Patterson family
An influential North Carolina family associated with American politics, industry, banking, and elite social networks.
Last updated August 26, 2026
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Overview
The Patterson family is a prominent North Carolina family whose influence extended across politics, manufacturing, banking, and public life over several generations. The family is described as a branch of the Lenoir family, a lineage associated with General William Lenoir, an American Revolutionary War officer and important North Carolina statesman. Place names including Lenoir, North Carolina, Lenoir County, North Carolina, and Lenoir City, Tennessee reflect the historical prominence of that earlier family line. The Patterson branch began through the marriage of Phoebe Caroline Jones, a granddaughter of General William Lenoir, to North Carolina politician Samuel F. Patterson. Their descendants continued the family's involvement in public affairs and business. Their son, Rufus Lenoir Patterson, served as mayor of Salem, North Carolina. His son, Rufus Lenoir Patterson Jr., became the most prominent industrial figure associated with the family. Patterson Jr. founded the American Machine and Foundry Company, later widely known as AMF, and also served as a vice president of the American Tobacco Company. Rufus Lenoir Patterson Jr. moved to New York City during the 1890s. The move connected the North Carolina family to the commercial, financial, and social networks of New York during the Gilded Age and early twentieth century. His children married into prominent New York families, further extending the family's social and institutional connections. A later descendant, Herbert Parsons Patterson, served as president of Chase Manhattan Bank, demonstrating the family's continuing presence in major American financial institutions. The family also participated in civic and educational philanthropy. In the 1920s, Rufus L. Patterson Jr. and his college classmate and fraternity brother John Motley Morehead III jointly funded the construction of the Morehead-Patterson Bell Tower at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The tower, designed by the architectural firm McKim, Mead & White, was built at a cost of $100,000 and was dedicated in November 1931. It was initially intended to commemorate North Carolina State College alumni who had died during World War I. The Patterson family is not presented in the reference material as a single operating company or consumer-facing brand. Rather, it is a historical family network whose significance derives from successive roles in North Carolina public life, industrial entrepreneurship, banking, philanthropy, and marriage alliances. American Machine and Foundry Company is the principal business enterprise directly associated with the family, while the Morehead-Patterson Bell Tower is its clearest documented institutional legacy.
History
The Patterson family emerged from a branch of the Lenoir family, whose historical prominence in North Carolina began with General William Lenoir. Lenoir was an American Revolutionary War officer and a major political figure in the state during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. His legacy is reflected in several place names in North Carolina and Tennessee. The Patterson branch was established through the marriage of Phoebe Caroline Jones, a granddaughter of General William Lenoir, to Samuel F. Patterson, a North Carolina politician. Their son, Rufus Lenoir Patterson, continued the family's public role and became mayor of Salem, North Carolina. The next generation expanded the family's influence from state politics into large-scale industry and national business. Rufus Lenoir Patterson Jr. founded the American Machine and Foundry Company and later served as a vice president of the American Tobacco Company. His business career placed the family within the industrial and corporate development of the United States. During the 1890s, he relocated to New York City, where his descendants became connected to prominent New York society families through marriage. The family's later institutional reach included banking. Herbert Parsons Patterson, a grandson of Rufus Lenoir Patterson Jr., became president of Chase Manhattan Bank. This progression from North Carolina public service to industrial management and New York banking illustrates the family's changing role across several generations. The Pattersons also supported higher education and memorial architecture. In the 1920s, Rufus L. Patterson Jr. and John Motley Morehead III, his college classmate and fraternity brother as well as a first cousin of Patterson's wife, financed the Morehead-Patterson Bell Tower at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The tower was designed by McKim, Mead & White, cost $100,000 to construct, and was dedicated in November 1931. It was originally intended to honor North Carolina State College alumni who had died during World War I. The available material treats the Patterson family as a historical family rather than as a unified commercial enterprise. Its documented importance rests on the combination of political lineage, industrial founding, senior banking leadership, social connections, and philanthropy.
- 1931
Dedication of the Morehead-Patterson Bell Tower
[1]The Morehead-Patterson Bell Tower at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was dedicated in November 1931 after being funded by Rufus L. Patterson Jr. and John Motley Morehead III.
- 1890
Rufus Lenoir Patterson Jr. moves to New York City
[1]During the 1890s, Patterson Jr. relocated to New York City, bringing the family's business and social connections into the city's leading commercial networks.
Formation of the Patterson branch of the Lenoir family
[1]Phoebe Caroline Jones, a granddaughter of General William Lenoir, married North Carolina politician Samuel F. Patterson, establishing the family branch identified as the Patterson family.
Rufus Lenoir Patterson serves as mayor of Salem
[1]Rufus Lenoir Patterson held the office of mayor of Salem, North Carolina, continuing the family's participation in state and local public life.
Founding of American Machine and Foundry Company
[1]Rufus Lenoir Patterson Jr. founded the American Machine and Foundry Company, the principal industrial enterprise associated with the family.
Herbert Parsons Patterson leads Chase Manhattan Bank
[1]A later descendant, Herbert Parsons Patterson, served as president of Chase Manhattan Bank, extending the family's influence into national banking.
Products and positioning
A historical family and dynastic network rather than a commercial brand. Its public identity is associated with North Carolina political heritage, industrial entrepreneurship, banking leadership, and civic philanthropy.
Industrial manufacturing company
American Machine and Foundry Company
American Machine and Foundry Company, commonly associated with the initials AMF, was founded by Rufus Lenoir Patterson Jr. It is the major industrial enterprise identified in the family's history. The available material establishes its founding and Patterson Jr.'s connection but does not provide enough detail to summarize specific product lines, markets, or later corporate development without adding unsupported information.
Marketing campaigns
- Morehead-Patterson Bell Tower funding
United States · North Carolina
Rufus L. Patterson Jr. and John Motley Morehead III funded the construction of a bell tower at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The project combined memorial, educational, and civic purposes.
Outcome. The tower was completed and dedicated in November 1931 and remains the family's clearest documented philanthropic legacy in the reference material.
Sources1 sources
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