Week 4 - Education

My fifth great-grandfather, John Patton immigrated from Sligo, Ireland in 1765, at the age of twenty, to Philadelphia. He was an entrepreneur and before long was appointed as one of four auctioneers of the city, a government held position. He was also a prosperous merchant. In 1777, he married Jane Bartholomew Davis and had eleven children. During the Revolutionary War, he attained the rank of Colonel, serving directly under Gen. George Washington. A monument at Valley Forge stands today with his name and regiment. He was also one of the original members of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, of which George Washington was an honorary member.

At the end of the Revolutionary War, he partnered with his good friend, Col. Samuel Miles, and founded Centre Furnace in Centre County, Pennsylvania. Centre Furnace was a typical iron plantation. In the center was the casting house and charcoal house. The ironmaster’s house, workers’ housing and furnace store were nearby.  John Patton was the original ironmaster of Centre Furnace and while Col. Miles maintained a home in Philadelphia, John Patton, his wife and children removed to Centre County to the log home he built in 1789.  The fireplace in the photo, remains as a reminder of the first ironmasters house in the lowest level of Centre Furnace mansion.

Col. Patton wanted to provide an education for his children and those of his iron workers, so he hired a teacher for them all. Of his children, his sons John Jr., and William “read law” (became lawyers/judges), Edward and Samuel became successful businessmen.  Colonel Patton died in nearby Boalsburg in 1804.

Although the family retained an interest in the business, several descendants of Col. Miles served as ironmaster over the next few decades. By 1842, Moses Thompson, his wife, Mary Irvin Thompson, and two children would move into the Centre Furnace mansion.  Moses Thompson and his brother-in-law James Irvin became co-owners of Centre Furnace at that time. The Irvin’s were related to Col. Patton through the marriage of his granddaughter, Jane Patton to William Irvin, brother of James and Mary.

In continuing with the tradition of Col. Patton’s foresight to provide an education, in 1855, James Irvin donated 200 acres of Centre Furnace land for the founding of Farmers High School. Chartered by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, it was four years later when the school first opened for instruction. In 1856, construction began on the “College Building.”  The school became an agricultural four-year college. In 1862, the name was changed to the Agricultural College of Pennsylvania.

As the college grew, the surrounding area flourished. The nearby village became a town which took on the name of the now, Pennsylvania State College.  In 1953, the school was renamed once again, to the name you will most likely recognize – Pennsylvania State University, or Penn State. 

The campus now covers more than 10,000 acres with an enrollment of approximately 90,000. The Centre Furnace Mansion still stands today on a knoll just outside State College.  It is owned by Penn State and serves as the home of the Centre County Historical Society.