US Congressman. He was born one of seven children on a farm (he also had five sisters and one brother), in Tadmor, Texas, on February 26, 1881, (some sources say 1883 or 1884), to Francis Marion Patton and Mary Elizabeth "Bessie" Bland Patton. He was educated locally and attended area rural schools and the Sam Houston Normal School in Huntsville, Texas. Following his education, he taught in the area rural public schools and high schools from 1899 to 1918. During this time he also involved himself in agricultural pursuits in Belott, Texas, from 1915 to 1916. He also entered politics and was elected and served a term as a Member of the Texas State House of Representatives representing the 24th District from 1912 to 1915. He then studied law at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas, was admitted to the bar in 1918, and commenced his practice of law in Crockett, Texas, shortly thereafter. He enlisted in the United States Army during World War II on November 1, 1918, but he was never sworn in because the armistice had already been signed. He then served as State Court Judge in Houston, Texas, from 1918 to 1922, Delegate to the Texas Democratic State Conventions from 1924 to 1935, and as a Member of the Texas State Senate representing the 5th District from 1929 to 1935. He then decided to run for a seat in the United States Congress and was elected. A Member of the Democratic Party, he then served Texas' 7th District (Seventy-Fourth Congress and to the four succeeding Congresses) in the United States House of Representatives from January 3, 1935, to January 3, 1945. He was an unsuccessful Candidate for renomination in 1944. After his term in the United States Congress expired he was succeeded in office by United States Representative Thomas Augustus "Tom" Pickett on January 3, 1945. He was also a member of the famous 'Miller Group,' in Washington, D.C. He was known, in Lady Bird Johnson's words, as "a professional East Texan," dressed in an all-white suit and bow tie, and infamously referred to everyone, even Queen Elizabeth, as "Cousin." President Franklin Delano Roosevelt appreciated his flair and good-nature, and in turn affectionately called him, as did everyone else, "Cousin Nat." After leaving the United States Congress he resumed his practice of law until his death. He passed away from a heart attack in Crockett, Texas, on July 27, 1957, and was buried in Evergreen Memorial Park in that city. He was married to Martha Louise "Mattie" Taylor Patton with whom he had four children, two girls and two boys. His wife Martha Louise "passed away in Lovelady, Texas, on January 26, 1980, at the age of 92, and was buried with her husband. His grandson James Patton LeGory who passed away on December 30, 2018, served as a Congressional Aide under United States Representative John Dowdy of Texas on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. from 1964 to 1966.