John H. Patterson

John H. Patterson

Built the National Cash Register Company in Dayton, pioneered modern sales training and welfare capitalism, and turned NCR into the rescue headquarters during the 1913 Dayton flood.

Born December 13, 1844, Dayton
Died May 7, 1922, Philadelphia, PA

Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

At a glance

Born: December 13, 1844, Dayton (Montgomery County) source
Died: May 7, 1922, Philadelphia, PA source
Buried: Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum, Dayton (Montgomery County) source
Also known as: John H. Patterson
Education: Miami University, Oxford, OH, attended
: Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, to 1867, graduated
Known as: Business
Organizations: NCR

Life story

John H. Patterson was born in Dayton in 1844. He attended Miami University and graduated from Dartmouth in 1867. He served in the 131st Ohio Volunteers in 1862 and in 1870 began managing the Southern Ohio Coal and Iron Company.

Between 1882 and 1884 he invested in and then took over the National Manufacturing Company, which became NCR. He married Katharine Beck in 1888; she died in 1894. In 1893 he built a daylight factory with floor-to-ceiling windows. In 1913 he led recovery efforts during the Great Dayton Flood.

NCR was convicted of Sherman Antitrust violations in 1912, a conviction overturned in 1915. Patterson was a health enthusiast who pushed wellness regimens on his employees. He lived at his Far Hills estate in Oakwood and died in Philadelphia on May 7, 1922. He is buried at Woodland Cemetery in Dayton.

Ohio ties

Patterson Homestead (Rubicon Farm), 1815 Brown Street, Dayton (1840s-1860s)
raised in his grandfather's farmhouse Montgomery County · source
Dayton (1844-1922)
NCR headquarters and factories; civic leader Montgomery County · source
Far Hills, Oakwood
his 'Swiss chalet' estate Montgomery County · source
Hills and Dales, south of Dayton (1906-1918)
bought 500 acres for a suburb and park and gave 294 acres of parkland to the city Montgomery County · source

Timeline

1867 Graduated from Dartmouth College after serving in the 131st Ohio Volunteers. source
1870 Left his job as a canal toll collector to manage the Southern Ohio Coal and Iron Company. source
1879 Dayton saloonkeeper James Ritty and his brother John patented the 'Cash Register and Indicator' on 4 November, the machine Patterson would later build his company on. source
1884 Became majority owner of the National Manufacturing Company and renamed it the National Cash Register Company. source
1906 Bought 500 acres south of Dayton for a suburb and park and hired the Olmsted Brothers to design them. source
1912 NCR was found guilty under the Sherman Antitrust Act, and Patterson and 26 other executives were sentenced to a year in prison. The convictions were overturned on appeal in 1915. source
1913 During the March flood, NCR workers built nearly 300 flat-bottomed rescue boats, and the Stewart Street factory became a shelter, hospital, morgue and headquarters for the Red Cross and the Ohio National Guard. source
1913 In May, a 10-day fund drive raised more than $2 million for flood control, the start of the Miami Conservancy District that Patterson had pushed for. source
1918 Gave 294 acres of Hills and Dales parkland to the City of Dayton. source
1922 Died in Philadelphia on 7 May and was buried in Woodland Cemetery, Dayton. source
1953 His nephew Jefferson Patterson gave the Patterson Homestead to the City of Dayton. source

What John is known for

Took control of Ritty's cash register company in 1884; renamed National Cash Register in 1894 (per ETHW)
Established the first sales training school and sales quotas/exclusive territories
Built daylight-factory design (1893)
Led Dayton's 1913 flood relief and promoted the Miami Conservancy District
National Cash Register Company
Daylight factory design (1893)

Stories

A convicted man runs the rescue

When the Great Dayton Flood struck in March 1913, Patterson had been convicted months earlier in the federal antitrust case against NCR and sentenced to a year in prison, with his appeal still pending. He turned the company over to relief. Its employees built nearly 300 flat-bottomed boats, and the rescue teams he organized took thousands of people off roofs and out of upper floors. The Stewart Street factory became an emergency shelter with food and lodging, a hospital, a makeshift morgue and a campground for the homeless, and local doctors and nurses were brought in. NCR also served as Dayton headquarters for the American Red Cross and the Ohio National Guard, and when the Dayton Daily News presses failed, the paper printed on NCR's press. The convictions were overturned on appeal in 1915.

