| 19. | Letita Preston  (4.William2, 1.John1) was born on 29 Sep 1776 in Smithfield, Montgomery Co, Virginia; died on 13 Dec 1852 in Burkes Garden, Tazewell Co, Virginia; was buried in Lewis Family Cem, Sweet Springs, Monroe Co, West Virginia. Other Events and Attributes:
Notes:
She was born in Smithfield, Montgomery County, Virginia; married to Governor John Floyd; mother of Governor John Buchanan Floyd.
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Annals of Augusta County, Virginia, from 1726 to 1871,
by Joseph Addison
Mrs. Lititia Floyd, daughter of Col. William Preston, granddaughter of John Preston, and wife of the first Governor Floyd, in 1843 wrote an account of the Preston family, from which we take most of the following statements:
Colonel James Patton had four sisters, two of whom married "men of quality" in the old country. The youngest sister, Elizabeth, while crossing the river Shannon in a boat, had as a fellow-passenger a young man of striking appearance, who proved to be a ship carpenter named John Preston. This casual interview led to acquaintance and a runaway marriage. The young lady thus placed herself ''out of the pale of her family." Her brother, James Patton, having afterwards retired from the sea and settled in America, induced Mr. and Mrs. Preston to emigrate also. Mrs. Floyd puts the date of their arrival in the Valley at 1735, and says John Preston died seven years afterwards at "Gibson's old place, eight miles below Staunton." But it appears from the records of Augusta County Court that his death occurred in 1747, and if he lived only seven years after coming, he must have arrived in 1740 with Alexander Breckinridge and many others, as is generally supposed to have been the fact. While living in Augusta, remote from the seaboard, John Preston employed himself as a cabinetmaker, constructing household furniture for himself and neighbors.
William, only son of John Preston, was born in the town of Newton, Ireland, November 25, 1729. He received most of his education in America, from the Rev. John Craig. Mrs. Patton was a haughty woman, says Mrs. Floyd, and kept aloof from the Prestons. A silly prediction of an Irish woman that William Preston would get his uncle's fortune, so impressed her with dread of a marriage between the nephew and one of her daughters, that she allowed no intercourse between the young people. She died soon after the marriage of her daughters,?one to a kinsman of hers named Thompson, and the other to John Buchanan. Colonel Patton then induced his widowed sister to remove to Spring Farm, in the vicinity of Staunton, and went to live with her.
John Preston and other Presbyterian people of Staunton and vicinity of his day, worshiped at Tinkling Spring, and his body was interred at that place. His eldest daughter married Robert Breckinridge, the ancestor of several distinguished men. The second daughter married the Rev. John Brown, pastor of New Providence church, and from them descended John Brown, of Kentucky, and James Brown, of Louisiana, both of them United States Senators, and the latter minister to France. William Preston was the father of a numerous family, male and female, and many of his descendants have been eminent in various walks of life. John Preston, the ancestor, appears to have been a quiet man, and without the bustling energy which characterized other pioneer settlers; but the traits which he and 'his wife Elizabeth," transmitted to their posterity is a noble testimony that the pair possessed more than common merit. He died in 1747, leaving a very small estate, as far as appears. His wife qualified as administratrix, February 6, 1747, and executed a bond, with John Maxwell and Robert McClanahan as her securities, in the penalty of ,£100, indicating a personal estate of only ,£50.
On the day that John Preston "proved his importation," the court ordered that ''Edward Boyle, for damning the court and swearing four oaths in their presence, be put in the stocks for two hours, and be fined twelve shillings," ($2).
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Memoirs of Letitia Preston Floyd
written Feb. 22, 1843.
WRITTEN TO HER SON, BENJAMIN RUSH FLOYD
Cairo, Feb'y 22, 1843
My Dear Rush:
From the extreme rigor of the winter and diminished vision I have postponed answering your letter of Dec. 30, enclosing one from Mr. Lyman C. Draper of Buffalo, N. York. The object of Mr. Draper's letter is to collect materials for a work "Sketches of the Pioneers". Would it be irrelevant in reply to repeat the tradition I have so often interested your childhood with, on the facts of the life and death of Col. James Patton, Dec?d.
He was born in the north of Ireland in the town of Newton, Lenawaddy in the year of our Lord 1690. He was bred to the sea, and in the wars of England with the low countries served as an officer in the Royal Navy. After the treaty of Utrecht he procured a "Passenger Ship" and traded to the Colony of Virginia at Robbes Hole on the Tappahannock. He penetrated the then wilderness of the State as far as Orange County, thence across the Blue Ridge and commenced a settlement near Waynesborough in Augusta County. He crossed the Atlantic twenty-three or twenty-five times - his traffic was paltries and tobacco -- his return cargo was what was then termed "Redemptionary" poor families of Irish who served a given time for the price of the passage. In this way the greater part of the country of Augusta was settled. The descendants of these emigrants have furnished the West with many of its Governors, Senators, Judges, and distinguished literary men, and even intermarried with the "Imperial Family of, Virginia" as the historian Burke terms the Pocahontas descendants of our state.
Gov. Patton had two sisters who married men of "quality" as the nieces termed them. This state of things kept the two other sisters unmarried.
