, one of the first steamships to trade between to New York and San Francisco. When the firm went out of business in 1853, Patterson continued in shipbuilding at the foot of North Eighth Street, next to the shipyard of Perrine & Stack. The shipyard launched in 1853 the sloop
Margaret Ann Lake (80-tons); brig
Flying Cloud (400-tons); schooner
Fidelia (90-tons); ship
Wide Awake (900-tons); schooner
Heloise (450-tons); brig
Bonito (400-tons); and the bark
Velocity (350-tons). On March 27, 1854, Patterson along with 36 other shipbuilders, signed a document that was published in the
New York Daily Herald. The document was the result of a meeting that was held at the office of
William H. Webb between the shipbuilders of the port of New York. They resolved that they have a high respect for labor; that they do not support an increase of wages from $2.50 to $3.00 per day; and that they should not
strike for the higher wages. On June 29, 1854, Patterson launched the ship
Francis B. Cutting. She was 1,000-tons and owned by E. D. Hurlbut & Co., for the
Antwerp trade. In May he launched the three-decked ship
Jeremiah Thompson. She was 1,818-tons for S. Thompson & Nephew's line of packets. At this time he was still building the ship
City of New York of 1,818-tons for Kingsland & Sutton; and a schooner of 250-tons for Minor H. Keath. On July 10, 1863, Patterson purchased the half blocks at the foot of North 3rd Street,
Brooklyn, New York for shipbuilding and dockage. He was associated with Commodore Vanderbilt, George Law, A. A. Low and other large shipowners with the intention of erecting the largest sectional dock in the county. On May 11, 1864, Patterson planned to expand the dock, made of iron, 400 feet where the water is 50 feet deep to accommodate large vessels. Patterson also created a sawing and
planing mill for shipbuilding at the North 3rd Street location. During the
American Civil War, Patterson undertook shipbuilding for the US Government at his shipyard. He did all of the woodwork in the in 1863. In 1865, Patterson worked with
Julius H. Kroehl to produce the
Sub Marine Explorer submarine based on a modified design of a 1858 patent by Van Buren Ryerson. They extended the hull form to a , craft. Kroehl used the submarine to blast and partially clear
Diamond Reef in New York harbor. Patterson retired from the trade in 1867 after the postwar shipbuilding decline. ==Death==