At the age of 22, he won the position of engrossing clerk of the North Carolina House of Commons.

He later became clerk of the North Carolina Senate, and, from 1835 to 1837, he served as state treasurer.

Even though Patterson was a Whig, he was elected treasurer by a majority-Democratic state legislature.

[2] Patterson served as chair of the Caldwell County court; as a member of the House of Commons (1854); and as a state senator (1846, 1848, and 1864).

Other offices Patterson held included president of the Raleigh and Gaston Railroad, clerk of the Superior Court, justice of the peace, Indian commissioner, trustee of the University of North Carolina, and various positions with the Masons.