The youngest sister, Elizabeth, crossing the river Shannon in a boat was very much attracted by the beauty and deportment of a young man whose name was John Preston. On inquiry he was found to be a ship carpenter. Nothing daunted by his humble pursuit, and understanding took place and Miss Patton consented to a runaway match. This step placed her out of the pale of her family. Her brother, Col. James Patton, had by this time obtained governmental distinction in Virginia, as well as a grant of land from Governor Dinwiddie of two or three hundred thousand acres. Col Patton determined to remove his family from White Haven to his then residence in Augusta County. He proposed to John Preston, his brother-in-law, to accompany him to America, and for his services as a ship-wright he would secure him four thousand acres of land. Preston did not hesitate. He embarked with his three daughters and his only son, William Preston, who was then eight years old.
In the summer of 1737 both families settled in Augusta - Mr. Preston seven miles below Staunton, and Patton at Spring Hill. As Preston had left the seaboard, his pursuits were changed, and he worked at the cabinet trade. A silly augury of a native Irish woman's to-wit; that William Preston would get his uncle's fortune, so impressed Mrs. Patton (who was a proud, haughty lady) that no intercourse was allowed of in the two families.
Seven years after their landing John Preston died at "Gibson's Old place", eight miles below Staunton. Mrs. Preston's situation was then a straightened one, she sent her son to her brothers with a message; the youngest daughter of Col. Patton knew her cousin, but her mother did not. Peggy, (afterwards Mrs. Buchanan) passed William Preston off as a neighbor's son to prevent her mother from turning him out of doors. By this time William Preston was 15 or 16 years of age. Mrs. Patton's dread of his getting the fortune by a marriage with one of her daughters urged their early marriage with a kinsman of hers by the name of Thompson, who was a rich man, and the youngest to Col. Buchanan. Shortly after their marriage Mrs. Patton died. This event lead her husband to look into the situation of his sister's family. Col. Patton placed his nephew with the Rev. Mr. Craig, pastor of Tinkling Spring congregation, A classical education was not attempted, because William Preston was thought to be too much grown; however, an excellent course of history, mathematics, and penmanship was afforded. Col. Patton had the affairs of the then mountain region of the colony entrusted to him by Gov. Dinwiddie; His sister, Mrs. Preston, was induced to remove to Hargiss, Judge Baldwin's seat, for the purpose of affording her son the opportunity of posting merchant's books, and doing whatever writing her brother needed.
Col. Patton left his seat and removed to Staunton, and lived at his sister's house. Shortly after that he was sent to Logstown somewhere near Pittsburg to make a treaty with the northwestern Indians. Mr. Preston, then eighteen years of age, was made his private secretary.
I remember to have read Col. Patton's journal written by himself, with the speeches of Oconestots, the old Miago chief. After peace was made, Col. Patton came up to the extreme western country, now of this state. He located all the fine lands of upper James river, Catawba and the Amsterdam lands in Botetourt County. He then came to North Roanoke, Strouble's Creek embracing the Blackburg Lands and Smithfield, the present seat of Gov. James Patton Preston. After that he came to Burk's Garden and the rich valley on the Holston in which the celebrated Salt Works of Mrs. Sally Preston and Mr. William King are situated.
Col. Patton tried to rally the settlers to defend the country from the inroads of the Indians on the frontier of Virginia. This he was unable to effect. All the settlers from South Holston to South Roanoke left the country and went below Blue Ridge. Patton maintained his ground as did Col. William Ingles, Phillip Barger and Phillip Lybrook, on Sinking Creek. On the 8th of July, 1755, it being Sunday, a party of Indians came up the Kanawha, thence to Sinking Creek, thence to Strouble Creek. Ingles and Draper, brothers-in-law, were living at Solitude, the present residence of Cot. Robt. P. Preston, Barger half a mile nearer to the mountains. The Indians came to Barger's, cut his head off, put it in a bag (Barger was a very old man) then came to Ingles and Draper's killed old Mrs. Draper, two children of Col. Ingles, by knocking their brains out on the ends of the cabin logs, took Mrs. Ingles and her son Thomas, a boy of ten years of age, prisoners, as her sister-in-taw, Mrs. Draper, who was trying to make her escape with her infant in her arms, but was shot at by the Indians who broke her arm, by which means the infant was dropped the Indians caught it up and dashed its brains out on the end of the cabin logs.
Col. Patton that morning after having dressed himself in his uniform and getting his nephew to sew up in the fold of his small clothes thirty English guineas, told him to go to Sinking Creek to get Lybrook to help take off a harvest which was then ready to cut. Preston went very early after breakfast; Col. Patton had sat down to his table to write. The Indian war-whoop was heard and some five or six of them surrounded the cabin to set it on fire. The Colonel always kept his sword on the table. He rushed to the door with it in his hand and encountered two of them (Patton was almost gigantic in size) he cut two of them down. In the meantime another warrior had leveled his gun, fired and killed the brave old pioneer. The Indians then ran off in the thicket and made their escape; before any pursuers could be brought together. Lybrook and Preston came through the mountains by an unfrequented route, arrived at Smithfield (then called Draper?s meadows) where they found Patton, Mrs. Draper, the mother of Mrs. Ingles, and the children buried. The whole settlement was destroyed.
