Patton Woods

What is now a preserved natural area in the northeastern part of Champaign County, Patton Woods was once the home of a prominent Champaign-Ford county family, The Pattons, which included the influential matriarch, Jane Patton. Her story is a story of hard work, care, and doing whatever was necessary for her family and community.

Jane Cade Patton was born in 1824, but did not arrive in central Illinois until 1854 with her husband David. They settled in the northeastern part of Champaign county, close to where the county line meets Ford and Vermillion county lines. Writing in her memoir, Remembrances of a Pioneer, she describes her new home as a "lonely little place a little farther out on the prairie than our neighbors were at that time." Her memoir provides an excellent glimpse into the life an early Champaign County settler as she describes her experiences from 1844 to 1903.

In the book, Patton details the many different hats she wore serving her family and community. During her lifetime, she was a mother of eight children, a nurse, a farmer, a seamstress, cook, gardener, midwife, naturalist, funeral director, and more. Serving her role as midwife, Jane helped to deliver 102 babies in the community, earning her the nickname of "Grandma Patton." Jane helped welcome so many into the world, but she unfortunately ran into her fair share of deaths she had to care for, including four children of her own, Serving her role as funeral director, Patton writes in her memoir: "There were no trained nurses then, and no coffins kept in the furniture store for sale. The first thing after death was to straighten the body and take the measure for a coffin, and go to the carpenter’s and get a coffin made, for that would take some time and the funeral would be appointed accordingly. I have helped take the measure of a great many people for a coffin, for I was a born leader in taking care of the sick and caring for the dead. ..I remember a little baby just a few days old that I took on my lap and dressed for the grave, when I was not more than seventeen years old.” 

Following the death of her husband in 1880, Jane was severely in debt $17,000. However, her hard working nature never stopped and she eventually paid off the entire debt as well as secured 2500 acres of land in Champaign and Ford counties. Following her death in 1921, her obituary proclaimed her as Ford County's wealthiest woman."

Today, Patton Woods includes a section of protected land that once belonged to the Patton family. The Champaign County Forest Preserve District maintains the protected space and it has remained largely unchanged since the county’s formation in 1833. The area of forest features mature hickory and oak trees as well as over 200 identified plant species and wildflowers. The area can be viewed on a 1/4 mile hiking trail that runs through Patton Woods. Patton Woods is named in honor of the great Jane Patton whose family farm sprawled over three counties and left a lasting impact on central Illinois history.

Bowser, Sherrie, “'Grandma' Jane Patton and her Legacy,” Champaign County Historical Archives at The Urbana Free Library, December 8, 2016. https://urbanafreelibrary.org/blogs/2019/08/14/grandma-jane-patton-and-her-legacy.

Champaign County Forest Preserve District, Master Plan, 2010.

Champaign County Forest Preserve District, Patton Woods: A Living Legacy Interpretive Sign, Patton Woods, Penfield, IL, 2017.

Creutzburg, Earl. “Preservation and Conservation Association Newsletter,” February 2016.

“Jane Cade Patton (1824-1921) - Find a Grave...” Find a Grave, June 10, 2012. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/39172060/jane-patton.

Patton, Jane Cade, Remembrances of a Pioneer (Penfield: Privately Published, 1905).

The News-Gazette, Obituary for Jane Cade Patton, July 13, 1921.