| Samuel F. Patterson | |
| Office: | North Carolina State Treasurer |
| Term Start: | 1835 |
| Term End: | 1837 |
| Predecessor: | William S. Mhoon |
| Successor: | Daniel W. Courts |
| Office2: | Member of the North Carolina Senate for the 48th Senatorial District |
| Term Start2: | 1846 |
| Term End2: | 1848 |
| Predecessor2: | Burgess S. Gaither |
| Successor2: | Tod R. Caldwell |
| Office3: | Member of the North Carolina Senate for the 46th Senatorial District |
| Term Start3: | 1864 |
| Term End3: | 1864 |
| Predecessor3: | Samuel J. Neal |
| Successor3: | James M. Isbell |
| Office4: | Member of the North Carolina House of Commons Representing Caldwell County |
| Term Start4: | 1854 |
| Term End4: | 1854 |
| Predecessor4: | Elisha P. Miller |
| Successor4: | Cornelius W. Clark |
| Birth Name: | Samuel Finley Patterson |
| Birth Date: | 11 March 1799 |
| Birth Place: | Rockbridge County, Virginia, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Caldwell County, North Carolina, U.S. |
Samuel Finley Patterson (March 11, 1799 – January 20, 1874) was a North Carolina politician, planter, businessman, and member of the prominent Patterson family.
Patterson was born on March 11, 1799, in Rockbridge County, Virginia. He went to live with his uncle in Wilkesboro, North Carolina, in 1811.[1]
Patterson had a lifelong interest in politics. At the age of 22, he won the position of engrossing clerk of the North Carolina House of Commons. He later became clerk of the North Carolina Senate, and, from 1835 to 1837, he served as state treasurer. Even though Patterson was a Whig, he was elected treasurer by a majority-Democratic state legislature. While serving as treasurer, he also served as president of the state bank.
Patterson served as chair of the Caldwell County court; as a member of the House of Commons (1854); and as a state senator (1846, 1848, and 1864). In 1866, he served as a delegate to the second session of the state's constitutional convention. Other offices Patterson held included president of the Raleigh and Gaston Railroad, clerk of the Superior Court, justice of the peace, Indian commissioner, trustee of the University of North Carolina, and various positions with the Masons.
In 1824, Patterson married Phoebe Caroline Jones (1806–1869). A granddaughter of Gen. William Lenoir, she was a daughter of Ann (Lenoir) Jones and politician Edmund Jones. The two would live much of their life together at her family home, "Palmyra", in Caldwell County, a county which he helped persuade the state legislature to create in 1841. He and his wife had several children, including:[2]
He died at Palmyra on January 20, 1874.[1]