The Indians on their retreat back stopped at Lybrook's told the old Mrs. Lybrook they had killed two men, one woman and three children. She immediately recognized the head of Philip Barger, who was then aged and very gray. Mrs. Ingles, her oldest son, a boy of ten years of age, Mrs. Draper, her sister-in-taw, were taken to the Indian towns on the other side of the Ohio River; they traveled down the Kanawha, or, as it is sometimes called, "New River", went through the northeastern part of Kentucky. Mrs. Ingles in three months after her capture gave birth to a daughter. Her sister-in-law had been traded off to another tribe of Indians, as was her son. Three months after the birth of her child, she determined to run off from the Indians, who were dreadfully barbarous to her; another strong impulse to return to her husband made her undertake a journey unparalleled in the incidents of pioneer life. She and a Dutch woman, who was taken from the upper part of the Ohio, determined to run away from the Indians. Mrs. Ingles left her child in a bark cradle asleep, knowing as soon as she was missed, the Indians would kill the infant. A series of remarkable events occurred to them on the route. Mrs. Ingles keeping up the watercourses, when she got to the Ohio River, she and the Dutch woman tied logs together with a grape-vine made a raft and crossed the stream, they were near perishing of hunger living on blackberries, sassafras leaves, frogs and in one instance eating a buck they found dead, then a raccoon in a great state of decomposition.
All means failing, a proposition was made that lots should be cast, which of them was to be eaten by the other; the lot fell on Mrs. Ingles, who, understanding her traveling companion's temper, promised her a sum of money if she would refrain from killing her. Col. Ingles was a rich man; this had the desired effect; the Dutch woman forebore; Mrs. Ingles, however, slipped off, leaving the woman to find her way as she could. After many weeks travel, Mrs. Ingles arrived at Ingles' Ferry on New River, the residence of Col. Ingles. She was afterwards the mother of a highly respectable family, who have always been distinguished for bravery and honesty. Her grand-children live on the place she made such wonderful efforts to return to. These transactions took place the year of Braddock's defeat. Mrs. Ingles lived to a very great age. I remember to have seen her fifty years ago at a large Baptist Association, thirty miles from her home, she was then eighty years old looked florid and erect.
Mr. Draper desires to know whatever particulars of my father, Col. William Preston, I may have a knowledge of.
He was the only son of John Preston and Elizabeth Patton; was born in Ireland, in the town of Newton, Linawaddy, on the 25th of December, 1729. When he was seven or eight years of age his father emigrated to the colony of Virginia.
His father was remarkable for fine personal appearance, great industry, and unabated piety. The mother's qualities were masculine understanding, great ambition and impetuosity of humble fortunes, which she brought on herself by marrying a ship carpenter were powerfully resisted. She was, however, left a widow with a family of four daughters and an only son, who was but a stripling at his father's death.
The forest was to conquer; this her young son did by daily labor in cutting down trees and making fences. After Mr. Preston's death, Mrs. Preston removed to Barger's near Staunton. Her daughters were skillful needlewomen; it was the age of cross-stitch, embroider, etc. They wrought diligently at the business, obtained a sufficiency of money to purchase a negro woman.
A little while afterwards a young Presbyterian clergyman from Ireland, by the name of John Brown, settled in Staunton, became attracted to Margaret, Mrs. Preston's second daughter, married her, went to Rockbridge County, took charge of a congregation and preached fifty years in New Providence meeting house.
The eldest daughter, Lettice Preston, married Col. Robert Breckenridge, a man of some wealth, who had been married before, and had two sons by that marriage.
The third sister, Ann Preston was then married to a young gentleman by the name of Francis Smith.
During this period Col. Wm. Preston was employed by Wallace Estill, the high Sheriff of Augusta, to ride as deputy-sheriff. The year after, Preston and Col. John Buchanan were elected Burgesses to the House of Burgesses. Preston was required by the congregation of Episcopalians in Staunton to procure a carpenter to undertake the building of a church in town. A carpenter and undertaker living near Hanover Court-House, by the name of Francis Smith, who kept a tavern a short distance from the Court House, was applied to by Col. Preston to attend to the building. Mr. Smith was a rich old man, had an extremely beautiful daughter by the name of Susanna, who was educated by the Rev. Patrick Henry. Col. Preston was soon attracted by her beauty and manners; he addressed her, and was married the 17th day of July, 1761.
The summer of 1757, Col. Preston had been appointed Commissioner to hold a treaty with the Shawnee and Delaware Indians at the mouth of Big Sandy River, a branch of the Ohio. Col. Thomas Lewis, of Rockingham County was likewise a Commissioner. Lewis, I believe did not accompany the party. The treaty was made, I think with Oconostoto who was now very old, and a chief called Cornstalk. Col. Preston endured singular hardships in the expedition; he had tied his moccasin somewhat too tight; the string chafed the instep of one of his feet, which produced partial mortification. The skill of a physician by the name of Dr. Thomas Lloyd saved his life. Lloyd had been purchased by Preston a year or two previously: found him a man of fine education, with great knowledge of medicine; the Dr. was made the companion, and died very many years thereafter the firm friend of Preston's family.
On their return from the south of Sandy, they took up a fork of the river, which was through a very rugged region, got so entirely out of food as to be compelled to eat the buffalo tugs which tied on their packs, and hence the stream was named by Col. Preston the "Tug Fork of Sandy"
The county of Fincastle was taken off Rockbridge Botetourt County about the year 1764 1772. Col Preston obtained the surveyor's place, which determined him to leave Staunton. He settled on Greenfield, near Amsterdam, a valuable estate yet in the possession of his granddaughters. Having some business to transact in Augusta Court in the month of May, he left his family at Greenfield, early in the morning
Mrs. Preston was startled by the firing of two guns in quick succession at a neighbor's house within a half mile of her. Very shortly afterwards Mr. Joseph Cloyd rode up on his plough-horse with the gears on, telling Mrs. Preston that the Indians had killed his brother John, shot at him; but missed him, although his shirt was powder-burnt; they had gone to the house, and he expected had killed his mother. Mrs. Preston sent a young man living at her house to Captain Francis Smith, who commanded a small fort on Craig s Creek, to bring his troops to pursue the Indians. She wrote a letter to him, which was free from tremor or trepidation. She then sent a white man and two negro men to Mr. Cloyd's, where they found Mrs. Cloyd tomahawked in three places, all the household destroyed and the money carried off (Mr. Cloyd had a large sum of gold stowed away). Mrs. Cloyd was perfectly in her senses, told all the circumstances of the savage revelry in getting drunk, ripping up the featherbeds, and one of them taking a corn cob and wiping off the blood from her temples, exclaiming "Poor old woman". She died the next morning. After this irruption of the Indians, there appeared to be a pause in their deprivations.
