Difference between revisions of "Francis Preston"

Revision as of 14:12, 27 October 2016

General
Francis Preston
Virginia Senator
In office
1816-1820
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Virginia House of Delegates
In office
1812-1814
Preceded by
Succeeded by
U.S. House of Representatives
In office
1793-1797
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Virginia House of Delegates
In office
1788, 1789
Preceded by
Succeeded by
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In office
Preceded by
Succeeded by
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In office
Preceded by
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In office
Preceded by
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In office
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Personal details
Born	August 2, 1765
	Botetourt Co., Virginia
Died	May 26, 1835
	Columbia, South Carolina
Resting place	Aspenvale Cemetery, Seven Mile Ford, Smyth County, Virginia.
Residence(s)	Preston House, Saltville, Virginia
Education
Alma mater	College of William & Mary
Profession	lawyer, politician
Spouse(s)	Sarah Buchanan Campbell
Relatives	Col. William Preston (father) Susannah Smith Preston (mother)
Known for	Abingdon salt works
Signature	[[File:|left|200px]]

Francis Smith Preston (August 2, 1765 – May 26, 1835) was an American lawyer and politician, the son of Colonel William Preston and Susannah Smith.^[1] Born at Greenfield plantation, in Botetourt County, Virginia, he studied law with George Wythe at the College of William and Mary, where he graduated in 1783.^[2][3] Settling in Abingdon, he was admitted to the bar, and practiced law in Montgomery and Washington Counties.

Preston was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1788 to 1789 and, in beginning in 1793, he served Virginia in the U.S. House of Representatives for five years. In 1793 he married Sarah Buchanan Campbell. Retiring from Congress in 1797, he settled near the "saltworks" he owned, where he built Preston House (now the Martha Washington Inn), and resumed the practice of law, but in 1810 he returned to Abingdon.^[4] Preston returned to the House of Delegates from 1812 to 1814, and was commissioned a Colonel of Volunteers in the War of 1812, rising to a brigadier-general of the Virginia militia in 1820. He served in the state Senate from 1816 to 1820.

Preston died at the age of 70, at the home of his son in Columbia, South Carolina. He is buried near Seven Mile Ford, Virginia.

See also

• Wythe the Teacher

References

1. ↑ W. Garrett Jackson, "A Most Cherished Gift: The George Washington Ladle," PDF document, Mastermason.com, accessed October 27, 2016.
2. ↑ Walter Lynwood Fleming, ed., The South in the Building of the Nation, vol. 11, Biography (Richmond, VA: Southern Historical Publication Society, 1909), 312.
3. ↑ Office of History and Preservation, "PRESTON, Francis, (1765 - 1835)," Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774 - Present, accessed October 26, 2016.
4. ↑ Lewis Preston Summers, History of Southwest Virginia, 1746-1786, Washington County, 1777-1870 (Richmond, VA: J.L. Hill, 1903), 755-56.

External links

• "Gen Francis Smith Preston," Find a Grave.