William Preston (Virginia)

Col. William Preston (December 25, 1729 – June 28, 1783)^[1] played a crucial role in surveying and developing the colonies going westward, exerted great influence in the colonial affairs of his time, ran a large plantation, and founded a dynasty whose progeny would supply leaders for the South for nearly a century.^[2] He served in the Virginia House of Burgesses, and was a Colonel in the militia during the American Revolutionary War. He was one of the thirteen signers of the Fincastle Resolutions, a predecessor to the United States Declaration of Independence.^[3]

William Preston's Signature

Personal Life

William Preston was born on Christmas day 1729 in Newton-Limvady, Ireland. He and his family immigrated to the colonies in 1738 on a ship captained by his uncle James Patton, and they settled in Augusta County, Virginia.^[4] He married Susanna Smith on January 17, 1761, and together they had 12 children. He and his family moved to Smithfield Plantation, in present day Blacksburg, Virginia, in 1774 and it served as his final home.^[5]

Political and Military Life

He was elected to the House of Burgesses in 1765 to represent Augusta County and served until the county was divided around 1770.^[6] In 1775, Preston was one of the thirteen signers of the Fincastle Resolutions.

He served in both the French and Indian War and American Revolutionary War. He was a Colonel for the militia in the American Revolutionary War. During the French and Indian War, William Preston saved George Washington's life from an impending Indian attack.^[7] During Lord Dunsmore's War of 1774 against the Shawnee Indians, he urged Virginians to join the militia to enact revenge on the Indians and plunder their stock of horses. One of Col. Preston's greatest contribution to the American Revolutionary War was his ability to suppress the Tories(British loyalist) from uprising in Southwest Virginia, which help prevent a civil war from breaking out. He also helped aid in the fight against Lord Cornwallis and the British in the Carolinas.^[8]

Legacy

Col. Preston died during a military muster near Price's Fork, VA. The cause of death is unknown but it is believed to be either a heat stroke or a heart attack. He is buried in the family cemetery located on Virginia Tech's campus in Blacksburg, Virginia near Smithfield Plantation. His final home Smithfield Plantation is a member of the U.S. Historical Registry.

Many other prominent Americans descended from Col. William Preston. He was father or grandfather to Governors, Senators, Presidential Cabinet members, University founders, and military leaders. Most notably among them are William Preston's son James Patton Preston, who was governor of Virginia from 1816–1819 and helped charter the University of Virginia, and William Preston's grandson William Ballard Preston, who was Secretary of the Navy under Zachary Taylor and later a Confederate Senator. The legacy of leadership and patriotism left by William Preston is very long and storied and makes him a true American hero.

He was memorialized on July 27, 2011 with the Col. William Preston highway in Blacksburg, Virginia.

Further Readings

• The Smithfield Review, Volumes I-XV.
• Johnson, Patricia Givens, William Preston and the Allegheny Patriots. 1976
• Osborn, Richard Charles, William Preston of Virginia, 1727–1783: The Making of a Frontier Elite. UMI Dissertation Services. 1990

References

1. ^ Colonel William Preston Gravestone, Preston Family Cemetery, Smithfield Plantation, Blacksburg, Virginia
2. ^ The Smithfield Review, Volume XIV, "The Fincastle Resolutions," Jim Glanville. page 91
3. ^ The Smithfield Review, Volume XIV, "The Fincastle Resolutions," Jim Glanville. page 81
4. ^ Osborn, Richard Charles. William Preston of Virginia, 1727–1783: The Making of a Frontier Elite.1990, Dissertation, University of Maryland College Park. pages 9–10
5. ^ Family Tree, Historic Smithfield Plantation Museum
6. ^ Johnson, Patricia Givens. William Preston and the Allegheny Patriots, 1976. pages 89–108
7. ^ spoken family history
8. ^ The Smithfield Review, Volume XII. "William Preston, Revolutionary (1779–1780)," Richard Osborn. pages 5–24