Beverly Thomas Sutton

Beverly Sutton, wife of John Sutton the present landowner of the Pattonia site, undertook the tedious and laborious process of applying to the Texas Historical Commission for the Official Texas Historical Marker. Additionally, it is one thing to study documents; it is another to locate something on the ground. As part of her research, Beverly carefully studied many of the maps of Nacogdoches County which are located in the East Texas Research Center in the Steen Library. She also used maps now located at the archives of the Texas General Land in Austin. One example of the maps she used can be seen at the following URL: Map 585 (Note: The location of Pattonia can be seen just above the "U" in the words indicating the location of "Angelina County.")

 

 

Lois Foster Blount

Lois Foster Blount (1896-1980) did the original research on Pattonia and published her paper in the one of the first issues of the East Texas Historical Journal. Born in Huntsville, Texas, Lois Fitzhugh Foster was the daughter of Fitzhugh and Willie Swann Foster. She held degrees from the University of Texas and Columbia University. When President Alton Birdwell was staffing the newly created Stephen F. Austin State Teachers College in 1923, Lois Foster was the first person he hired. She taught Social Studies and History until 1925 when her marriage to Guy Arthur Blount forced her to resign from the college; married women were not allow to teach in the Texas State System. She and Guy had four children. After her husband’s death in 1937, she returned to SFA. She served at one time as the Curator of the Stone Fort Museum and as the Director of the Rare Book Room (later called The East Texas Collection, then Special Collections, and now the East Texas Research Center). As a faculty member in the History Department, Mrs. Blount taught until her resignation in 1966. Her research interests and articles centered on early Texas, with an emphasis on local history: Thomas J. Rusk, Old Nacogdoches University, Indians, petroleum, and the subject we are commemorating today–Pattonia. Mrs. Blount accompanied the exploratory group that located the original location and declared: “Yes, this is the site of Pattonia.” For information about the Blount Collection in the ETRC see the following URL: Lois Blount Papers