William Pattee was born in Kingston, Canada, April 10, 1815. His early life was spent in Detroit and vicinity, where his father, the Rev. Elias Pattee, was a minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church, known in those early days as a circuit rider. While yet a young man he went to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he worked as a printer, on the newspapers of that city. In 1836 in Cincinnati, he was married to Miss Sarah Phillips, and after a short residence there and in Louisville, Kentucky, he removed to Keokuk, Iowa, where in 1845 he published one of the first newspapers of the state, or territory as it then was. He was elected State Auditor--the second Auditor of Iowa--1850, and removed to Iowa City, then the capital of the state. In 1854 he removed to Bremer County where two of his brothers had located, and in Waverly, edited and published the Bremer County Argus, later removing to Janesville, where he and his wife, as among the first settlers, had much to do, in their hospitable home, in establishing the social life of the community. He was admitted to the bar, in Waterloo, March 12, 1858.
In 1876 while temporarily living in Clarksville, he was appointed by Governor Kirkwood as a member of the first Board of Directors of the Iowa State Normal School, established at Cedar Falls, to occupy the buildings and grounds vacated by the Soldiers Orphans Home. From the first, Col. Pattee was untiring in his efforts for the welfare of the school, and it was left largely to him to make the old buildings suitable for the new school. When it was feared that the school could not open in the fall with boarding accommodations for students, Col. Pattee and the Hon. H. F. Hemenway of Cedar Falls, also a member of the Board, advanced money to a considerable amount, for house expenses, pending an appropriation from the state. After the first faculty of four had been elected, and other arrangements completed for the opening of the school, Col. Pattee was appointed by his colleagues as Business Manager and Steward of the new institution--he resigned from the Board to accept this position--a position which he held for ten years, when he retired to his old home in Janesville.
For about five years before her death in 1885, Mrs. Pattee held the position of Matron. She loved the Institution and the work among the young people and was ever ready to minister to their comfort or pleasure. She and the Col. both possessed the happy faculty of imparting a homelike atmosphere to their large household of several hundred students. When Horace M. Boies was inaugurated Democratic Governor of Iowa in 1890, Col. Pattee was an honored guest on the platform, being the only living representative of the old Democratic regime of forty years before. Many old letters to Col. Pattee, some dating as far back as 1858, bear silent testimony to his kindness and assistance in tiding many a one over a hard place. The estimation in which he was held by his fellow citizens and family is best attested by the following letter and tributes.
In April 1890, his daughter wrote congratulating him on his seventy-fifth birthday, adding -- "What would we do without you. You have truly been a "radiating center" sending out not only information, but hope and courage. May you long be spared to comfort us, and yet have such anticipation of the joys of an eternal world, that, when your summons comes, you may leave this one, without regret or fear." Shortly after this the summons came, October 23, 1890, at the home of his daughter in Cedar Falls. -- A Memorial -- "Again have we the Faculty and students of the Iowa State Normal School been called to realize the solemnity of death. On Thursday morning, October 23, we were saddened by the announcement of the demise of Col. William Pattee, whose long connection with the school, and whose heart-felt wishes for its welfare make his loss a personal one to each of us, and we desire, in this brief memorial to express something of our sorrow, and something of our appreciation of his services, his good-will to us, and his noble traits of character. He was correct in judgment, imbued with a keen sense of honor, firm in his adherence to duty, and just to all. He despised all sham, affectation, and hypocrisy, and regardless of self-interest, did that which he thought was right. He secured the highest respect and esteem of those, who as teachers in the school, were brought into close relations with him, and there is not a student who knew him that will not remember him kindly, and cherish some recollection of his cordial greetings and pleasant words. The highest tribute we can pay him will be to make his virtues ours." (Signed) M. W. Bartlett Comm. on behalf of Faculty Minnie Moore, D. L. Skiff, Comm. on behalf of students William Pattee lived honestly and walked uprightly before God and man, he was clean in heart, and honorable in deed, and to his family and friends he has left a rich heritage, and a splendid record of "well done." This sketch accompanied letter from Emma Maxfield Macpherson to Prof. D. S. Wright, October, 28, 1916.