Robert Patton (d. 1826), merchant, was a native of Scotland who advertised goods for sale in Alexandria as early as 1794. He traded on his own and in various partnerships. Patton sold real estate and was involved in mercantile shipping. He owned eleven slaves in 1820 but was deeply in debt when he died at Spring Bank, his Fairfax County estate (Columbian Mirror and Alexandria Gazette, 28 Oct. 1794; Alexandria Daily Gazette, Commercial & Political, 13 Jan. 1810, 27 June 1811; DNA: RG 29, CS, Fairfax Co., 1810, 1820; Alexandria Gazette & Daily Advertiser, 25 Sept. 1817; Va. Reports description begins Reports of Cases Argued and Adjudged in the Court of Appeals of Virginia, 1798–  (title varies; originally issued in distinct editions of separately numbered volumes with Va. Reports volume numbers retroactively assigned; original volume numbers here given parenthetically) description ends , 41 [1 Robinson]: 499–545; New-York Spectator, 26 Sept. 1826; Fairfax Co. Will Book, O:360–3).

On this day the Alexandria Gazette & Daily Advertiser announced the arrival from Le Havre of the ship Atlas, which carried a consignment of “plaister & burr-stones,” eight passengers, “furniture, for the house of the President of the U. States,” and “books, for T. Jefferson, Esq. of Monticello.”