I think, about the year 1765, and expedition was ordered by the then governor of Virginia, Lord Botetourt, and the command given to Col. Byrd, who penetrated as far as the Tennessee line. What his success was I am not able to state; I think, however, the settlements were insecure. In 1773, Col Preston became possessed of Draper's Meadows (now Smithfield). The county of Botetourt was divided and Col. Preston determined to follow the surveyor s office.
Whilst Col. Preston lived at Greenfield, John Buchanan determined to leave his residence near Pattonsburg and remove to Reed Creek to settle at Anchor and Rope, a splendid estate Col. Patton had given his daughter Margaret. On his journey he stopped at Greenfield, took sick and died after several weeks illness. Whilst on his death bed he desired Mrs. Preston to take care of his daughter, Jane, then ten years old; this was done. Col. Buchanan made Col. Preston the executor of his immense estate, a long and unbroken friendship existed between them. Buchanan is favorably mentioned by Gen. Washington in Spark's Life of Washington.
During Col. Preston's residence at Greenfield in the year 1770 a young gentleman by the name of John Floyd was introduced to him by Col. Joseph Cabell, of Buckingham County, as very well qualified to assist as a deputy in the Surveyor's office. It was always a rule with Cot. Preston to require of every young man who was employed in his office to teach school six months at least, thereby finding out his temper, diligence, habits and trustworthiness. Mr. Breckenridge's, Smith's children and my sisters and brothers conducted FLoyd's school; when my father removed to Smithfield in 1773. Col. Floyd accompanied him.
In the Autumn of that year Col. Preston with Col. Nathaniel Gist, were appointed to make a treaty with the Cherokees, and I think the Chickamauga Indians at Long Island, on the Holstein River, in the State of Tennessee. The treaty was made, and the Southern Indians were perfectly quiet. In the March of 1774 Col. Preston removed my mother and her children to Smithfield. There was a fort or stockade around the house; several of the neighbors' families came into it for safety, because the Northwestern Indians made constant attempts on the settlements. Major John Taylor, who had married a niece of Col. Buchanan's was one of the families, Mr. Robert Preston, Captain James Charlton, his brother Frank, and Capt. John Lucas were mainly the persons who defended the fort.
In the year of '74 my brother, Gov. James Patton Preston was born at Smithfield. Mrs. Preston's confinement was so protracted from typhus that a nurse for her infant was procured by the kindness of Mrs. Van Lear, who affectionately took upon herself that office; she was the mother of the Rev. John Van Lear.
During the summer and autumn of '74 the entire region of the Northwest of the mountains of Virginia was put in commotion by the movements of the Indians on her borders. The governor of the State, Lord Dunmore, made a visit as far as Fincastle, in Botetourt County, to organize an expedition against the Shawnees, Wuyandottes and Delaware Indians. Gen. Andrew Lewis, who had served in Braddock's War as a Coronet, and in the old French war as a major, was appointed to be commander of the expedition; his youngest brother Col. Charles Lewis of Bath County, Gen. Lewis' sons Samuel and Thomas Lewis, his nephew Thomas Lewis of Rockingham County, and nephew John Lewis and his nephew-in-law Captain Trigg, and Captain John McClannahan, were all in his army. I think Col. William Christian, Col. William Hemming, his brother-in-law, Col. John Stewart and Col. John Floyd, were also in the campaign. The battle of "Point Pleasant" was fought on the 10th of October, 1774; Col. Chas. Lewis was killed. Col. Sam'l Lewis wounded, Capt. John Lewis of Rockingham was killed, Capt. Trigg killed, and Capt. McClannahan as was Capt. Morrow, the brother-in-law of Col. Charles Lewis. Col. Floyd was sent on a foraging expedition and did not arrive until the day after the battle. I remember distinctly to have a letter from Col. Thomas Lewis, of Rockingham County, to my father giving a detailed account of that battle. Col. Preston was detained by the illness of Mrs. Preston, who was not expected to survive.
The year after this battle the country of Kentucky attracted much attention. Col. Preston's surveyor's office comprehended all that beautiful state, he, Col. Preston, sent Col. Floyd out on an exploring expedition, with advice to take up the lands for the benefit of Floyd and himself. For a long time it was supposed Floyd was killed by the Indians, however, he returned to Smithfield by the route of Guyandotte, Coal River, etc., having endured hardships which few men could have survived.
In the summer of 1776 the American Revolution fairly commenced; all plans for a settlement West was suspended; Col. Preston found himself surrounded by a neighborhood of Tories that kept him continually on the alert to prevent their murdering himself and family, as well as every other Whig in the Country. Gen. William Campbell, of Washington County, Col. Arthur Campbell, of the same county, a brother-in-law of General Campbell's, Col. Patrick Lockhart, of Botetourt County, William Madison, the son-in-law of Col. Preston, were all good Whigs and kept the Tories in check. Col. Preston was intently engaged educating his family and improving the valuable estates he had by this time acquired; the effect the first-named purpose; he had purchased a gentleman by the name of Mr. Aaron Palfreman; this person was a poet and a scholar; he was the correspondent and friend of the celebrated Miss Carter, the poetess.
