Patton Family

Research Status: Moderate Diary Coverage: 1873-02-16 to 1882-02-12 (the family tag is on 1873-1877 entries)

Overview

The household of Oscar Patton, Russian consul at Nice (Mon Journal t.2 and t.6 indexes: «Patton (Oscar), consul de Russie»), a leading figure of the Russian colony and, to Marie, its chief gossip. His wife is «Patton (Mme), née Savelieff» (t.1, t.2, t.6 indexes), the daughter of the dying Mme Savelieff in spring 1873. The family is Russian-colony Nice, not American. The family includes:

• M. (de) Patton, the consul. Marie calls him «cet animal-brute Patton» (011/1873-10-25), «le sévère Patton» (015/1874-01-04), but also «Malgré quelque rudesse j'aime assez Patton; il est fort galant» (016/1874-02-09); from 1874 she blames his talk for the family's social exclusion («Patton… ce colporteur de nouvelles, ce bavard», 024/1874-10-13; 027/1874-12-02).
• Mme Patton, née Savelieff, deeply distressed by her mother's death in May 1873 («Mme Patton (sa fille) a eu le hysterics après la pannychide», 004/1873-05-14). Marie wonders how she can live in the house where the groans were (005/1873-06-08, 005.0217).
• The daughters: Nathalie (t.1 index: «Patton (Mlle Nathalie)»), Catherine and the youngest, nicknamed Bébé (t.1 index: «Patton (Mlle) [Bébé]»). Marie finds them «très gentilles» (006/1873-07-10) but in 1875 «ses laides filles» (050.0674).
• «La vieille Mme Patton» (004/1873-04-24; 062/1876-06-20; 068/1877-01-31) is an older lady of the family; the diary does not say how she is related.

Diary References

• 1873-02-16 (002.0015): "M. de Patton" visits; 1873-03-05 (002): an evening at the Pattons'.
• May 1873 (004.0327-0368): Nathalie brought home from church; Mme Savelieff dies; Mme Patton faints at the funeral (004.0353).
• May-June 1873 (005-006): M. Patton is Maman's adviser in the Tolstoy lawsuit and the villa purchase: «M. Abramovitch… chez Patton… a pris vigoureusement ma défense» (005.0061); «Patton a tout simplement dit contre, et c'est lui qui a crié le plus» (006.0064); on 1873-06-13 he brings news of a villa for sale (005.0259).
• 1874-1875: the Pattons spread the stories about the family's lawsuits: «Si Patton n'était pas consul, personne ne saurait rien du procès» (024.0304); «on veut faire prier toute la famille de quitter Nice, que Patton est de la partie» (027.0123).
• 1875-12-11 (050.0674): «M. le consul Patton et ses laides filles étaient à côté de nous» at the Opéra.
• 1876-06-20/21 (062): the faire-part notice «était tombé entre les mains des Patton»; «la rupture du mariage de la nièce de Patton».
• 1882-08-03 (096.0008) names «Mme Commère née Patton (fille de M. Cabanel)»: a different Patton, not this family.

Related Entries

• #M_Patton - the consul himself (separate stub)
• #Nathalie_Patton - the eldest daughter