Robert H. Pattison

Robert H. Pattison

D.D., a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, was born near Cambridge, Md., Jan. 22, 1824. He was the child of Methodist parents, at the early are of ten was converted, and at once joined the Methodist Episcopal Church. At fourteen he entered the preparatory department of Dickinson College, and, after passing successfully through the entire curriculum of study, he graduated in the class of 1843. During his residence at Carlisle he was licensed to preach. At the close of his collegiate career he taught for two years at Baltimore. He was admitted into the Philadelphia Conference in April, 1846. His first appointment was Dorchester Circuit as junior preacher. His subsequent appointments were: Seaford, Princess Anne, Church Creek, Quantico, Snow Hill, Middletown, and Cantwell's Bridge, Del.; Asbury, Philadelphia; Kensington; Twelfth Street, Philadelphia; Port Deposit; St. George's, Philadelphia; Tabernacle, Philadelphia; St. Peter's, Reading, Harrisburg District; West Philadelphia, where he died, Feb. 14, 1875. At the conference of 1858 Dr. Pattison was chosen its secretary, and he continued to hold that office until his death. In 1868 he was a delegate to the General Conference, and was chosen by that body as one of its assistant secretaries. He was also associated with the management of most of the various religious and benevolent organizations connected with the Philadelphia Conference, and was for several years a member of the Parent Missionary Board at New York. "Dr. Pattison was a good man a true Methodist, a faithful pastor, an acceptable and earnest preacher, and a Christian gentleman, whom to know was to esteem and love. Less brilliant, perhaps, than some, he was wiser and more consistent than many, while his sound judgment, unswerving integrity, unfailing courtesy, unwearying diligence, kindly sympathy, and unwavering loyalty to religion, friendship, and patriotism, made him a man to honor, trust, and love." See Minutes of Conferences, 1875, p. 40.