Mr. Palfreman had in a drunken frolic consented to be married to a beautiful woman, who was represented to him as a lady by his companions; next morning, finding he was made a dupe of, and that his wife was a woman of the town, he embarked in a few hours for America. On landing at Williamsburg, Col. Preston met with him, purchased him, and ever afterwards kept him in his family as a teacher.
Col. Preston, Col. Thomas Lewis, of Rockingham, Gen. Andrew Lewis, of Botetourt, Mr. John Madison, of Augusta, and Col. Fleming engaged Mr. Gabriel Jones, an Englishman, to select for them libraries in London. This Mr. Jones was Mr. Jefferson's first partner in the practice of law. A good selection of the classics, ancient history, the distinguished poets of England, "The Dictionary of Arts and Science" a sort of encyclopedia, with much polemic and religious production constituted the libraries. I would observe that the use of these books gave to each family possessing them a station which outranked, very many wealthier families than the above-named.
The multiplicity of business growing out of the surveyor's office, organizing the counties and their civil policy seemed to require all of Col. Preston's energies. In addition, he held extensive correspondence with many of the then active Whig partisans of Revolution, and in this business he was greatly assisted by his nephew, Mr. John Breckenridge, who was undergoing the ordeal of teaching school at Smithfield, Mr. Breckenridge studied law at William & Mary College, married Miss Polly Cabell, the second daughter of Col. Joseph Cabell, received a large fortune with her. In 1793 removed to Kentucky, acquired great celebrity as a lawyer, presented the famous Kentucky resolutions on the Alien and Sedition Laws, was elected to the senate of the United States where he made a great display of political knowledge and an oratory that was not equaled even by Governor Morris who was in the Senate at that time.
Mr. Breckenridge was made attorney of the U. States by Mr. Jefferson, in which office he died, leaving four sons of distinguished talents. His eldest daughter, Letitia, married General P. B. Porter, Secretary of War in Mr. John Q. Adams' administration. After Mr. Breckenridge's leaving Smithfield, his brother, Gen'l James Breckenridge, took his place as teacher, and assistant. Previous to this period there was a company formed called the "Loyal Company" for the purpose of entering lands in the western counties of Virginia -- Dr. Thomas Walker of Albemarle, Judge Edmund Pendleton, and one or two others, and much surveying was required Col. Preston was employed, which still increased his estate. Col. Preston planned many of the military movements of that period. He was a man of consummate judgment and unremitting industry. He planned the campaign which made the demonstration in North Carolina that led to the battles of Guilford and King's Mountain. His health had greatly declined from frequent apoplectic premonitions -- yet he undertook as Commandant of his county to march at the head of his regiment into North Carolina, to join Gen'l Green at Guilford. You will see an account of this matter in Lee's Memoirs of the Revolution.
A skirmish had taken place between the Americans and British at Whitsell's Mills, a short distance from the main battle. Col. Preston was riding a large fiery young horse that took fright at the report of guns, dashed through the mill -pond threw Col. Preston off who was likely to be cut down by the British light horse.
At the critical moment Col. Joseph Cloyd dismounted, put Col. Preston on his horse and thereby saved his friend and officer's life. This signal service was always held in memory by Col. Preston, and a sincere friendship continued during Preston's life. Cloyd was the young man who escaped when his brother and mother were killed near Greenfield. Cloyd married an excellent worthy lady without any fortune, which so displeased his father that he was banished from the paternal roof. Preston furnished money to Cloyd which enabled him to purchase the estate his son, David Cloyd lived on.
After Col. Preston's return from N. Carolina, his health continued to decline. In the month of June, 1783, he had spent the evening with his intimate friend, Gen'l Even Shelby (the father of Governor Isaac Shelby) on the morning of the 28th he prepared to attend a regiment muster at Michael Prince's three miles from Smithfield. His eldest son, Gen'l John Preston then a youth, accompanied him, as did Gen'l Shelby. The day was exceedingly hot; after being on the field for a few hours, he beckoned his son John to him, complained of pain in his head, desired to lie down on Prince's bed. A short time afterwards requested his son to help him on his horse - he wanted to go home. When the horse was brought to the door, he made an attempt to put his foot in the stirrup, sank down, was caught by his son, laid on the bed again, by this time he had lost his speech, but took his son's hand, rolled up his shirt sleeve, and made a sign for his son to bleed him. This John Preston could not do. Mrs. Preston was sent for, who immediately, reached the place. Col. Preston's reason had not been staggered in this conflict. He caught his wife s hand, kissed it, shed tears, and made a motion to be bled; this could not be effected from consternation and ignorance. Soon after, the stertonous breathing of apoplexy came on and about midnight he breathed his last.
Col John Floyd was killed on the 12th day of April, 1783; when the news reached Col. Preston, such was the feeling produced by it that Preston was never seen to smile afterwards.
Col. Preston was above the ordinary height of men, five feet eleven inches, he was large - inclined to corpulency, was ruddy, had fair hair and hazel eyes his manners were easy and graceful. He had a well cultivated intellect and a fine taste for poetry. I remember reading several beautiful productions of his addressed to my mother in praise of her domestic virtues.
On the 18th day of June, 1823, this excellent lady expired, after having lived a widow forty years. She desired to be buried in the same grave with her husband; this was done; a tombstone was placed over the graves by their second son, Gen'l Francis Preston. No portrait of either was ever taken. Col. Preston and wife had twelve children.
