James W. Patterson

James Willis Patterson ( born July 2, 1823 in Henniker, Merrimack County, New Hampshire; † May 4, 1893 in Hanover, New Hampshire ) was an American politician ( Republican). He represented the State of New Hampshire in both chambers of Congress.

After completing his education, James Patterson wrote at Dartmouth College in Hanover and graduated in 1848. Thereafter, he was for two years manager of the Woodstock Academy, a private school in Connecticut. He attended following a theological seminary in New Haven, studied law and worked as a lecturer in mathematics, astronomy and meteorology at Dartmouth College from 1854 to 1865.

Finally, he suggested also a political career. This began in 1862 with membership of the House of Representatives from New Hampshire; the following year he moved into the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington DC, where he remained as a representative of the 3rd Congressional District of New Hampshire on 4 March 1863 to 3 March 1867. Immediately thereafter, he joined the U.S. Senate in the footsteps of not more candidates win Republican George G. Fogg. During his six-year term of office Patterson was one of the Chairmen of the Committee on Enrolled Bills.

Patterson was after his time in the Senate from 1877 to 1878 once again a member of parliament of his home state. He also belonged to the governing body of the Smithsonian Institution on, was the head of the school board of New Hampshire and was at the American Institute of Instruction serving as the president.