Rensselaer Union, Volume 9, Number 28, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 March 1877 — Death of a Remarkable Woman. [ARTICLE]

Death of a Remarkable Woman.

Mrs. Mary Patton, who died of Thursday night last, at her residence in Bridge street, of heart disease, was the Widow of Capt. Patton, of the old clipper ship Neptune’s Car, which was made no less famous than the lady herself by the part which she played aboard it in 1856. The vessel sailed from New York for California in the summer of 1856, with a cargo worth $1,000,000, and Mrs. Patton accompanied ber husband, who had command. When a few weeks out the first mate was put in irons for attempting to incite a mutiny, and as the other two mates were ill with fever, the entire responsibility fell immediately upon the Captain. Worn out with his arduous duties, he too fell ill with congestion of the brain, ana when Cape Horn was reached, he was stark mad. His wife, who was then but twenty-one years old, had learned navigation, and acquired quite a knowledge of seamanship, on her wedding trip, made aboard the Neptune’s Car, three years before, when Capt. Patton secured the permission of the owners for his bride to accompany him upon his year and a half’s voyage around the world. In this emeigency her skill was brought into full play. Hhe took command and sailed the ship safely into Ban Francisco, on Nov. 13, 1856, having tenderly nursed her husband as well. The New York Board of Underwriters presented her with a purse of $1,900, and parties who were interested in the Neptune’s cargo made a further contribution ofst,soo. The death of Capt. Patton occurred shortly after, and she moved to Boston, returning subsequently to New York. For tbe lsst five years she has lived in this city. She was forty-one years of age when she died.—Brooklyn Union and Argus- ■—.. .. - i