William B. Patton was born in North Carolina in 1812. A farmer in Alamance County, in 1870 Patton was arrested by Col. George B. Bergen on suspicion of being a member of the Ku Klux Klan. Democratic newspapers of the time claimed that Patton was hung by Col. Bergen until he confessed to being a member of the Ku Klux Klan in an attempt to discredit the Holden administration and paint the state militia as violent. However, Patton later testified that while he did confess, he was never tortured by Col. Bergen. He ultimately was never charged with a crime and was released. He died in Alamance County in March 1880.