a young slave and that
his wife and three children were sold away from him. He was sold himself to three diferent
master, he claimed, once for the handsome sum of $1,400.
The true measure of John Patton’s life as a free man in Rochester, Indiana, was the
respect shown to his memory upon his passing in the spring of 1905.
His soldier friends quickly determined that “Uncle Johnny” would not be consigned to a
pauper’s grave. They agreed to share the expenses of a funeral and appointed two of their number
to make the arrangements.
The funeral itself took the form of a campfire ceremony of the Grand Army of the
Republic, the organization of Civil War veterans. Thus was Patton granted the ultimate
compliment his soldier friends could give: recognition as a comrade.
The services held at the Fulton County Home were attended by 30 Civil War veterans. A
local minister gave the sermon and seven of Patton’s soldier friends each made brief remarks
concerning his life.
The Evening Sentinel, finally and fittingly, published a substantial obituary of this former
slave in which it was written that the funeral “was a tribute of respect to his faithfulness and
integrity as a man” and went on to state that Patton “possessed the noblest qualities of the colored
race and his memory will abide in Rochester for many a day.”
And so it has.
[Rochester Sentinel, Tuesday, October 3, 2000]
PAULK, KENNETH [Rochester, Indiana]