His grandfather was Revolutionary War general Hugh Mercer, and his father was John Patton, a prominent lawyer and politician in the Richmond area.

He was educated at the Fairfax Institute and then began studying law under his father at the age of nineteen.

Two years after their marriage, the couple moved to St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana in order to manage a cotton plantation.

At the beginning of the US Civil War Patton was elected captain of the Screwmen's Guard and ordered to take command of the battery at Chalmette near New Orleans.

He also made efforts to progress the construction of railroads which gave better access to the west and northwest, and improve sanitary conditions.

In 1884 he was elected as Treasurer of the city and he was later appointed as tax collector for the fourth district by Governor Nicholls.