Pioneer History by Richard C. Schmal

Pioneer Lewis N. Pattee, born in Montreal, Canada, in 1802, came to Huron County, Ohio, as a young man. His ancestry has been traced to France.

In 1829, he took as his bride Susan Munger, born in 1803 of Scottish lineage. A short time after their marriage they moved to LaPorte County, and then to West Creek Township, Lake County, in 1851. After farming at that location for twenty years, they moved to Kankakee County, Ill., where they farmed four hundred acres.

Lewis was very successful in all his farming and business dealings.

Susan was born in the village of Fenor, Madison County, New York, and was but nine years old when Buffalo was burned by the British in 1812. The family was forced to flee in the night with their oxen to Genesee County, New York, where they lived until their move to Huron County four years later. Susan died in 1895 at the age of 92, while Lewis died in 1876.

Lewis and Susan Munger Pattee were the parents of eight children, though we have a record of only seven: Constantine, Casimer, "J.E.", Mary, Wesley, Cyrus and Arminta Sophronia.

Constantine, 1841-1917, was born near Michigan City, LaPorte County, and came with his parents to Lake County in 1851. At the age of 19, he enlisted in Company B, 20th Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and was wounded at the battle of Richmond during the Civil War.

Soon after his discharge, he married Melvina Pattee, 1843-1916, at Door Village, Indiana, them purchased a farm at North Hayden, moving to Lowell in 1876. Their children were: Otis, born 1870, who died as a child; Arthur C. 1870-1936, whose wife's name was Minnie, and whose daughter, Olive, died as an infant in 1914; and Nora, 1875-1939, a well-known music teacher who lived for many years on Washington St. in Lowell.

Melvina passed away in 1916, and Constantine, known to most as "C.C.", was killed by a train at the Washington St. crossing in 1917. He was hard of hearing, and did not hear the train approaching.

Little is known of the other two soldier sons of pioneers Lewis and Susan Pattee, only the story of their enlisting in the army at the time of the Civil War. Cpl. Casimer Pattee served in Company G, 20th Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and J.E. Pattee served in Company B, the same outfit his brother Constantine served.

Casimer and J.E. were captured during the Battle of Gettysburg, and died of starvation at Belle Island and Libby Prisons. Libby Prison was a Confederate jail used mainly to confine officer prisoners of war at Richmond, Virginia. It was a four-story warehouse building of eight rooms, no furniture, where the men slept on the floor and had little food and poor sanitary conditions.

The list of soldier names on the monument in Lowell's town square also lists one other Pattee name: M.W. Pattee, 73rd Indiana Volunteer Infantry, but we find no record of that name in the family records.

Mary, daughter of Lewis and Susan, was born 1839 and passed away 1853 at the age of 14.

Son Wesley, born 1836 in LaPorte County, came with his parents to Lake County at the age of 12. He often recalled his life as a pioneer, how he attended a school of hewn logs, twelve-by-twenty feet in size.

He wrote on a slanted board fastened to the log wall with wooden pins and sat on a rough bench with no backrest, while the teacher's place of honor was a mere stool. He studied on old spelling book and Smith's arithmetic with the light thru small openings where two logs were removed, and sat around the big stove in the center of the one-room school.

His teacher was paid the grand sum of twenty dollars per month.

In 1862, Wesley married Elizabeth Pattee, born in Door Prairie, Scipio Township, LaPorte County, Indiana in 1837, the second of twelve children. Her father was born in Canada, was a carpenter and and also a sailor into the port of Chicago when there were but a few homes on the beach.

Wesley and Elizabeth began their married life at Yellow-head Township, Ill., where they lived in a small log house just across the state line near West Creek Township.

In 1882, they moved to a farm near the West Creek Post Office and also owned land within the boundaries of the Town of Lowell. In fact, they were proud owners of a deed dated April 1, 1848, and signed by President Polk. They saw the West Creek area when much of the now rich agriculture region was mainly marsh and cattails.

Arminta Sophronia Pattee, daughter of Lewis and Susan Pattee, was born in Huron County, Ohio, in 1832, and died at Lowell in 1912. In 1853, she married Andrew Hayden, who passed away in 1861, and in 1868 she married Volney Dickey. There were three children by the first marriage and two by the second, though we have a record of only four of her children: Solon Hayden, Mrs. H.S. Love, Mansfield Dickey,and Arthur Dickey.

Cyrus Pattee, also a son of the early pioneer family, was born in 1830, and took part in the early settlement with his family in Kankakee County, Ill.

He married Nancy E Fleming, 1843-1916, who was born at Decatur, Indiana, the daughter of Alexander and Elenore Fleming. After the death of her mother in 1851, Nancy lived with the William Bliss family in Will County, Ill., where later she taught school for two years.