The oldest was Mrs. Elizabeth Madison, who married the second son of Mr. John Madison the father of Bishop James Madison, the learned President of William & Mary College. Likewise Mr. Thomas Madison who married the youngest sister of Patrick Henry. Also Governor George Madison of Kentucky, who married Miss Jane Smith, the niece of Col. Preston.
The next child was Gen'l John Preston, who married Miss Polly Radford the daughter of Col. William Radford, an officer of the Revolutionary army.
The third child was Gen'l Francis Preston, who married the only daughter and heiress of Gen'l William Campbell of King's Mountain memory, her mother was the third sister of Patrick Henry.
The fourth child was Mrs. Sarah McDowell, the wife of Col. James McDowell of Rockbridge; she was the mother of Mrs. Susan Taylor, Mrs. Benton, and her only son is Governor James McDowell of this state.
The fifth child, Anne, died at 13 years of age.
The sixth child was Major William Preston who was a captain in Gen'l Wayne's army; he married Col. George Hancock's second daughter. Hancock was a Revolutionary officer.
The seventh child was Mrs. Susanna Hart, who married Mr. Nathaniel Hart of Kentucky, whose father was killed at the siege of Boonesborough.
The eighth child was Governor James Patton Preston; he married the second daughter of Mr. Robert Taylor, a merchant of Norfolk Borough. Governor Preston was wounded at the battle of Christler's Field in Canada during the last war. He is yet living at Smithfield, is a pensioner, a gentleman of exceedingly graceful manners, greatly beloved by his neighbors and relations.
The ninth child was Mrs. Mary Lewis, she was the wife of Captain John Lewis, an officer of the Revolution; he was entitled to half pay during life. He was proprietor of the celebrated Sweet Springs of Virginia.
The tenth child is Mrs. Letitia Floyd, who married General John Floyd of Virginia; the youngest son of Col. John Floyd and Jane Buchanan.
The eleventh child is Thomas Lewis Preston, who married Miss Edmonia Randolph, the second daughter of. Col. Edmund Randolph of Willi (end copy)
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LETITIA PRESTON FLOYD--PIONEER CATHOLIC FEMINIST
by Harry E. Winter O.M.I.
When Alexis de Tocqueville was finishing Democracy in America, about 1835, he asked what was "the chief cause of the extraordinary prosperity and growing power of this nation",,And he wrote succinctly, "the superiority of their women."
Recently, the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, which covers the entire state of West Virginia, decided to honor one of these women, the author and educator Letitia Preston Floyd (1779-1852). She was to the manor horn, with her brother, James Patton Preston serving as the governor of Virginia from 1816-19, her husband, John Floyd Jr., from 1830-341 and her son, John Buchanan Floyd, from 1848-52. How-ever, the manor was not in slave-holding and aristocratic Tidewater Virginia, but in the anti-slavery and populist Appalachian Mountains, near what is now Blacksburg. Virginia. Her childhood home, Smithfield Plantation, borders on the large land grant university Virginia Poly-technical Institute and State University (VPISU), commonly called Virginia Tech, Smithfield was in the Preston family for five generations, was deeded in 1959 to the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities. Beautifully restored, and open to the public, it gives a good insight into what it was to grow up on the frontier, in a powerful, landed family.
Mrs. Floyd herself, with terse and polished prose, described her childhood at Smithfield in a long letter (or perhaps a short history) of Feb. 22,1843 to her son Benjamin Rush Floyd. She wrote 2.
lovingly about the books her father had arranged to be purchased in London. "A good selection of the classics, ancient history, the distinguished poets of England, the Dictionary of Arts and Sciences, a sort of encyclopedia, with much polemics and many religious productions, constituted the libraries." And then she summed up her view of the importance of education on the frontiers "the use of these books gave to each family possessing them a station which outranked many wealthier families."
Letitia's father was the surveyor for much of central and western Virginia. He employed several deputies, and Letitia wrote that every young man whom he employed had to teach school for him "six months at least, thereby finding out his temper, diligence, habits and trustworthiness." One such man was Colonel John Floyd Sr., in 1804, Letitia married his son, John Floyd Jr. (1783-1837).
Trained in both law and medicine, John Floyd Jr. was soon serving in the U.S. House of Representatives (1817-29). A grind-father and great grandfather had been governors of Virginia. A brother had been a member of the Lewis and Clark expedition, John tirelessly pushed for the occupation of the Oregon area, both during and after his service in Congress. In 1830 he became the last governor of Virginia to serve under its pre-Revolutionary War constitution' then, the first to serve under the post-Revolutionary War constitution. In the national election of 1832 he received the eleven electoral votes of South Carolina for president of the U.S.A.
It was during his governorship that their children started becoming Catholic, and therein lies a mystery. What led the family to become Catholic in a time when Catholicism was a very suspect religion?
Two people were certainly involved. The first was the very personable pastor of St. Peter's Church, Richmond, Father Timothy O'Brien. Gov. Floyd maintained a pew at St. Peter's during his term of office. The three daughters began to convert at this time, during their teens: three of the four sons eventually became Catholic. Undoubtedly, the sermons they heard from their pew helped. In fact, on May 27, 1832, their father recorded in his journal, "went to the chapel to hear Mr. O'Brien, who is a man of talents and a respectable orator."
