Patterson family

The Patterson family is a prominent family from North Carolina that was involved in politics and business for several generations, serving in the state and national level and founding successful companies, including the American Machine and Foundry Company.

Their son, Rufus Lenoir Patterson, was mayor of Salem, North Carolina and sired Rufus Lenoir Patterson Jr., who founded American Machine and Foundry and served as a vice president of the American Tobacco Company.

Rufus Jr.'s grandson, Herbert Parsons Patterson, served as president of the Chase Manhattan Bank.

[2] In the 1920s, Rufus L. Patterson Jr. and his college classmate and fraternity brother, John Motley Morehead III (who was also a first cousin of his wife),[18] funded the $100,000 construction cost of the Morehead-Patterson Bell Tower, a bell tower designed by McKim, Mead & White and located on the campus of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

It was initially built to commemorate the NC State alumni that fell during World War I.