Nat Patton was a Democratic

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 member of the United States House of Representatives

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 from the 7th District

Texas's 7th congressional district

Texas District 7 of the United States House of Representatives is a Congressional district that serves a small area of western Harris County...

 of Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

 from 1935 to 1945.

Patton was born on a farm near tiny Tadmor in Houston County

Houston County, Texas

Houston County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of 2000, the population was 23,185. Its county seat is Crockett. Houston County is named for Samuel Houston, a president of the Republic of Texas and Governor of Texas...

 near Crockett

Crockett, Texas

Crockett is a city in Houston County, Texas, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 7,141. It is the county seat of Houston County.- History :...

 in east Texas. He attended rural schools and Sam Houston Normal School

Sam Houston State University

Sam Houston State University was founded in 1879 and is the third oldest public institution of higher learning in the State of Texas. It is located in Huntsville, Texas. It is one of the oldest purpose-built institutions for the instruction of teachers west of the Mississippi River and the first...

 in Huntsville

Huntsville, Texas

Huntsville is a city in and the county seat of Walker County, Texas, United States. The population was 35,508 at the 2010 census. It is the center of the Huntsville micropolitan area....

. He taught in the rural and high schools from 1899 to 1918. He was elected to the Texas House of Representatives

Texas House of Representatives

The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the Texas Legislature. The House is composed of 150 members elected from single-member districts across the state. The average district has about 150,000 people. Representatives are elected to two-year terms with no term limits...

 in 1912, attended law school at the University of Texas at Austin, was admitted to the bar

State Bar of Texas

The State Bar of Texas is an agency of the judiciary under the administrative control of the Texas Supreme Court. The Texas Bar is responsible for assisting the Texas Supreme Court in overseeing all attorneys licensed to practice law in Texas...

 in 1918, and began his law practice in Crockett.

During the First World War

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, Patton enlisted in the United States Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 but was never sworn in because the armistice

Armistice

An armistice is a situation in a war where the warring parties agree to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, but may be just a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace...

 was signed. Patton was elected in 1918 as county judge of Houston County and served until 1922. He served in the Texas State Senate from 1929 to 1934. He was also a delegate to the Texas Democratic state conventions in 1924 and 1935. In 1934, Patton was elected to the Seventy-fourth and then to the four succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1935-January 3, 1945). Patton was defeated for renomination in 1944 by Tom Pickett

Tom Pickett

Thomas Augustus Pickett , was a United States Representative representing Texas's 7th congressional district. Born in Travis, Texas on August 14, 1906, Pickett attended the public schools of Palestine, Texas, and the University of Texas at Austin...

, and resumed the practice of law in Crockett until his death; he is interred there in Evergreen Memorial Park.