William S. Patten Journal and Scrapbook
Content Description
The main item in this collection is an oversized personal journal and scrapbook maintained from 1907-1915 by William S. Patten, an officer in the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps. Many pages include dated journal or diary-type entries describing activties of the day often supplemented with images or ephemera. This note highlights some of the significant content in the scrapbook, but it is not a comprehensive inventory of subjects covered.
Although there are some photographs of his work with the military (pages 12-26 images of Battery A of Boston in Sandwich, Massachusetts, 1908), the bulk of the material in the volume document Patten's leisure activities, particularly attending the the theater. The volume includes dozens of theater programs tipped in throughout. He also enjoyed attended sporting events, and participating in recreational activities, including equestrian events (pages 76-80, pages 88-102), fox hunting, polo, and other sports.
The volume also contains postcards and original photographs, as well as text descriptions, of several family and recreational trips. Notable trips include a 1910 cruise around the Carribbean, including visits to Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Panama, Cuba, Barbados, St. Thomas, and other locations (pages 141-167 and pages 429-440) and a 1908 trip to Mexico (pages 182-215). There are also family photographs and information about other activties of Patten and his family.
Significantly, Patten was in Europe over the winter of 1914-15, and the volume includes 50 pages recording his experiences in France and Belgium—particularly activities of the war relief effort (pages 268-313). This section includes dozens of picture postcards with images of war destruction in France and Belgium, correspondence, documents (including Patten's French driver's license), other ephemera from France and Belgium, and some newspapers clippings.
Formats in the collection include handwritten journal entries, printed ephemera—including programs, tickets, and postcards—original photographs, personal documents, newspaper clippings, and other items.
Dates
- Creation: 1907-1915
Creator
- Patten, William S., 1852-1932 (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
There are no access restrictions on this collection
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright status for collection materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.
Biographical / Historical
William Samuel Patten (1852-1932) was an officer in the United States Army, who enjoyed the theater, sports, and recreational activties in his spare time. Born in Poughkeepsie, New York, Patten was a member of an old American family, and he counted Rev. Eleazar Wheelock, the founder of Dartmouth, and Rev. John Davenport, a founder of the New Haven colony, among his ancestors. His father George Washington Patten was in the United States Military and was noted for his service in the Mexican-American war. William S. Patten graduated from Riverview Military Academy in Poughkeepsie in 1873, and he soon joined the Army as a second lieutenant in the 18th New York Infantry in 1875. He became a captain in the United States Army Quartermaster Corps in 1883 and would remain with that service for the rest of his military career. Patten served in the Spanish-American War. He achieved the rank of Colonel in 1903, and he retired from active service in 1910. He we recalled to service during World War One and served as the President of the Court Martial on Governors Island, New York. Patten died in California in 1932.
In 2008, William S. Patten's grandson, also named William S. Patten, published a family memoir, titled, My Three Fathers: And the Elegant Deceptions of My Mother, Susan Mary Alsop
Full Extent
.821 Cubic Feet (1 oversize flat box; 1 half document case (legal))
Language of Materials
English
Processing Information
Some loose material has been relocated to folders.
Genre / Form
- Black-and-white photographs
- Journals (accounts)
- Postcards
- Printed ephemera
- Programs (documents)
- Scrapbooks
Geographic
Topical
- Status
- Completed
- Date
- March 2026
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the University of Notre Dame Rare Books & Special Collections Repository