John M. Pattison was born on June 13, 1847 in Owensville, Clermont County, Ohio, United States. He was the son of Mary (Duckwall) and William Pattison, a country merchant. His middle initial, which represented no name, was added by himself some time early in life. As a boy he became a clerk in his father's store, and he worked on neighboring farms.
Education
In 1864 John M. Pattison joined the 153rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry. At the close of the Civil War he entered Ohio Wesleyan University, from which he graduated in 1869. In order to maintain himself while attending college he taught school and worked in the harvest fields in the summer.
Career
Upon graduation John M. Pattison took an agency in Bloomington, Illinois, for the Union Central Life Insurance Company, of which he afterward became the head. As the insurance business did not appeal to him at that time he returned to Ohio and studied law in the office of Alfred Yaple of Cincinnati. After his admission to the bar in 1872 he became a member of the law firm of Yaple, Moos & Pattison. For a while he was attorney for the Cincinnati & Marietta Railroad but severed his connection with that corporation from a sense of duty to his constituency, when he was elected in 1873 to the state legislature. He declined renomination and returned to the practice of his profession. From 1874 to 1876 he was attorney for the committee of safety of Cincinnati, a non-partisan organization for civic welfare.
In 1881 John M. Pattison was elected vice-president and manager of the Union Central Life Insurance Company and in 1891 became president of the company. Under his able management the business of the company was greatly increased owing to his compelling personality, executive capacity, and ability as an organizer. In 1890, against his personal wishes, he was nominated to fill a vacancy in the state Senate for the Clermont-Brown district. As the redistribution of the congressional districts that was about to be made would determine the complexion of Ohio representation in Congress, his campaign attracted national attention. He was elected and received the largest vote ever given to a candidate for state office in his own county of Clermont. From 1891 to 1893 he was a member of Congress but was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection. In Congress he helped to obtain one of the first appropriations for rural free delivery.
In 1905 John M. Pattison was nominated on the Democratic ticket for governor and after a spirited campaign against Gov. Myron T. Herrick was elected by a majority of 40, 000, while the Republican associates of the retiring governor were elected by similar majorities. His victory was a personal achievement, but the strain of the campaign was too great for his health. He lived for five months after his inauguration but was so ill the whole time that practically his only political act was his inaugural address. He died at his home in Milford on June 18, 1906.
Achievements
Connections
On December 10, 1879, John M. Pattison was married to Aletheia Williams of Delaware, Ohio, who died leaving three children. Another daughter had died. His second wife was Anna Williams, sister of his first wife.