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{{Infobox officeholder
| image=
| name=Bennie Robert "B. R." Patton
| office= [[Louisiana]] State Senator for<br> Lincoln and Union parishes (now District 35)
| birth_date=September 15, 1920
| birth_place=Place of birth missing
| death_place=[[Ruston, Louisiana|Ruston]], Louisiana, USA
| death_date=December 18,`1999 (aged 79)
| resting_place=Corinth Cemetery in Ruston
| term_start=1956
| term_end=1964
| predecessor=James P. Hinton
| successor=[[Charles C. Barham]]
| occupation=Missing
| party = [[Democratic Party|Democrat]]
| spouse=Peggy Gantt Patton (married 1946-1999, his death)
| children=Benny Bruce Patton<br>
'''Parents''':<br>
Robert Toomes Patton (1887-1968)<br>
Mary Odelia Howell Patton (1894-1991)
| residence=Farmerville, Union Parish, Louisiana
|religion=
|branch=[[United States Army]]
|battles=[[World War II]]}}
'''Bennie Robert Patton''', known as '''B. R. Patton''' (September 15, 1920 – December 8, 1999),<ref name=findagrave>{{cite web|url=http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Patton&GSfn=Bennie&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSst=20&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=88086572&df=all&|title=Bennie Robert Patton|publisher=findagrave.com|accessdate=February 20, 2021}}</ref> was a [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] from Farmerville, [[Louisiana]], who served as a state senator for two terms from 1956 to 1964 for Lincoln and Union parishes.<ref name=legis>{{cite web|url=http://www.legis.la.gov/legisdocs/members/s1880-2012.pdf|title=Membership in the Louisiana Senate, 1880 - Present|publisher=legis.la.gov|accessdate=February 20, 2021}}</ref> His tenure corresponded with the last terms of [[Governor]]s [[Earl Long|Earl Kemp Long]] and [[Jimmie Davis]].
In the [[primary]] electionheld in January 1956, Patton was placed into a runoff] a month later with the one-term incumbent senator, James P. Hinton.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/2365133/|title=Long's Lead Builds|publisher=''The Ruston Daily Leader''|date=January 19, 1956|accessdate=February 18, 2015}}</ref> whom he then subsequently unseated.<ref name=legis/> Democrat Earl Long won his third nonconsecutive term as governor outright in the primary over a field of candidates, including [[[New Orleans]] [[Mayor]] [[Chep Morrison]] and businessman and former highway director [[Fred Preaus]] of Farmerville.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6Bm5yc8Pdc8C&pg=PA549&lpg=PA549&dq=Fred+Preaus+of+Louisiana&source=bl&ots=R3VSZz9V9x&sig=PPb87mIwEK1fOdVM00txbpnEJ2w&hl=en&sa=X&ei=JjLgVKO2M4mjgwT_lILwAQ&ved=0CEAQ6AEwCDgK#v=onepage&q=Fred%20Preaus%20of%20Louisiana&f=false|title=Louisiana Almanac|date=2006|author=[[Milburn E. Calhoun]]|publisher=Pelican Publishing Company|location=[[Gretna, Jefferson Parish, Louisiana|page=549|isbn=9781589803060|accessdate=February 15, 2015}}</ref>
Along with Fred Preaus and state Representative [[T. T. Fields]], Patton worked to make Lake D'Arbonne in Farmerville a reality. Popular with fisherman and boaters, the large man-made lake opened in 1963.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lakedarbonnelife.com/2013/01/18/in-the-beginning/|title=In the Beginning|publisher=Lake D'Arbonne Life|date=January 18, 2013|accessdate=February 18, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://bab.stparchive.com/Archive/BAB/BAB11072013P05.php|title=Lake D'Arbonne Celebrating 50th Year|publisher=''The Bernice (Louisiana) Banner''|date=November 7, 2013|page=5|author=Kinny Haddox|accessdate=February 18, 2015}}</ref> Shortly thereafter, Patton was unseated for a third term in the primary held on December 7, 1963, by his fellow Democrat, [[Charles C. Barham]] of [[Ruston, Louisiana|Ruston]], the older of two sons of former Lieutenant Governor [[C. E. "Cap" Barham]], and ally in 1956 with Mayor Chep Morrison.
Patton and his parents are interred at Corinth Cemetery in Ruston. In 1946, he married the former Peggy Gantt (born December 25, 1927) of Farmerville.<ref name=findagrave/>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Patton, B. R.}}
[[Category:Louisiana People]]
[[Category:Politicians]]
[[Category:State Senators]]
[[Category:Democrats]]
[[Category:United States Army]]
[[Category:World War II]]