Genealogical History of Some Carsons, Johnsons, and Related Families
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Chapter 25 - The Patmans

The Patmans are important to us because of Martha Jane Patman, who married Columbus James Peterman.

Roots in Henrico County, Virginia

William Patman  was born about 1743 in Henrico County, VA.  He married Sarah Watson  in Henrico County about 1759, and died in Henrico County in February, 1767. Sarah Watson  was the daughter of John Watson  and Mary Biggers , and she was born in Henrico County about 1745 and died there about 1772. 

John Watson, above,  was born in Henrico County about 1678 and died there about 1750.  He must have liked being 40 years of age – in 1688, he swore that he was 40 years of age, and he made the same oath again in 1690.  He married twice.  His first wife was Mary Biggers, and his second wife was Martha ----- Hynes.  

John Watson ’s father was also named John Watson , who was born in Virginia about 1650 and died in Henrico County February 1, 1705 or 1706.  John Watson Sr. married Alice -----, who was the widow of Henry Rowen .  Alice was about fifteen years older than John, and she was already the mother of three children when they married.  John and Alice Watson owned at least one slave, an Indian boy named Peter.  Alice lived into her eighties, and died after 1715.  Her son Joseph cared for her in her old age.

Indian Slaves

Indian slaves were not uncommon in the English colonies.  At least 24,000, and maybe as many as 51,000, Indians were enslaved in the colonies between 1670 and 1715.   There were Indian slaves in most of the colonies, but the trade in Indian slaves was most active in the Carolinas and centered in Charleston.  The English allied themselves with the Shawnee for the capture of slaves, and when the Shawnee tired of this mercenary venture, the English turned upon the Shawnee.  Many Indians were exported to the West Indies or to northern colonies.  The slave trade was one reason the Cherokee sided with the French against the British in the French and Indian War of 1760.  Many of the so-called Indian wars were merely the Indians’ reaction to the Indian slave trade.

Children of John Watson and Alice ----- were:

  • John Watson

  • Joseph Watson

  • Benjamin Watson
  • Sarah Watson  

Among the children of William Patman and Sarah Watson were William Watson Patman  (see

below) and Agnes Patman , who was born about 1762 in Henrico County.

A Very Short Soldier

William Watson Patman , Sr., son of William Patman and Sarah Watson, was born in Henrico County, VA, in 1760. When he joined the Continental Army at age 16, he was so short that he stood on a block in the crowd so that he would be noticed and be chosen.  He served as a sergeant in the Virginia artillery during the American Revolution, and received a certificate for the balance of his full payment for service on June 23, 1783.  He was issued a warrant for 200 acres of land for his three years of service.

William Watson Patman , Sr., married Susanna Biggers  in Oglethorpe County, Georgia, in1780, and later they lived in Coweta, Georgia.  She was born in Prince Edwards County,Virginia, and inherited fourteen slaves from her father, William Biggers , in OglethorpeCounty, GA.  William Watson Patman  Sr. died July 2, 1821 in Lexington, Oglethorpe County, GA.  SusannahBiggers died in Oglethorpe County, GA, in Jamuary, 1840. 

Children of William Watson Patman , Sr., and Susanna Biggers  were:

  • Watson Patman
  • James Patman
  • Nancy Patman
  • Susannah B. Patman
  • Mary Polly Patman (1786-1855)
  • John W. Patman
  • William Patman, Jr .
  • Elizabeth Patman

Mary Polly Patman, daughter of William Watson Patman , Sr., and Susanna Biggers ,  married Samuel Weaver  December 14, 1800. 

William Patman Jr ., son of William Watson Patman , Sr., and Susanna Biggers , married Nancy Leggett  September 13, 1812. 

Elizabeth Patman, daughter of William Watson Patman , Sr., and Susanna Biggers ,  married Lewis Lester  May 7, 1812. 

Watson Patman, son of William Watson Patman , Sr., and Susanna Biggers ,  married first Polly Leggett  on June 11, 1815, and second Mary Pinson .

James Patman, son of William Watson Patman , Sr., and Susanna Biggers ,  married Elizabeth Nicholson  March 24, 1816. 

Susannah Patman, daughter of William Watson Patman , Sr., and Susanna Biggers ,  married John Donnahoe  September 23, 1823.

John W. Patman , son of William Watson Patman , Sr., and Susanna Biggers , was born in Henrico County, VA, February 19, 1788.  His first wife was Mary Polly Weaver , whom he married May 14, 1809.  Mary Polly Weaver  was born in 1790, and died in Oglethorpe County, GA, in 1822.  

John W. Patman’s second wife was Sarah Ellen Wright  (possibly a widow, born Sarah Ellen Weaver, sister of Mary Polly Weaver ), whom he married in Lexington, GA, May 2, 1822.  She was born in Oglethorpe County, GA, in 1801. 

The Wagon that Floated Away

John W. Patman  and Sarah Ellen Wright  moved to Floyd County, Georgia, in 1849.  During the moving, John W. Patman  attempted to cross the Coosa River with a wagon load of household goods, but the water was up so high that the loaded wagon started to float downstream.  In order to save himself and the horses, he cut the horses loose and swam ashore, but he contracted pneumonia and died several days later, on January 21, 1849.  He is buried in Kinnebrew Cemetery in Rome, Georgia.

Sarah Ellen Wright  died in Rome, GA, October 22, 1879.

Among the children of John W. Patman and Sarah Ellen Wright was Martha Jane Patman , who was born in 1823 in Oglethorpe County, Georgia,  and who married Columbus James Peterman  (See Chapter 23).

References: 179

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