Source

The farm on Brown Street

Patterson's grandfather, Col. Robert Patterson, a Revolutionary War soldier and founder of Lexington, Kentucky, settled south of Dayton in 1804. He called his farm Rubicon, and by his death in 1827 it covered 2,038 acres. The Federal-style farmhouse was built in three stages between 1816 and 1850. John H. Patterson and his brother Frank grew up in it, and the National Cash Register works later rose on family land about half a mile northwest. Their nephew Jefferson Patterson gave the house to the City of Dayton in 1953, and Dayton History now runs it as a museum with an exhibit on NCR.

Source

Inventions and firsts

All Ohio inventions and firsts

Cash register (Ritty's Incorruptible Cashier) (1879)
NCR pioneers modern sales training and corporate welfare (1884-1893)

Honors and things named for them

John Scott Medal, 1901
Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame, 1979

Family

wife: Katharine Beck
son: Frederick Beck Patterson
daughter: Dorothy Forster Patterson

Sites to know

Homes, graves, markers, museums and monuments; the numbered ones are on the map.

1 Patterson Homestead
1815 Brown Street, Dayton Montgomery County · source
2 Patterson grave, Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum
118 Woodland Avenue, Dayton Montgomery County · source
Hills & Dales MetroPark and the Patterson Monument (Giuseppe Moretti)
Dayton / Kettering Montgomery County · source

Places in Ohio to see

Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum (grave) (grave)
118 Woodland Ave, Dayton, Montgomery County ZIP 45409 · Dayton · Montgomery County

Ohio places

Where John H. Patterson was born, lived, worked and is remembered, with the ZIP code, town and county pages for each.

Born: Dayton, Montgomery County ZIP 45402 · Dayton · Montgomery County
Worked: Dayton, Montgomery County ZIP 45402 · Dayton · Montgomery County
Buried: Dayton (Woodland Cemetery), Montgomery County (118 Woodland Ave) ZIP 45409 · Dayton · Montgomery County

Myths and corrections

Things often said about John H. Patterson, and what the record shows.

Often said John H. Patterson invented the cash register.

The record He did not. Dayton saloonkeeper James Ritty and his brother John built the machine and patented it on 4 November 1879 as the 'Cash Register and Indicator', to stop employees pocketing payments. Ritty sold his interest in 1881 to investors who formed the National Manufacturing Company, and Patterson became majority owner in 1884 and renamed it the National Cash Register Company. Patterson's contribution was manufacturing, sales and marketing. source

Pictures

Free to use with the credit shown. Select a picture for the original and its license.

We see the company "Dominion Messenger Co." on the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Street and business cash registers impo...
Public domain
We see the importers cash registers store at the intersection of Notre-Dame and Saint-Jean-Baptiste in Montrea...
Public domain
The Colonial Restaurant at 145 Front Street, Belleville, Ontario. One of a series of negatives of older buildi...
CC0
Title: National Cash Register Co., 50 Rockefeller Plaza, New York City. Abstract/medium: Gottscho-Schleisner C...
Public domain
Title: National Cash Register Co., 50 Rockefeller Plaza, New York City. Abstract/medium: Gottscho-Schleisner C...
Public domain
Title: National Cash Register Co., 50 Rockefeller Plaza. Abstract/medium: Gottscho-Schleisner Collection (Libr...
Public domain
Title: National Cash Register Co., 50 Rockefeller Plaza. Abstract/medium: Gottscho-Schleisner Collection (Libr...
Public domain
Title: National Cash Register Co., Associated Press Building, New York City. Abstract/medium: Gottscho-Schleis...
Public domain
Title: National Cash Register Co., Associated Press Building, New York City. Abstract/medium: Gottscho-Schleis...
Public domain
The National Cash Register (NCR) Building at the 1905 Lewis and Clark Exposition in Portland, Oregon.
Public domain
No known restrictions
Virginia Beach, Va. (Aug. 13, 2002) -- A Navy family unloads their shopping cart while purchasing groceries at...
Public domain