Marion D. Patterson
American jurist (1876 – 1950)

Marion Dean Patterson (October 20, 1876 – January 6, 1950) was an American jurist who was an associate justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania from 1940 until his death in 1950.
Early life
Patterson was born on October 20, 1876, in Williamsburg, Pennsylvania and graduated from Stewart's Academy. He taught school in Blair County, Pennsylvania for seven terms and studied law in his spare time. He graduated from Dickinson Law School and was admitted to the bar in 1904.
Career
Patterson was District Attorney of Blair County from 1912 to 1928, when he was elected president judge of the Court of Common Pleas for the Twenty-Fourth Judicial District. He was a candidate for the Republican nomination in the 1934 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election, but withdrew from the race on April 25 and endorsed Lieutenant Governor Edward C. Shannon. Patterson still appeared on the primary ballot and received 9,096 votes, while Shannon finished a distant second behind William A. Schnader. In 1935, Patterson was a candidate the Pennsylvania Supreme Court election, but lost the Republican nomination to Horace Stern. In 1938, Patterson was elected to a second ten-year term on the Court of Common Pleas.
In 1939, Patterson was a candidate for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court seat that was being vacated by the retiring John W. Kephart.
The public source identifies “Marion D. Patterson” as american jurist (1876 – 1950). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Marion, Patterson and American.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Marion D. Patterson”, the useful work is to connect “american jurist (1876 – 1950)” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q136697982. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1876, 1950, 1940 and 1904.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Marion D. Patterson”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Marion D. Patterson primary sources, Marion D. Patterson archive and Marion research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Marion D. Patterson”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Marion D. Patterson” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.