| Summary: | This is a collection of obituaries for Henry Patton. Florence historian Lee Freeman notes: "Henry Patton (1832-1901) was a slave of the Hon. Judge Sydney Cherry Posey (one of Lauderdale's two delegates to the 1861 AL Secession Convention in Montgomery). In his 1871 (disallowed) Southern Claims application file Henry stated that he agreed to remain on Judge Posey's plantation "in return for a horse, a mule, and a third interest in the other stock" (the Judge allowed Henry to own property and gave him a large measure of freedom) and remained until he was "driven away from home by the Rebel soldiers." Afterwards he acted as a scout for the Federal soldiers." In another deposition Henry and two witnesses testified that "after freedom" (1864) he "went in the 10th Tennessee U. S. Cavalry" for eighteen months however no service records have been located for Henry Patton in the 10th TN Cav, USA or any of the USCT regiments. Rachel A. Morgan, Judge Posey's daughter testified that Henry had only a small percentage of Negro blood hence was often taken for a white man, and that "Henry was a very smart man and a very shrewd businessman." Henry's wife's name was Rachel (1854-1902) and she had been a slave of the Callahan family before becoming the slave of "Captain Huff." She and Henry had at least seven children, including the respected Florence liveryman Jesse Patton (1865-1910)."The photograph of Henry Patton is from his great-granddaughter Mrs. Rhuea (Patton) France.
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