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Many prominent
Americans descended from Preston and his wife Susanna, for whom the plantation is named. They were parents or grandparents to governors, senators, presidential cabinet members, university founders, university presidents, and military leaders. The Prestons' son
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in 1756, keeping a journal which serves as the only complete record of that campaign. Remaining in
Virginia, William married Susanna Smith on January 17, 1761, and together they had 12 children. He and his family moved to Smithfield Plantation, in present-day
444:, which was in financial difficulty by 1872. The trustees relinquished its charter and donated its property to the state, which reorganized the campus as the Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College. Today, it is known as
890:
235:, he urged Virginians to join the militia to enact revenge on the Indians and plunder their stock of horses. A colonel in the militia, one of Preston's greatest contributions to the
200:
At least 216 people were enslaved as workers at the
Smithfield Plantation. In August 1759, William Preston purchased 16 enslaved people from a slave ship in a single purchase.
905:
880:
393:
309:
44:
910:
860:
392:, in 1783. The cause of death is unknown, but it is believed that he either suffered from a heat stroke or a heart attack. He is buried in the family cemetery on
35:(December 25, 1729 – June 28, 1783) was an Irish-born American military officer, planter and politician. He played a crucial role in surveying and developing the
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244:
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138:, the County Surveyor and Patton's cousin, and in November 1752, William was hired as a deputy surveyor. He later served as surveyor in Augusta,
920:
356:
328:
409:
100:
462:, was erected on one of his land grants and named in his honor. Before 1800, it was the most important town in the county and larger than
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John
Preston and his wife, Elizabeth. Elizabeth's father, Henry Patton, was a prominent shipwright and merchant, and her brother,
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92:
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to the
Virginia Legislature that resulted in Virginia joining the Confederacy, and he co-founded a small Methodist college, the
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and served until the county was divided around 1770. In 1775, Preston was one of the signatories of the
Fincastle Resolutions.
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Williams, Richard G (2013). Lexington, Virginia and the Civil War. The
History Press, 2013. Retrieved online
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243:(British loyalists) from uprising in southwest Virginia during the Revolution. He also helped fight
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466:. One of the first roads built in this section of the state was from the mouth of the Kentucky to
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In June 1752, William accompanied his uncle James Patton, acting as his secretary at the
675:
Lyman C. Draper, "The expedition of the
Virginians against the Shawanoe Indians, 1756,"
258:. Other founding trustees Preston worked with were prominent men in the area, including
250:
He served as a founding trustee of
Liberty Hall (chartered in 1782), formerly named the
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Preston was memorialized on July 27, 2011, with the
Colonel William Preston highway in
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Jim Glanville, "William Preston the Surveyor and the Great Virginia Land Grab,"
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254:, when in 1776 it was renamed in a burst of revolutionary fervor and moved to
39:, exerted great influence in the colonial affairs of his time, owned numerous
412:, and it is open for tours from April through the first week in December.
16:
Irish-born American military officer, planter and politician (1729 – 1783)
278:. It is the ninth-oldest institution of higher education in the country.
131:
80:
760:"William Preston, Revolutionary (1779–1780)," Richard Osborn. pages 5–24
701:"National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Greenfield"
598:
William Preston of Virginia, 1727–1783: The Making of a Frontier Elite.
316: in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
162:
64:
29:
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617:. University Press of Kentucky (Lexington), 1987. Accessed 1 Aug 2013.
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William Preston of Virginia, 1727–1783: The Making of a Frontier Elite
660:
Ryan S. Mays, "The Draper's Meadows Settlement (1746-1756)," Part I,
630:
Ryan S. Mays, "The Draper's Meadows Settlement (1746-1756) Part II,"
535:
Preston Family Cemetery, Smithfield Plantation, Blacksburg, Virginia
600:
1990, Dissertation, University of Maryland College Park. pages 9–10
185:, in 1774, and it served as his final home. He previously lived at
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granted him between 100,000 and 120,000 acres in America to permit
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Vol. V, Number II. Richmond: McFarlane & Fergusson, April 1852
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was governor of Virginia from 1816 to 1819 and helped charter the
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against a settlement that was part of a property later known as
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773:
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https://books.google.com/books?id=SnlXXMRrD3MC&pg=PA22
79:
William Preston was born on Christmas Day in 1729, in
677:
Virginia Historical Register and Literary Companion,
699:Michael J. Pulice & John R. Kern (April 2010).
559:"The Fincastle Resolutions," Jim Glanville. page 81
547:"The Fincastle Resolutions," Jim Glanville. page 91
134:. Patton arranged for William to be apprenticed to
689:Family Tree, Historic Smithfield Plantation Museum
71:when it was transformed into a college in 1776.
