This collection is open for research.
Personal and professional papers and memorabilia created or collected by members of the Patten family were donated to Special Collections on September 29, 1995 by Linda Peavy and Ursula Smith of Middletown Springs, Vermont.
Series 1 Correspondence, 1895-1961
Series 2 Biographical Materials, 1910-1948
Series 3 Subject Files, 1925-1936
Subseries 1 Frances Smith Patten's Extension Service Case Files, 1925-1929
Subseries 2 George Y. Patten's Legal Case Files, 1925-1946
Series 4 Financial Records, 1898-1906
Series 5 Printed Materials, 1921-1986
Series 6 School Notes and Records, 1915-1926
Series 7 Memorabilia, 1911-1940
Series 8 Photographs, 1900-1946
The Patten Family members highlighted in this collection are: Francis England Wall (F.E.W.) Patten (1823-1898); his son George Yager Patten (1876-1951); George's first wife, Eleanor Ferris Patten (d. 1943); their daughter, Margaret Patten (1903- ? ); George's second wife, Sarah Frances Smith Patten (1899-1986).
Born in Missouri, F.E.W. Patten settled in Virginia City, Montana as a merchant in 1863, served in the fourth Montana Territorial Legislature, and until his death in 1898, sold real estate and insurance in Butte. F.E.W. married Mary Amelia Armstrong. Their son, George Y. Patten, was born at Virginia City in 1876 and attended public schools in Butte. After 1893, he worked as a court stenographer and studied law. In 1900, rather than going to law school, George took the bar exam and passed with highest honors. He built up a private practice dealing primarily with corporate law, working closely with the law firm of Cotter and McHatton, and became widely recognized as an expert in mining, water rights, and public policy laws. In 1901, he married Eleanor Ferris (? - 1943), daughter of Colonel Edward and Margaret Eastman Ferris. George and Eleanor had three children, Margaret (1903 - ?), Mary (1905 - ?), and Eleanor Jr. (1913 - ?). George married Sarah Frances Smith in 1945. Frances was born in 1899 in Durham, Kansas. She completed her B.A. in home economics at Kansas State University in 1922, and her M.A. in adult education at Columbia University in 1938. She worked for Kansas State College for the Extension Division from 1925 to 1927. She continued her Extension Service work in Flathead County, Montana until 1929. Frances Patten taught for the Department of Home Economics at Montana State College, Bozeman between 1946 and 1964. She spent the last 7 years of her teaching career doing extension work in the Middle East. George Y. Patten died in Bozeman in 1951. Frances Patten died in Bozeman in 1986.
This collection was processed 2009 April 17
The Patten Family Papers contain: correspondence; biographical materials; case files; printed materials; school notes and artwork; memorabilia; and photographs. Series are arranged according to document type and files are generally arranged chronologically within each series. The earlier documents, 1895-1900 primarily pertain to F.E.W. Patten and George Y. Patten. The documents between 1900 and the 1920s generally pertain to George Y. Patten and his first marriage to Eleanor Ferris and their daughter Margaret. The later documents from the 1920s to 1986 refer mainly to George and his second wife, Frances Smith Patten. Correspondence contains the personal correspondence of F.E.W. and Mary Patten, and George and Frances Patten. Letters from Frances Patten while she was in the Middle East as an American Field Staff agent are extensive. George Y. Patten's professional correspondence is organized within his case files and pertain to such topics as the Montana Automobile Association, the West Gallatin Highway into Yellowstone National Park, and the establishment of a Lewis and Clark Memorial. Correspondents in these files include Senator Burton K. Wheeler, Horace Albright, and Oscar O. Mueller. Biographical Materials holds news clippings, George Y. Patten's early scrapbook, and Eleanor Ferris Patten's description of her childhood in the American West. Subject Files have been divided into two subseries: One contains Frances Smith Patten's case files, the other contains portions of George Y. Patten's legal case files. Printed materials include pamphlets and news clippings on art, Montana history and international travel. School Notes and Records relates entirely to Margaret Patten's secondary school work and shows her interest and endeavors in visual art. Memorabilia refers to Margaret Patten's scrapbook and items collected by Frances Patten. Photographs refer mainly to Frances Smith Patten's Extension Service work and to her marriage to George Y. Patten. Earlier photographs of the Patten family are found in George Y. Patten's and Margaret Patten's scrapbooks and are filed in the Biographical Materials and Memorabilia series respectively.
