John Paterson (spelled with one "t" on the original census of Gaspe) was born in Scotland around 1730. The first recorded incident of his life which I have to located is that he was commissioned as an officer in the British Armed Forces on May 4, 1761. He served in the 15th Regiment of Foot under Major-General Jeoffrey Amherst until March 24, 1767. The muster rolls of this regiment were often taken and signed by Lieut. John Paterson between 1763 and 1766. The 15th regiment had companies at La Prairie, St. Annes, The Cedars, and Lachine, and garrisons at Quebec City and Montreal, and John Patterson is listed at least once at most of these places. On Sept. 1, 1767 Lieut. John Paterson is listed as being absent since June 30 with General Gage for 8 months. John Paterson officially retired from the services on May 3, 1768, the same month that the 15th regiment returned to the United Kingdom.

Other sources suggest that he had settled in Gaspe earlier. In 1765 John Paterson is included on a list of Protestant house-keepers in Quebec. (Quebec referred to all territory east of Quebec City). Secondly, in a land claim of 1793, Felix O'Hara states that John Paterson had resided in Gaspe for 29 years. This would establish his arrival at 1764. In addition, after extensive research, Raymond Patterson suggested that John arrived here about 1764.

The most convincing source is the census of Gaspe to Baie Verte taken in 1765. It included as one of the inhabitants of Gaspe "Jon Paterson" who had in his household 1 adult male, 1 adult female, 1 male child (under 15) and 3 female children. This indicates that he certainly resided in Gaspe by 1765 although maybe only seasonally. It also suggests that he had been married by 1760 or 1761.

No records have yet been uncovered concerning his marriage. Nothing exists in St. Paul's Anglican Church of Halifax, Nova Scotia, where Richard Ascah, a close friend of his, had been married on Sept. 5, 1757. It is quite possible that John's marriage was performed by a travelling minister and was never officially recorded, or was lost. Another strong possibility is that he may have been married somewhere in the United States. However, even family tradition provides no clue as to his wife’s nationality.

In 1768 John Paterson was appointed bailiff of Gaspe. The position of bailiff was similar to that of a policeman, road inspector, and coroner combined. He was responsible for law and order and to ensure highways were well maintained. Neither of these would have presented much problem, as only a few families lived in the entire Gaspe region, and there were certainly no roads to be maintained. Probably due to the vastness of the region Richard Ascah, who settled in Peninsula about the same year, was appointed sub-bailiff.

The last recorded event in his life is the inclusion of his name on the census of 1777, taken by Nicholas Cox. He was listed at that time as having 2 male children under 16 and one female over 16. It appears that he was still alive when his eldest son, Peter, claimed land on the east side of his father’s in 1793.

The actual life of John Paterson in Gaspe is very obscure. It is known that he was one of the first permanent English settlers in Gaspe, along with Richard Ascah and Felix O’Hara. He undoubtedly was a hard working, resourceful man, with a great deal of courage to homestead in a place where the land is so rugged, and climate so forbidding. Simply providing for a family would have been a year round job in the absence of electricity, machinery, and even roads, all so essential today. Certainly socializing was quite restricted. Even a decade later, in 1777, there were only three families residing around the Gaspe Bay. They did, however, have contact with the outside world during summer when fishermen from Europe and other parts of North America came to fish in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

According to the census of 1765 and 1777 we can deduce that John had a family of 3 girls and 2 boys. The lives of the girls remain complete mysteries. The only possibility which has been brought to my attention is the following record from St. Paul's (Gaspe) Anglican Register which reads: "Baptism: Eliza Ann Longuedoc, daughter of James Boyle and Mary Paterson, born Oct. 11, 1780, baptized July 5, 1829." Mary may be one of John's daughters, as there probably weren't many other Patersons in Gaspe at that time.

By piecing together bits of information found in land claims and church records, and using the unpublished work entitled "Family Gatherings" by a local historian, Raymond Patterson, I have outlined the families of Peter and John (see accompanying charts). In certain cases, little original documentation exists. Dates could be inaccurate, and some people could even be placed in the wrong families. Some of the information was taken from the memories of elderly people several generations removed from the eighteenth century.

Peter, the eldest son, married Martha Ascah of Peninsula about 1796, and lived in Sunny Bank on the lot next to his father. They raised a family of 9 children, 4 boys and 5 girls.

John, the second of the original John Paterson's sons, married Margaret Ascah about 1784 and moved to Perce. There he fished and served in the navy. John and Margaret had 4 children. Following the death of his wife in the early 1790's he returned to Gaspe and married Margaret McPherson of Douglastown. He settled on lot # 23 in Wakeham, almost directly across the York River from his father's property, and had another 6 children.

William Patterson, another pioneer of the Gaspe, arrived about 1798. Records show a William Patterson had left England in 1768 and settled in Crown Point, New York, and was a farmer in 1775. The following year he joined the British Army to fight against the revolutionaries, and served as a guide to General Fraser. He was captured and had all his possessions stolen (valued at about 32 pounds). After serving for 2 years as a political prisoner he was released and fled to Canada with his wife and family. General Haldimand undertook to settle the Loyalist refugees after signing the peace treaty of Sept. 3, 1783. Many were then being cared for at Yamachichi, near Three Rivers. On June 9, 1784 four ships and four whaleboats set out for the Baie de Chaleur carrying a total of about 315 passengers. Among the 86 refugees of the Brig St. Peter was William, his wife, a daughter, 12 and a son, 10. William, a carpenter by trade, received a grant of 300 acres of land in Paspebiac in August of that year.

William Patterson, pioneer of the Gaspe, purchased lot #14 in Wakeham from John Boyle. He built a stone house near the Gaspe Bay, the remains of which is still standing near the river, about 500 metres east of St. James Church. He had two children, Benjamin and Lucy, born in 1790 and 1794 respectively. In the baptism records of Lucy in St. Paul's Anglican Church, dated 1729, William's wife is listed as being Sarah Patterson.

William's son, Benjamin, married Sarah Coffin around 1815 and settled on lot #14 in Wakeham. They raised a family of seven children, of which only two were boys, William and Abraham. Lucy married Richard, a grandson of John's and they had ten children.

It remains uncertain whether Gaspe’s William is the same one who arrived at Paspebiac some 15 years earlier, or his son. Likely William, the United Empire Loyalist named his eldest son William, and it was indeed he who moved to Gaspe.

It is also uncertain whether there is any known relationship between William and John, or if it was fate alone that brought two Pattersons to the same remote part of the North America. It is, however, certain that during the past 235 years, and in some cases over 10 generations, descendants of John and William have married into most Gaspe families, and settled throughout Canada and many other parts of the world. Thousands of native Gaspesians can claim to have descended from one or both of these pioneers, who chanced by Gaspe over two centuries ago.