Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1875-04-13
CRAMPS W. va. RELATIVES.

The new vein of mountain relations struck
by President Grant in West Virginia prom-
Uses to prove yeritable big bonanza. We
have already announced the appointment of.
Col. Oliver A. Patton, one of the newly dis
covered cousins, to the Office of Register of
the Land Office at Salt Lake in Utah, and the
Kansas City Times gives some interesting
details of the personal history Of the gentle-
man, who, It seems. acquired his title of Col
or, more properly. Lieuteuaut- Colonel through
great tribulation and suffering during what
patriotic lecturers sued to describe as ..the
darkest hours Of tie rebellion" Col Patton's
participation in'the great conflict which led
to the elevation of his distinguished relative
to the highest Office in the gift ofshissooun>
trymen geographically described in the above,
named journal as follows: :.
''He lett Kentucky in 1852 to Join the;
rebel army. but neverjoiued it He got his.
friends'at home into numerous difficulties. BY .
making them long visits under preteuce. of
recruiting for the rebel army, but he never
got any recruits. At last he was lpicked up
'by Federal -scoating party, aud languished
for a'ttme' on Government ratons ASA ,pris>
oner' of var. This was the only service he
ever performed .as q rebel soldier, and he
thought it entitled him to be exchanged as a
tLieutenaut-Colonel. His success in getting
himself exchanged on those terms involved
him in difficulties with the Confederate au-
liberties, aud during the last.two years of the
war he lodged about between the contendins
hosts, acoiding both and living upon rebel
sympathizers as an escaped prisoner irving to
make his way back to his regiment He kept
this up until his name became a terror to
owners Of horsefesh The closeiof the war
found him in FlemiugsburR Jail, with about
sixteen indictments for horse stealing hanging
over him. Saved from the penit ,ntiary by
Executive clemency, he emigrated to West
Virginia. and there he is singled out by Pres
ident Grant as worthy of still further Execu-
tive favor"
Correspondents in Pittsburgh and West
Virginia had informed us that Col. Patton
was "some sort of cousin to the President,
but Grant, us is we'll known, acknowledges
consanguinity of very remote degrees as cons
shutting valid claim to official honors and
emolument, and we had some curiosity to as
certain the precise distance of relationship
which is good for so lucrative an flee as that
conferred upon the war-worn veteran just
translated from the rugged mountains of West
Virginia to the land of milk and honey eccu>
pied by the followers of Brigham Young -
Happilye letter in the 'Cincinsati C1mmer>
cia1-enables- us ito solve this problem. A cor
respondent of that trustworthy journal. writing
from Charleston, West Virginia, says that
Col. Patton married the sister of G. c. Tomp>
kius Of Charleston, and rtha. Tompkins is an
own first cousin of the President It is proper
tossay just here, in order to forefend any ac-
cusation of neglect of his own flesh and blood
by President Grant that might be preferred
by persons who have never before heard of
Tompkins, that the last>named individual is
one of the newly discovered cousins, and that
he hes been duly appointed Marshal of the
Territory of Colorado, When that Territory
is organized as State it will doubtless be ex-
pected to elect Tompkins as Senator.