JAMES WILLIS PATTERSON, US SENATOR FROM NEW HAMPSHIRE, SPONSOR OF LEGISLATION ESTABLISHING SCHOOLS FOR BLACK STUDENTS IN WASHINGTON, DC, SIGNATURE FREE FRANK COVER TO EPPING NEW HAMPSHIRE

New Hampshire

This cover has Black History significance.  Clean and fresh appearance on this free franked stampless cover from historic New Hampshire policitican. James Willis Patterson (July 2, 1823 – May 4, 1893) was a U.S. Representative and Senator from New Hampshire. Born in Henniker, NH, he was the son of William and Frances M. Shepard Patterson. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1848, and was principal of the Woodstock Academy in Connecticut for two years. He attended the Theological Seminary at New Haven, Connecticut, where he studied law. Patterson was a professor of mathematics, astronomy, and meteorology at Dartmouth (1854-1865) and a member of the N.H. House of Representatives in 1862. Elected as a Republican to the 38th and 39th Congresses, Patterson was a U.S. Representative for the third district of New Hampshire (March 4, 1863 - March 3, 1867). He was elected to the U.S. Senate and served from March 4, 1867, to March 3, 1873. He was chairman of the Committee on Enrolled Bills during the 41st Congress and a member of the Committee on the District of Columbia during the 41st and 42nd Congresses. The Patterson School, which merged with the Garnett school in 1929 and then became Shaw Middle School at Garnett-Patterson, in Washington, DC was named in his honor because he sponsored the legislation creating a public school system for black students in Washington, DC. In 1873, Patterson was found to have given false testimony to House and Senate Committees who recommended his expulsion from the Senate for bribery in the Crédit Mobilier Scandal. His term expired before action could be taken. Patterson was a regent of the Smithsonian Institution and in 1877-1878 was a member of the State house of representatives. He was State superintendent of public instruction from 1881 to 1893, and president of American Institute of Instruction. He died in Hanover, NH, and is interred at Dartmouth College Cemetery.c politician James Willis Patterson, of New Hampshire. No content in envelope.