ARISTOCRATE—LAND SPECULATOR—POLITICIAN ©
Prestonsburg, Kentucky was named for Col. John Preston. He was born at “Greenfield”, his family’s plantation in Botetourt County, Virginia on May 24, 1764, the second child and first son of William Preston and Susanna Smith. There is no evidence of where John Preston received his education, but as a child he probably was home schooled by teachers hired by his father—one being John Floyd—and later is thought to have attended Liberty Hall Academy in Lexington, Virginia.[1] Certainly, John Preston had opportunities to pursue his education with relatives at institutions of higher learning. In a 1779 letter to William Preston from his nephew, John Brown Jr.—a first cousin to John Preston who was attending William and Mary College—Brown reports studying law under Attorney General Edmond Randolph. The following year Brown continued his law studies under George Wythe. Subsequent letters indicate William Preston may have provided financial assistance to support his education. A letter from Brown in March of 1780 indicate “(John) Preston and (John) Breckinridge” having plans to become students at William and Mary College.[2] The Revolutionary War interfered with those plans as seen from Brown writing to William Preston that there was talk of the College President, James Madison, resigning and suspension of the College.[3]
In 1783, at the age of 19, John Preston was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates as a representative of Botetourt County. In 1791, and again in 1803-1804, Preston was elected to represent Montgomery County. In the meantime, he served as a member of the Virginia Senate from 1792-1799. Preston was named as a trustee of Christiansburg, Virginia—named for Col. William Christian who was killed by Indians in 1786—in the act that established the town on November 10, 1792. Preston served as a clerk of the town’s first board of trustees. He also became as a trustee of Blacksburg, Virginia—named for an early settler, Samuel Black—when the town was established on August 4, 1798.
John Preston periodically served in the Virginia militia throughout his lifetime. In 1795, he became a Lieutenant Colonel, commanding the Virginia Third Regiment of Artillery. In 1799, he was elected Brigadier General, and given command of the brigade for Wythe, Montgomery, and Monroe Counties. Later in 1810, Preston was appointed by the Virginia General Assembly to be Treasurer of Virginia, serving until 1819. An audit of the Treasurer’s books found that Preston’s accounts were in arrears, and a judgment was issued against Preston for $87,000. To meet the obligation, Preston transferred several properties to trustees, who were to oversee their sale and the payment of funds into the treasury.
John Preston was married twice, first to Miss Mary Radford of Richmond in 1798, and after her death in 1810, to Mrs. Mayo, formerly Miss Elizabeth Carrington. When not on active military duty, he resided with his mother at “Smithfield”, his family’s plantation in Montgomery County, Virginia, until his marriage, after which he lived at a plantation called “Horseshoe”. John Preston and Mary Radford had five children. He and Elizabeth Carrington Mayo had one child. Preston died at Greenfield Plantation on March 27, 1827.
William Preston, father of John Preston, was born 25 Dec 1729 in Newton Limavady, Donegal, Ireland, and arrived in America on August 26, 1738 on the “Walpole” commanded by his uncle James Patton, an early colonist of Virginia. He married Susanna Smith on January 17, 1761, in a ceremony performed by Rev. Patrick Henry. William died on July 28, 1783 at the age of 53. Susanna Smith, daughter of Francis Smith Sr. and Elizabeth Waddy Smith of Hanover County, Virginia, was born on January 23, 1740 in Hanover County and died, June 19, 1823 in Blacksburg at the age of 83 and is buried at Smithfield. William and Susanna had eleven children, five boys and six girls. Col. William Preston was one of the foremost men of his region, having enormous influence on the early trans-Appalachia country. William Preston was a surveyor in several Virginia counties from 1752 to 1783. The counties in which he was deputy surveyor were Augusta (1752-1770), and Botetourt (1770-1772); and County Surveyor of Fincastle (1772-1777). When Fincastle was divided in 1777 into three Virginia counties— Montgomery, Washington and Kentucky—William Preston was appointed surveyor of Montgomery in 1777, a post he held until his death, July 28, 1783. While Surveyor of Fincastle County, William Preston sent deputy surveyors, John Floyd, Hancock Taylor, and others, to locate land south of the Ohio River and on its southern branches, the Licking and Kentucky Rivers. Two Fincastle surveys by John Floyd in 1774 were for William Preston at the mouth of Bear Grass Creek in Jefferson County for which grants were issued to William Preston in 1779. (VA0003 and VA3942).[4]
At the untimely death of William Preston at age 53, John Preston, who was serving as Montgomery County’s representative in the Virginia House of Delegates, resigned and returned home at Smithfield. John was named a Justice of the Peace and appointed Surveyor of Montgomery County in place of his father. He continued in the business tradition of his father in land surveying, acquisition, speculation, military service and politics.