The second person involved was Bishop Richard Whelan, second bishop of Richmond and first bishop of Wheeling. His views on slavery, and that of Gov. Floyd's, were remarkably similar: they wanted to stamp it out. Gov. Floyd wrote in his journal on Dec.26, 1831: "I shall not rest until slavery is abolished in Virginia." (The Nat Turner slave rebellion, which Floyd had to subdue, must have been a tragic time for the whole family)., Slavery affected Bishop Whelan no less seriously. One of the main reasons why he left Richmond altogether for Wheeling was his hatred of and opposition to slavery.
So two clergymen undoubtedly influenced the Floyd family. But it is quite certain that the teenage girls could never have joined the Catholic Church without the permission of their mother.
Gov. Floyd had never enjoyed robust health. Mrs. Floyd's sister Mary had married John Lewis, a part owner of the famous resort Sweet Springs. The powerful families of the day summered for several weeks at each of six resorts: a modern historian notes "one HAD to be at the Sweet for the last week in August and the first week in September.
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It was like the salmon, who knew when it was time to go back up the Columbia Raver" (Fishwick, Springlore in Virginia). John Floyd died suddenly at his sister-in-law's home, Lynnside, just outside the village of Sweet Springs, Va. (now W.V.) on August 21, 1897. He was only 54 years old.
Local historians assert that John Floyd was received into the Catholic Church on his deathbed, but no records have ever been found. So the reports have never been accepted by Diocese of Richmond authorities.
The oldest daughter, also named Letitia, had become the third wife of widower William Lynn Lewis, John Lewis' son, in a Catholic marriage on March 19, 1897, They were first cousins, and some 15 years different in age. Letitia Lewis now became mistress of the estate of Lynnside, some five months before her father's death.
They buried her father in the Lewis Family Cemetery, at the Lynnside estate where they had spent so many happy summers. Letitia Lewis set about building a chapel for local Catholics, and securing the services of a priest. The chapel, St. John's, Sweet Springs, stands to this day and is the oldest Catholic Church in W.V. to be preserved in its original form. Bishops, archbishops, and probably even Cardinal Gibbons beat a path to Sweet Springs to stay with the powerful Lewis/Floyd family and celebrate Mass at St. John's.
Letitia Floyd directed the affairs of her family from an estate high in the Appalachians, at Burkes Garden, Virginia. She certainly spent many summers in Sweet Springs, at her sister's and daughter's estate. And she wrote thousands of letters.
Her lengthy correspondence with Bishop Whelan is probably preserved among papers of the Floyd and Preston families in the several archives and state libraries. no one has yet edited the letters and written the definitive biography of this Christian feminist. But four of the letters from Bishop Whelan to her are available in the archives of the Diocese of Richmond; the one of May 8, 1845 is especially revealing. Bishop Whelan had lost patience with her, and used every argument to help her make up her mind. "I feel sure that your intelligent and well informed mind will scarce allow you to admit any resting place between Catholicity and infidelity' I feel equally sure that Christianity carries with it too many evidences of truth to allow you to stake your everlasting hopes upon its rejection." He wanted her to consider the influence of her example' he felt that many had attempted before God to excuse or lessen their own neglect by her example. He concluded these and other arguments by warning her "it is now, my dear friend, the 11th hour for you, and you still have it in your power to repair much of the past, . . . by acknowledging before men that Saviour whom you wish to acknowledge you before his Father in heaven." He wrote that it would be a great consolation to him on his approaching visit to receive her and two others he named into the Catholic faith.
Mrs. Floyd put off the final decision for seven more years, not being received into the Church by Bishop Whelan until June, 1852. She died on Dec. 12 of the same year. The pastor of Wytheville, Va., her sons and sons-in-law accompanied her body the 80 miles from Burkes Garden to Sweet Springs. A beautiful journey over mountains and streams in good weather, it would have been a torturous one in bad. They buried her next to her husband in the Lewis Family Cemetery on the knoll with the exquisite view behind her daughter's house.
If one reads the historians of frontier religion, particularly Methodist historians, one can perhaps understand why it took Mrs. Floyd se long to join an organized religion. One of the signs of fervor during revivals was the amount of barking one could do. Religion in the Appalachians, even up to Civil War times, was very messy and chaotic. The slavery issue affected all churches with great bitterness. It is perhaps to her credit that she allowed her children to join as they approached their late teens, but took much more time for her intellect to accept the reasonableness of the Latin language and other externals of Catholicism at that time.
On January 24, 1821 Mrs. Floyd witnessed the death of her
Brother, William. She had to write William's wife the sad news.
"He died as he lived, satisfied with the justice and goodness
of his Creator." Devout but not saccharine, she then added "A friend to all holiest men and the foe of scoundrels." Signing the letter to her sister-in-law "Your afflicted Sister," Mrs. Floyd expressed the belief, "Oh my Sister what a shield and stay his precious family have lost. I hope God will enable them to bear this sad bereavement." She may not have been quick to join any organized religion, but she was deeply religious.
Other-Begin:
On January 24, 1821 Mrs. Floyd witnessed the death of her Brother, William. She had to write William's wife the sad news.
"He died as he lived, satisfied with the justice and goodness
of his Creator." Devout but not saccharine, she then added "A friend to all holiest men and the foe of scoundrels." Signing the letter to her sister-in-law "Your afflicted Sister," Mrs. Floyd expressed the belief, "Oh my Sister what a shield and stay his precious family have lost. I hope God will enable them to bear this sad bereavement."