Correspondence contains incoming and outgoing letters from members of the Patten family and are arranged chronologically. Early correspondence, prior to 1900, refer to F.E.W. Patten's life and death. The later correspondence contains Frances Patten's letters to Julia Martin, George Y. Patten's cousin, and describe Frances' experiences in the Middle East as an American Field Staff agent, 1956-1964. The majority of George Y. Patten's correspondence are integral to his legal work and are arranged within his case files in the Subject Files series.
Biographical Materials contains newspaper clippings, George Patten's scrapbook of his family life at the turn of the century, and a short pioneering account by Eleanor Ferris Patten telling of her early childhood in the American West. George Y. Patten's scrapbook contains both news clippings and photographs from 1892-1910. All other photographs are in Series 8, Photographs.
Subject files contain Frances Smith Patten's extension work case files from 1925 to 1929 and portions of George Y. Patten's legal case files from the 1920s to 1949. The Subject Files series has been divided into two subseries according to creator. Subseries 1 contains Frances Patten's case files, and Subseries 2 contains George Y. Patten's files.
Frances Smith Patten's Extension Work files are the yearly reports she wrote documenting her work in either Kansas or Flathead County, Montana. They contain information on 4-H clubs, women's/girls' clubs, home economics displays at fairs, women's camps, and clothing design and costs. Photographs have been removed from the files, assigned numbers 7 through 84, and have been placed in Series 8, Photographs. Each removal number has been labeled on its original case file page.
Portions of George Y. Patten's legal case files have been separated according to both document type and subject and have been arranged within each subject category chronologically. Files 1-31 refer to his work regarding Montana's highways; files 32-36 contain; files pertaining to the Montana Automobile Association and refer to gasoline taxes and federal funds for road construction, files 37-43 refer to the establishment of a Lewis and Clark Memorial and its proposed location at Bozeman, Montana. File 44, Patten's correspondence with Oscar O. Mueller, involves questions on Montana history. The files 1-31 pertaining to Montana's highways has been subdivided according to specific highways or projects. Files 1-18 refer almost solely to the construction and up keep of the West Gallatin Highway into Yellowstone National Park. Files 19-22 generally contain information on the Bridger Canyon Highway, and files 23-31 generally hold information on Highway 10 and other miscellaneous road projects. There is some overlap in subject materials.
Financial Records contains George Y. Patten's early family and business financial registers.
Printed materials include published works and documents collected by Margaret and Frances Smith Patten. Pamphlets refer to art, art exhibitions, Montana history, and Extension Service work. News clippings from the 1970s focus on Frances Patten's continued interest in world travel, and Montana life and communities. Printed materials are arranged chronologically.
School Notes are arranged chronologically and contain Margaret Patten's secondary and post-school work. Her written works and 1920-1921 school annual are in box 4. Her artwork, found in box 5, contains art exercises in pencil, ink, watercolor, and acrylic. Finished works are found in Box 5, file 2.
Memorabilia contains objects, some photos and documents collected by either Margaret or Frances Patten. Margaret Patten's scrapbook dates from 1911-1920 and relates her interests and social activities during this time. Frances Patten's memorabilia are limited and contain primarily placecards from and invitations to social gatherings.
All photographs are printed in black and white, and the majority pertain to Frances Patten's work as a home economics instructor for Extension Services and for the Department of Home Economics at Montana State College. Photos in folders 8-12 were removed from the case files in Series 3, subseries 1, and bear the same number indicated on the pages from which they were removed. Frances Patten's marriage to George Y. Patten and subsequent family life is also documented. Missing are any photos of her work in the Middle East. Photographs which were glued to scrapbook pages, and which could not be removed without damage remain in George Y. Patten's scrapbook in box 1, file 15, and in Margaret Patten's scrapbook in Box 6, file 1.
Photos are arranged chronologically.