1937 PATTERSON FAMILY REUNION

Row 2 - Lee Elders, Earl Saffel, James Patterson, Glenwood Waller, Carl Patterson, Irene Canterberry Patterson, Effie Patterson Rosener, Darrell Rosener, Virgie Patterson Horn, Carla Horn, Mae Straughn Patterson, Maggie Patterson Saffel, Alice L. Covington Patterson, McAnally A. Patterson, Bertha Patterson Sigman, Stella Patterson Elders, Hazel Patterson Straughn Koser, Hulda Alice Patterson Waller, Robert L. Waller, Mary Jackson (Elders), Ruth Patterson Pinkston, Melvin Straughn

Row 3 - Gerome Pinkston (L. Staughn's boyfriend), Earl Smith, Ollie Patterson Smith, Lowell Cunningham, Nora Belle Patterson Patterson, John Patterson, C. Rowena Holmes Waller, Luther Elders, Elmer Rosener, Marvin Patterson, Elizabeth Waller Byington, John Saffel, Laura Saffel, Gladys Patterson Heck, Everett Heck, Myrtle Patterson Cunningham, Lawrence Cunningham, Mary Bennett Patterson, Woodrow Patterson, Wilma Faye Patterson, Iva Patterson Powell, Martin Powell, John L. Waller, Carl Horn, Gerald Elders, Arthur Sigman

Click HERE for enlarged view of left-hand side of above photo.
Click HERE for enlarged view of right-hand side of above photo.
(Photo and Identifications Contributed by Kem Waller)

Also, in August of  1937, the Patterson family was featured in the following  front-page article in the Lead Belt News of Flat River, St. Francois County, Missouri:

(Text of Article)

MR. AND MRS. M. A. PATTERSON ARE PARENTS OF FIFTEEN CHILDREN.

Meet the "1937 Honor Family of St. François County" -- Mr. and Mrs. M. A.
 (Mack) Patterson and their fifteen children, eleven daughters and four sons.
 
Both Mr. and Mrs. Patterson (nee Alice Covington) were born and reared in
 St. Francois County.  Mr. Patterson will soon be seventy years of age and
 his companion is sixty-eight.  They have lived at their present home on
 Route One, Bonne Terre, ever since their marriage almost fifty years ago and
 all of their fifteen children have been born there.
 
This splendid couple and their children is an example of the high type of
 sturdy Americans who make up the greater part of St. Francois County and to
 this family and families like them goes the credit for a progressive county.
 Mr. Patterson has always been interested in civic affairs and has always
 supported every worthy enterprise.  Mrs. Patterson, although busy rearing
 her own family, is always a good neighbor and friend.  Their children, well
 reared, are all citizens of good influence in their various communities.
 
Their children are Mrs. Bertha Sigman, 48, St. Louis; Marvin Patterson, 46,
 Farmington Route Four; Mrs. Stella Elders, 44, DeSoto; Mrs. Allie Waller,
 43, Farmington Route Four; Mrs. Maggie Saffell, 42, Bonne Terre Route One;
 Mrs. Myrtle Cunningham, 40, Bonne Terre Route One; Mrs. Hazel Kozer, 38,
 Bonne Terre Route One; Carl Patterson, 36 Cantwell; Mrs. Gladys Heck, 34
 Crystal City; Mrs. Virgie Horn, 32, St. Louis; Mrs. Ollie Smith, 30, St.
 Louis; John Patterson, 2?, Cantwell; Mrs. Effie Rosener, 26, Bonne Terre;
 Mrs. Iva Powell, 24, Farmington; Woodrow Patterson, 22, Crystal City.
 
Their grandchildren are Harold, Herbert and Vernon Sigman; Roscoe, Winford,
 Lynn, Jim, Ruth, Clyde and Homer Patterson; Lee, Gerald and Paul Elders;
 Glenwood, Elizabeth, Mary Alice, John and Geraldine Waller; Laura and Earl
  Saffel; Lowell and Floyd Cunningham; Melvin, Louise, Milton and Glendon
 Straughn; Mac, Donald, Virginia, Dorothy, Bobby and Melba Fay Patterson;
 Howard Heck; Carla Horn; Helen Smith; Delores and Junior Paterson, Darrell
 Rosener; Wilma Fay Patterson.  There are two great grandchildren:  Robert
 Louis Waller and Patricia Jean Sigman.
 
This honor comes to Mr. and Mrs. Patterson as the result of search made by
 The Lead Belt News for the largest family in St. Francois County and the
 following concerns join the News in presenting gifts to them:  Howell's
 Ready-to-Wear Shop, Bryan's Drug Store, KoSan Beauty Shop, Flat River
 Hardware and Furniture Store, Fuhrmeister's Drug Store, American State Bank,
 Mid-Town Chevrolet, Golman's, Rosset Produce Co., Higgins Drug Store,
 Miller's Ready-to-Wear, Rooster's Place, Flat River Beauty Salon, and Good
 Luck Store.

If you are related to this family, or researching this family and wish to exchange information, please contact Kem Waller.