Albert Patterson

Albert Love Patterson (January 27, 1894 – June 18, 1954) was an American politician and attorney in Phenix City, Alabama. He was assassinated outside his law office shortly after he had won the Democratic nomination for Alabama Attorney General on a platform of reforming the rife corruption and vice in Phenix City.

Early life Albert Love Patterson was born in the New Site community in Tallapoosa County sometime between 1891 and 1897, depending on what source is used. According to his driver's license at the time of his death, his date of birth was January 27, 1894. He was the son of Mary Green (Sorrell) and Delona Patterson, and grew up on a farm with seven siblings. He left Alabama as a teenager to seek a better life. He eventually settled in East Texas, working as a day laborer on farms and oil fields. The RBA had been thwarted electing its candidates at the local level and so it decided to nominate candidates for statewide office. Since Patterson had held a Senate seat, he was seen as the perfect candidate for the office of attorney general. Patterson was well aware that his life was in danger, commenting just one night earlier to a church group, "I have only a 100-to-1 chance of ever being sworn in as attorney general."

Aftermath and legacy

Reaction from the state was swift. Within weeks, Governor Gordon Persons declared martial law in the city, effectively giving the Alabama National Guard the law enforcement duties in the city and the county. The state sent special prosecutors from Montgomery to replace the local judiciary. Ferrell was acquitted and Garrett was never brought to trial, as he was convalescing in a mental institution for most of the year after Patterson's murder.

Honors and awards

Croix de Guerre. A memorial statue of Patterson stands on the grounds of the Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery.