Academic Career
After their marriage, Patterson and his wife moved to Clarksville, Tennessee where Patterson had been elected principal of the Preparatory Department at Stewart College in 1859. After a year, he became a professor of Greek and Latin at the school. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Stewart College suspended operations. Through the recommendation of a friend, Patterson was elected principal of Transylvania Academy in Lexington, Kentucky in 1861. Although it was part of Transylvania College (now Transylvania University), the academy functioned as a high school during the war.
In 1865, the Kentucky General Assembly merged the college with Kentucky University in Harrodsburg and the newly chartered Kentucky Agricultural and Mechanical College. Following the merger, Patterson was appointed as a professor of Latin and Civil History and was given the chair of the department of History and Metaphysics. In 1869, he was given charge of the constituent Agricultural and Mechanical College. Governor Preston Leslie appointed him a delegate to the International Congress of Geographical Sciences which convened in Paris, France later that year.
Patterson continued to study languages during his time as principal of the Agricultural and Mechanical College. Already familiar with Greek, Latin, and Hebrew, he developed a good knowledge of Sanskrit, Gothic, Anglo-Saxon, German, and French. Between 1871 and 1874, he was a frequent contributor of editorial content to local publications and newspapers, including a series of articles on tariffs and foreign policy which appeared in the Louisville Courier-Journal. In 1875, his alma mater, Hanover College, presented him with an honorary Doctor of Philosophy degree. During his later academic career, Patterson devoted more time to the study of history, metaphysics, and political science. In 1880, he was elected a fellow of both the British Royal Historical Society and the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. In 1896, Lafayette College conferred upon him an honorary Doctor of Laws degree.
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