428:was a congressman, Secretary of the Navy under
123:limited the impact of the family's grants, but
59:. He was one of the fifteen signatories of the
891:Virginia militiamen in the American Revolution
8:
715:
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746:William Preston and the Allegheny Patriots,
436:. William Ballard Preston also offered the
388:Preston died during a military muster near
150:, surveying 36 tracts for Patton along the
906:Military personnel from County Londonderry
881:Members of the Virginia House of Delegates
774:"A History: Washington and Lee University"
488:William Preston and the Allegheny Patriots
408:, has been restored and is listed on the
376:Learn how and when to remove this message
231:of 1773–1774, while fighting against the
208:Preston was elected to Virginia colony's
911:Irish emigrants to the Thirteen Colonies
721:"Historic Smithfield Plantation History"
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567:
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325:"William Preston" Virginia soldier
861:Continental Army officers from Ireland
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172:William served as a captain with the
7:
886:Signers of the Fincastle Resolutions
587:". 2007. Accessed 28 September 2013.
483:The Smithfield Review, Volumes I-XV.
314:adding citations to reliable sources
157:In July 1755, William survived the
819:"A Short History of Virginia Tech"
758:The Smithfield Review, Volume XII.
557:The Smithfield Review, Volume XIV,
545:The Smithfield Review, Volume XIV,
247:and the British in the Carolinas.
14:
896:18th-century American politicians
513:Thomas Preston, 1st Viscount Tara
497:. UMI Dissertation Services. 1990
290:
239:was his ability to suppress the
95:, served in the Royal Navy. The
432:, and later a senator from the
301:needs additional citations for
916:18th-century American planters
725:Historic Smithfield Plantation
63:. Preston was also a founding
1:
921:People from colonial Virginia
434:Confederate States of America
798:. Smithfield Foundation, Inc
127:was named in John's honor.
117:French and Indian resistance
219:Preston served in both the
204:Political and military life
107:. The family immigrated to
25:William Preston's signature
937:
901:Preston family of Virginia
744:Johnson, Patricia Givens.
649:volume 17, pp. 43-74, 2013
486:Johnson, Patricia Givens,
442:Olin and Preston Institute
237:American Revolutionary War
225:American Revolutionary War
195:Botetourt County, Virginia
132:Logstown Treaty Conference
121:reversal of British policy
57:American Revolutionary War
856:18th-century Irish people
596:Osborn, Richard Charles.
493:Osborn, Richard Charles,
51:and was a colonel in the
531:Colonel William Preston
410:U.S. Historical Registry
159:Draper's Meadow massacre
426:William Ballard Preston
817:Kinnear, Duncan Lyle.
662:The Smithfield Review,
585:John Preston 1699-1747
508:William Preston (poet)
460:Prestonville, Kentucky
438:Ordinance of Secession
422:University of Virginia
390:Price's Fork, Virginia
274:, George Moffett, and
178:Sandy Creek Expedition
125:Prestonsburg, Kentucky
26:
876:American slave owners
796:"Historic Smithfield"
406:Smithfield Plantation
402:Smithfield Plantation
221:French and Indian War
212:in 1765 to represent
187:Greenfield Plantation
167:Smithfield Plantation
61:Fincastle Resolutions
24:
866:People from Limavady
611:Kentucky Place Names
453:Blacksburg, Virginia
418:James Patton Preston
398:Blacksburg, Virginia
310:improve this article
183:Blacksburg, Virginia
115:in 1738. Subsequent
105:Blue Ridge Mountains
101:British colonization
256:Lexington, Virginia
161:, an attack by the
148:Montgomery Counties
871:American surveyors
748:1976. pages 89–108
647:Smithfield Review,
632:Smithfield Review,
404:. His final home,
229:Lord Dunmore's War
210:House of Burgesses
49:House of Burgesses
27:
609:Rennick, Robert.
424:. Their grandson
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174:Virginia Regiment
37:Southern Colonies
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478:Further reading
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272:Sampson Mathews
268:Samuel McDowell
252:Augusta Academy
245:Lord Cornwallis
233:Shawnee Indians
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33:William Preston
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396:'s campus in
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327: –
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75:Personal life
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822:. Retrieved
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778:. Retrieved
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472:Henry County
464:Port William
458:The city of
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332:
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308:Please help
303:verification
300:
276:James Waddel
264:Thomas Lewis
260:Andrew Lewis
249:
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136:Thomas Lewis
129:
93:James Patton
78:
69:Liberty Hall
32:
28:
18:
851:1783 deaths
846:1729 births
802:November 6,
533:Gravestone,
366:August 2023
103:beyond the
55:during the
840:Categories
730:October 7,
519:References
468:New Castle
336:newspapers
45:plantation
776:. Wlu.edu
227:. During
191:Fincastle
152:New River
144:Fincastle
140:Botetourt
502:See also
113:Virginia
81:Limavady
350:scholar
176:on the
163:Shawnee
85:Ireland
65:trustee
43:on his
30:Colonel
615:p. 242
490:. 1976
352:
345:
338:
331:
323:
282:Legacy
241:Tories
146:, and
41:slaves
704:(PDF)
400:near
357:JSTOR
343:books
97:Crown
87:, to
826:2017
804:2020
782:2011
732:2020
329:news
223:and
119:and
89:Col.
470:in
312:by
189:in
67:of
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