Dateline Dayton — In my past couple of essays, I have mentioned John H. Patterson, and I would like to share some information regarding this influential civic leader, a giant in the history of my community who left enormous accomplishments as his vast legacy .
John Henry Patterson was born on Dec. 13, 1844, near Dayton to Jefferson and Julia Johnston Patterson. His mother was the daughter of Col. John Johnston, a well-know Indian agent and trader who lived in Piqua, north of Dayton, in west central Ohio.
Jefferson Johnson was the son of Col. Robert Patterson, who moved into the Miami Valley on 1802, settling on a farm two miles south of Dayton.
John H. Patterson spent his early years attending Dayton public schools and working in his father’s saw and gristmills. During the Civil War, he enlisted in the Union Army but only served one hundred days near the war’s conclusion.
Modest Beginning
After the war, Patterson enrolled at Miami University and graduated from Dartmouth College in 1867. He became a toll collector on the Miami Erie Canal that same year, a position he held until 1870, when he became involved in the coal industry. He managed the Southern Ohio Coal and Iron Co.
In 1882, Patterson became a partial owner of the National Manufacturing Co. in Dayton. National made cash registers. In 1884, John bought out the other investors, and, with his brother Frank, formed the National Cash Register Co.
Slowly the company grew, producing only 16,000 registers in its first decade. Through aggressive marketing and advertising, by 1914, the National Cash Register Co. was turning out 110,000 cash registers every year. Patterson is credited with inventing the flip chart, and many of his sales and training techniques are still in use today.
Patterson was well known for his compassion for his employees. He provided women workers with coffee and soup for lunch. Machine operators sat on actual chairs with backs for support rather than on stools. He provided his workers with indoor bathrooms. In 1893, he imaginatively constructed the first “daylight factory” building with floor-to-ceiling glass windows that let in light. The windows also could be opened for welcome breezes of fresh air, a major innovation a century ago.
Saving People by the Thousands
Patterson also engaged in civic work. During the Great Dayton Flood of 1913, he directed NCR employees to build nearly 300 flat-bottomed boats, organized rescue teams, and they saved thousands who were stranded on roofs and the upper stories of buildings. He turned the NCR factory into an emergency shelter, providing food and lodging. He rounded up local doctors and nurses to provide medical care. The NCR garage doubled as an emergency morgue.
Following the Dayton flood, National Cash Register provided approximately one million dollars to assist people in recovering from the disaster. The company allocated an additional $600,000 to study ways that the community could prevent flooding in the future. Patterson’s vision of a managed watershed for the Great Miami River resulted in the development of the Miami Conservancy District, one of the first major flood control districts in the United States. In addition to these efforts, Patterson donated money to help build parks and playgrounds. He also allocated funds to create the first public kindergarten in Dayton.
Patterson was famous for hiring and later firing Thomas Watson Sr., who went on to become General Manager, then President of CTR, later renamed IBM. Patterson was known for firing many people on rather trivial grounds: If they couldn’t tell why the flags were flying that day or were unable to ride a horse properly. It is said the word “firing” for termination of employment, came about by the manner in which Patterson terminated Watson. He placed Watson’s desk on the front lawn of the National Cash Register property and set it on fire.
Patterson died on May 7, 1922, and is interred in Woodland Cemetery in Dayton. He left no great fortune because of his expenditures on social programs at his company, and because he believed that “shrouds have no pockets.” He left ownership of the company to his son Frederick Beck Patterson, who took it public in 1925.
Mr. Hennessey may be contacted at pmhenn@sbcglobal.net
