Elizabeth Patton was born in Swannanoa, Buncombe County, NC, on May 22, 1788, one of the younger children of Robert and Rebecca (..) Patton. She married her first cousin, James Patton, son of her father's brother Elijah. Elizabeth and James Patton moved to West Tennessee, probably Gibson County and were living there when James became involved in fighting in the Creek Indian War during which he served under General Andrew Jackson. He was wounded at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in 1814, and as he lay dying he asked his friend and fellow Indian fighter, David Crockett, to take his personal effects back to his wife. David honored his friend's dying request and in the process of returning the personal belongings, met Elizabeth Patton.