Buried:
Gov. Floyd?s grave had been marked with a handsome dressed concrete slab some three feet long, six feet wide and ten inches thick. After discussion with Mrs. Floyd?s direct descendent, Mrs. Jack (Lynn) Spellman, who maintains the Lewis Family Cemetery, this text was agreed for Mrs. Floyd:
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JOHN FLOYD LETITIA PRESTON FLOYD
TWICE GOVERNOR WIFE OF GOVERNOR JOHN FLOYD
OF VIRGINIA MOTHER OF GOV.
AN APOSTLE OF SECESSION JOHN BUCHANAN FLOYD
AND THE FATHER OF AUTHOR AND EDUCATOR
THE OREGON COUNTRY DIED DEC. 12, 1853
DIED AUG. 21, 1837
But a major problem would be to find Mrs. Floyd's grave, for it had been unmarked, with only the understanding that she was buried "next to her husband."
An archaeologist trained in restoring cemeteries had been hired to recover the graves of many early Irish settlers buried in the adjacent Old Catholic Cemetery. Professor Ken Robinson, of Lillington, N.C. spent the weeks of Sept. 26, 1988 and June 11, 1990 restoring both cemeteries and locating the grave of Mrs. Floyd. It was fascinating to watch him and his helpers as they determined the grave areas.
no attempt was made to excavate or exhume any human remains. Rarely did the excavations extend any deeper than 10 inches. Prof. Robinson's report described the prowess,
Detection of grave pits was accomplished by stripping away ground vegetation and topsoil to expose changes in soil color and texture. Grave pits were usually visible as areas of mot-tied orange, yellow and brown earth, which results from the mixing of the various colors of clays and silts that were used to refill the grave at the time of burial. The edges of the grave pits were sometimes distinctly visible due to the contrast between the grave fill and natural subsoil.
Excavations were conducted mostly with hand tools such as shovels, mattocks and trowels. Excavation areas were marked prior to the excavation and the precise locations of the excavated areas were mapped and recorded in order to maintain permanent record of where the excavations were conducted.
Since the massive concrete marker to Gov. Floyd was only placed on his grave in the 1930's, some hundred years after his death, it was deemed prudent to see if the marker actually covered his grave. Intensive investigation determined that it was off center by at least two feet. The concrete slab, and a large concrete box supporting it,were both moved 4 feet west and 2 feet north of the original location, since both historical evidence and soil analysis and probing indicated
That was where the governor's grave was, with an identically matching grave on its south side. This unmarked grave gave every indication of being Letitia Preston Floyd's grave. So the new marker was placed on it, and the Most Rev. Bernard W. Schmitt, seventh bishop of Wheeling. was invited to bless it and celebrate the occasion.
On August 15, 1990, direct descendants of Mrs. Floyd from Virginia and West Virginia joined Bishop Schmitt first in the chapel of St. John and then at the newly marked grave itself, to celebrate the memory of this great Christian feminist. A Roanoke. Va. TV station gave the church service
extensive coverage. A van brought officials of the Montgomery County Branch of the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, and other interested people from Smithfield Plantation, Letitia's childhood home about 75 miles across the border in Blacksburg, Virginia.
At the grave, Professor Robinson explained how he had operated. Bishop Schmitt blessed the new marker, standing where his predecessor, the first bishop of Wheeling, Richard Whelan had stood when he visited the grave site on October 19, 1859. Even today, the drive from Wheeling is over five hours. Then, the coach ride must have taken at least a week. Bishop Whelan had come to preside at the marriage of one of Mrs. Floyd's granddaughter's, and would not have missed the opportunity to pray at his famous convert's grave.
Did de Tocqueville ever meet this feminist, who embodied his praise of American women? The Floyd's are not listed among the people he interviewed during his 1832 trip up the coast from New Orleans to Washington D.C. But he almost certainly heard of her. His very poor impression of interviewing Andrew Jacksoon coincides remarkably with the opposition which Governor and Mrs. Floyd showed to President Jackson. Being four years older than her husband, and in much better health, she undoubtedly formed a strong partnership of mind and heart and action with John Floyd.
One speaker at the service in the chapel mused that when he first started reading about Mrs. Floyd, he was tempted to call her "the Abigail Adams of Virginia." Then, as he read more, he began to wonder if someday, when Mrs. Floyd's letters are edited and a definitive biography written, we might not be calling Abigail Adams "the Letitia Freston Floyd of New England"!
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=thejohnson10&id=I1918
Letita married Gov John Floyd about 1805. John (son of James John Floyd and Sally Jane Buchanan) was born on 24 Apr 1783 in Floyds Station, Virginia; died on 17 Aug 1837 in Sweet Springs, Monroe Co, Virginia. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]
Children:
- 45. Gov/Maj Gen John Buchanan Floyd was born on 1 Jun 1806; died on 26 Aug 1863; was buried in Sinking Spring Cem, Abingdon, Washington Co, Virginia.
- 46. Letitia Floyd was born in 1814; died in 1886; was buried in Lewis Family Cem, Sweet Springs, Monroe Co, West Virginia.
- 47. Eliza Lavalette Floyd was born in 1816; died on 12 Sep 1887; was buried in Lewis Family Cem, Sweet Springs, Monroe Co, West Virginia.
- 48. Nicketti Buchanan Floyd was born on 6 Jun 1819 in Virginia; died on 9 Jun 1908; was buried in St. Marys Cem, Wytheville, Wythe Co, Virginia.
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1700 - 1747 (47 years)
Letitia Preston Breckenridge 
Dr. Robert Jefferson Breckenridge 
Capt/Major/Lt. John Breckenridge Grayson 
John Cabell Breckinridge, Vice Pres 
John Cabell "Bunny" Breckinridge, Jr. 