[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 92 (Thursday, June 5, 2008)] [Extensions of Remarks] [Page E1147] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] HONORING MARY PATTON FOR HER EFFORTS DURING THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR ______ HON. DAVID DAVIS of tennessee in the house of representatives Thursday, June 5, 2008 Mr. DAVID DAVIS of Tennessee. Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a true Tennessee Volunteer. Mary McKeehan Patton was born in England and immigrated to Pennsylvania in the late 1760s. Mary Patton was an apprentice in Pennsylvania where she learned the trade of making gunpowder. After giving birth to two children in Pennsylvania, Patton moved to the Overmountain region of North Carolina, which is now East Tennessee and part of the First District. With help from her husband, Andrew Taylor, a private in the Pennsylvania militia, they started their own gunpowder mill on what became known as Powder Branch. Mary Patton embodied the entrepreneurial spirit that many immigrants who come to America possess. She used this mill to supply gunpowder to militias during the Revolutionary War. Patton's true Tennessee Volunteer spirit showed when she gave over five hundred pounds of gunpowder to the 850 Overmountain Men for the Battle of Kings Mountain during the Revolutionary War. Some say that this victorious battle over the British was a very influential part of the Revolutionary War, and to the eventual founding of our country. On December 15, 1836, Mary Patton passed away and was buried at Patton-Simmons Cemetery, which is located in my district. The cemetery is located in the historic town of Elizabethton, Tennessee. This Saturday, June 7, 2008 the Watauga Chapter Tennessee Sons of the American Revolution and The James Sevier Society of the Tennessee Children of the American Revolution will be hosting a memorial service at the grave of Mary Patton and will be honoring her for her efforts and role in the Revolutionary War. Madam Speaker, I ask that my colleagues join me today in honoring a true Tennessee Volunteer who embodies the entrepreneurial spirit that has made America the great country that we are today. ____________________