W. F. Patterson

Creator

Preview

Identifier

20037086

Description

W. F. Patterson wears many hats including, lawyer, railroad man, and fireman. He is originally from Alabama and moved to Texas in 1900 when he married a Texas girl, the former Miss Lillie Maud Petty. When the railroad introduced the forty-hour week, Mr. Patterson took up law to pad out his income. He was admitted into the bar in 1920 at age forty-three after three years in night school. Since then he's only worked part-time at the law office. He took days off from the railroad when he was in the courtroom. He practices mostly in civil actions, some divorces, and a few criminal cases. After working a few years passed the railroad's retirement age, the sixty-seven year old man is retiring from the railroad to devote a full day to his law practice. Mr. Patterson is standing against a wall, wearing a suit without his blazer. There is a picture hanging on the wall above his head.Clipping details:"Rail Veteran Quits at 67 To Be Fulltime LawyerBy Mabel Gouldy.A 67-year-old fireman Monday afternoon closed an oil burner valve and pulled the safety cord on switch engine No. 491 at the T&P Yards for the last time, ending a railroading career of 39 years.But on Tuesday morning his only concession to retirement will be getting up at 7 a. m. instead of the customary 4:40.W. F. Patterson of 2622 Jennings, isn't going to quit working. From now on he'll devote a full day to law practice instead of the three hours daily he has spent in his legal office since being admitted to the bar in 1920.Having already worked almost three years beyond the customary railroad retirement age because of the manpower shortage, Patterson plans to operate his law practice single-handed for the duration.Two Sons in ArmyHis two sons, Charles O. and Frank Patterson, Jr., both wear captain's bars in the Army.A third star in the family's service flag is for Patterson's grandson, Sterling Emens Jr., who is in the Navy stationed at Los Angeles. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Patterson's late daughter, Mrs. Lavada Patterson Emens. . . . Patterson was 43 when admitted to the bar. He attended night school for three years prior to taking the examination. Before that his education had consisted of attending an ungraded country school in Alabama, where he was born. He took up law to pad out his income when the 40-hour week was introduced on the railroad.Came to Texas in 1896Coming to Texas in 1896 because he thought it 'a better place for a young man than one of the older states,' Patterson entered the employ of the T&P on May 5, 1905. He had married a Texas girl, the former Miss Lillie Maud Petty of Tioga, in 1900.During his first years of railroading he was in the yards surrounding the old T&P Station at the food of Main Street and the trains consisted of 20 to 30 freight cars. He stoked coal into engine fireboxes until about 15 years ago when they were converted to oil.Patterson saw the transition to the massive trackage at the Lancaster Yard where freights shuttle over a 'hump' and from two control towers are switched to the proper rails. He also saw trains grow to the present 75 and 100 cars.'Present day switching is a snap compared to the days of coal,' he said."

Archival Date

1944-07-31

Collection Name

Fort Worth Star-Telegram Collection

Collection Number

AR406-6-619

Original Format

Negatives, Black & White

File Format

JPG

Rights

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License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

Subjects

Patterson, W. F.; Railroad employees; Texas and Pacific Railroad; Firefighters; Lawyers; Pocket watches