John Preston began the business of land speculating by the purchase and assignment of treasury warrants issued to others. He was influenced, not only by his father’s large land holdings, but also by his uncles, Granville Smith (1757-1811) and Ballard Smith, (1753-1794)—brothers to his mother, Susanna Smith Preston—who were early land speculators in Jefferson County. Granville Smith acquired and assigned to John Preston surveys for several tracts of land, two of which were:
Granville Smith assigned his interest in two surveys to John Preston and Ballard Smith for 490 acres (VA2467) and 2449 acres (VA2473) dated July 15, 1784 lying on Floyd’s Fork in Jefferson County. Grants for each tract were issued to Preston and Smith on December 26, 1785 by Patrick Henry, Governor of Virginia.
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Granville Smith assigned his interest in a survey of 1000-acres (VA6044) surveyed for Granville Smith and Robert Floyd on Floyd’s Fork (Jefferson County) dated April 9, 1786 assigning same to John Preston and Ballard Smith September 27, 1787; grant issued to John Preston and Ballard Smith, October 26, 1787 by Virginia Governor E. Randolph.
John Preston also acquired properties throughout southwest Virginia, the opportunity arising for Preston while serving as Surveyor of Montgomery County, Virginia, in his leading military role in southwest Virginia, and with his political connections while a member of the Virginia House of Delegates and as a state Senator. Preston held significant valuable properties, many of which were assigned after 1819 to a Trustee’s Committee appointed by the Virginia General Assembly for sale and to repay the State of Virginia the sizable debt incurred while Treasurer of Virginia. The Panic of 1819 contributed to the cause of many investments to lose enormous value (1818-1923) which may have contributed to the Virginia Legislature charging Preston with negligence and a loss of $87,000 to the state. Preston’s loss while in office placed his bond sureties at risk but the sureties were never required by the State Legislature to redeem any losses.
It has not been factually determined if John Preston ever visited the Upper Big Sandy Valley or the town which bears his name, Prestonsburg. However, a letter written by John to his brother Francis on May 3, 1793, discussed a trip down the Kanawha River to Point Pleasant, thence, down the Ohio to Limestone (now Maysville, Kentucky) arriving in Lexington about April 28, 1793.[5] During the journey, John Preston met General (James) Wilkinson who was second in command of the U.S. Standing Army, appointed by President Washington, behind Major General Anthony Wayne. It is unclear whether the meeting between Preston and Wilkinson was planned or occurred serendipitously while descending the Ohio River or later after arriving in Lexington. Preston writes to his brother there are talks in Kentucky of disunion; that “B(allard) Smith, their cousin,” has been commissioned Major and was being sent into the northwest (Indiana/Illinois). He noted that the price of land near the seat of government (in Kentucky) is bringing high prices (2½ – 10.00 per acre) and that Gen. (John) Breckinridge is speculating in land and will do very well. At the time of this visit, Preston was serving as Colonel in the Montgomery County Virginia militia. John Breckinridge may have accompanied him on this trip to Kentucky.
Two years later (1795), Gen. Breckinridge sent surveyors to the Big Sandy Valley to locate and survey large tracts on Middle Creek and Beaver Creek using Virginia Treasury Warrants, some of which were assigned to him by John Preston. In 1797, after Preston’s visit to Lexington, John Graham ran a town survey for John Preston dated May 3, 1797, for a settlement sometimes referred to as Preston’s Station across from the mouth of Middle Creek—but soon to become the town of Prestonsburg.
- Liberty Hall Academy became Washington Academy in 1797 and in 1870, following the death of its president, Robert E. Lee, the school was renamed Washington and Lee University. ↑
- The Breckinridge family name is often written as Breckenridge in historical records. To avoid confusion, the Breckinridge spelling is used throughout this book. ↑
- “Papers of William Preston” – Wisconsin Historical Society, pp 125-140. ↑
- The Kentucky Secretary of State Land Office Web page describes the Patent Series Overview for the Virginia Patent Series (VA) and the Old Kentucky Series (OK). For ease of research, each series provides by name in alphabetical order to whom a grant or patent was issued or in numerical order the land survey number for Virginia surveys prior to Kentucky statehood in 1792 and thereafter for Kentucky surveys. ↑
- William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine Vol. 2, Series 2 (1922), p 188, John Preston Papers. ↑