James Isom/Isham PATTERSON was born about 1795, perhaps in Ireland, perhaps in South Carolina. His wife Margaret (Peggy) Brown and the Mary BROWN who married James NEIGHBORS are said to be the daughters of William BROWN. In 1822, in Newberry District, South Carolina, an Isham Patterson bought a calf at an estate sale. In 1834 an "Isaom" Patterson bought chairs at an estate sale in Newberry. A family legend says that Isom Patterson and Peggy Brown met on board a ship from Ireland, had a shipboard romance, and married. Could it have been Isom's or Peggy's parents, and the story is off by a generation? Other stories, current in various branches of the family, are that the family originally settled in the area of Fayetteville, North Carolina, that James/Isom had brothers names George and William and a half brother named David Pinkston, and "legend has it that Isom later moved to the Columbia, South Carolina area and was involved in the Creek Indian battles." An 1829 census of Laurens District, South Carolina, shows an Isom Patterson with 9 persons in the household. Children of this marriage were Andrew Jackson Patterson (born 11 Dec 1816 in Newberry South Carolina, died 7 October 1886 in Alexander CIty, Tallapoosa County, Alabama, married Mary Ann Neighbors, daughter of James and Mary Neighbors), James Patterson, William Patterson, Sarah Patterson (married Henry ROBERTSON), Nancy Adeline Patterson (married Thomas Winfield KIMBROUGH), Rachael Patterson, Margaret Patterson (married Golden TAPLEY), George Washington Patterson (married Mary Jane LEE) and Frances Patterson (married John ABRAMS). Who were Isom's parents? Where was he born? Who were his siblings?