Cyrus and Nancy first farmed in Illinois and later moved to Lowell. Their children were Ernest, Lewis A., Dr. James A., Cyrus E., Jennie and Frank.

Son Ernest was born in 1879 and died at the age of two years, 11 months.

Cyrus E. Pattee, born 1870, became a Circuit Court Judge at South Bend, gaining national recognition for his work in Juvenile Court practices. He married Elizabeth Creed of South Bend. Their two children were a daughter, Dr. Comparetti of Maine, and son, Edwin J. of Oklahoma.

Jennie E. Pattee, only daughter of Cyrus Pattee, was born in 1876 and died in 1900.

Frank Pattee, her brother, was born in Kankakee County, Ill., in 1873, attended public schools and Valparaiso University, and was graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1900. He was a well-known lawyer in Crown Point. In 1907, he married Jessie M. Allman, a member of another prominent pioneer family

Dr. James A. Pattee, another son of Cyrus, was on the staff of Mayo Clinic, in Minnesota, where his son is now practicing.

Lewis Pattee, another son of Cyrus and Nancy Fleming Pattee, was born in July, 1866, on his parents farm in Kankakee County, Ill., where he was reared and attended the country school, Lowell High School, and Valparaiso College.

In March, 1892, he married Lottie Hayden, daughter of Daniel and Louise Hayden of another early pioneer family that arrived in 1837. A short time after their wedding, they purchased a farm two miles southeast of Lowell at the corner of Joe Martin Rd. and Belshaw Rd., where they lived for many years. They started their life together in an old shack of a house and a straw roofed barn on the farm, which had been run down by several careless renters.

They soon made improvements, including a large farm house which is still standing, though remodeled. The new house was soon followed by new barns and graneries. In their later years, they lived in a smaller house on the farm to make room for their son, Gilbert, who joined in the operation of the farm.

Lewis was a hard working and dependable farmer, and also served on the Lake County Council for thirty years. He took part in proceedings to build many public buildings during those years, sometimes at an annual pay of $5.00, and no travel expenses.

He and Lottie traveled the mud road to Lowell in their buggy for many years, coming into town for supplies for the farm. There was much joy in their household when they celebrated the 50th anniversary of their wedding March 10, 1942. Lewis died in 1944, and this unusual poem was written in his obituary:

"The decedent represented a stalwart type of midwestern farmer and of him might be said "Dare All, do what you can, Make Death salute you, at your grave and say, This was a Man."

Lewis and Lottie Hayden Pattee were the parents of five children: twins Malcolm and Manford, Gilbert, Roy, and Nola.

Malcolm, 1902-1984, married Mildred McClaren and had two children, Malcolm and Betty (Barlow).

Manford, born in 1902, and his wife, Mabel, had two children, Robert and Phyllis, both now of Florida.

Gilbert, the son of Lewis who stayed on the run the family farm, was born in 1898, and passed away 1966. He married Alberta Parrot, 1901-1975, and they had three children, Donald, 1932-1973, who married Mary Schrum, 1932-1975; Albert, of Sioux Falls, South Dakota; and Audrey, married to Bernard Stephan.

Nola, only daughter of Lewis and Lottie Pattee, was born in 1892 and died in 1968. She was married to Horace Carter, 1886-1968. The Carters lived in Lowell, and they had no children.

Roy Pattee, another son of Lewis A. Pattee, was born in 1889, and married Elvah Spry, 1899-1970, Roy was a well-known farmer and business man in Lowell area. He farmed in West Creek on Chestnut St., southwest of Lowell, and was one of the early pioneers in hybrid seed corn, raising about five acres of seed corn each year and carefully preparing his product.

He also was one of the first farmers in the region to use rubber tires on his farm equipment, and served as township trustee. He was presented the "Man of the Year Award" his special attention to helping others and for ten years after his death in 1970, the "Roy Pattee Award" was awarded by the Lowell Lions Club, to some person or group who helped the community in the same manner as Pattee.

Roy and Elvah Spry Pattee were the parents of one son, Julius E., who was born in 1921 and is now a well-known U.S. Postal Service employee in Lowell. His wife, Adelia Ewer Pattee, was born in 1920, and is a member of another well-known pioneer family. She has been the owner of a bridal shop in Lowell for many years.

Their two daughters are Jannon Dee married to Millard T. Clark, Jr., and Dana Ellen, married to Jimmie D. Baker.

The Pattee Family, from the pioneer days to modern times, have been a special blend of successful farmers and business owners, specializing in friendliness and hospitality.