Patterson, Robert

Patterson, Robert LL.D., an American philanthropist and educator, was born in the north of Ireland, May 30,1743. In 1768 he emigrated to Philadelphia. In 1774 he was appointed principal of the academy at Wilmington, Delaware. In the Revolutionary war he acted as brigade major. In 1779 he was appointed professor of mathematics in the University of Pennsylvania, and then vice- provost. In 1805 he was appointed director of the Mint of the United States. In 1819 he was chosen president of the American Peace Society, and later president of the American Philosophical Society. He died July 22, 1824. A remarkable trait of Mr. Patterson's character, and its crowning excellence, was his fervent piety. It influenced all his conduct from his youth. He was an elder of the Scotch Presbyterian Church nearly half a century. In the transactions of the Philosophical Society he published many papers.