Notes |
- According to a monument erected by members of the Preston family in 1855, John Preston was buried in Tinkling Springs graveyard in 1747. His wife Elizabeth Patton Preston, eloped with John in 1723 in Ireland before coming to an American colony in Virginia, (Beverley's Manor) and joining Elizabeth's brother James Patton, already there. John and Elizabeth came to America on board "The Walpole", a ship owned by Elizabeth's brother James (their father was Henry Patton of Ireland, a shipping magnate of the time). John was a shipbuilder/carpenter,and was said to be very handsome. His sister Jane married Alexander Breckinridge, while another sister, Margaret Preston married his brother-in-law, William Patton.
(findagrave)
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John Preston came to America with his brother-in-law, James Patton, a brother of Mrs. Preston. It is believed that he lived on the farm a mile N. E. of Staunton, recently known as the Mosby-Taylor farm, and now, (1892), owned by M. E. Miller.
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).
At November term, 1746, the court made an allowance to provide small beer, [for the Justices, it is presumed) , and for stabling the horses of justices, attorneys and officers. Persons were licensed to sell liquor in booths and stalls on the court-house lot; and at March term, 1750, commissioners were appointed to inspect the beer sold at every court, "and if it appear that the same is not at least one month old and well hop'd then they presume not to ask more than one penny a quart."
Till the year 1746, no vestrymen had been elected, as provided in the act of 1738. In that year, however, an election was held, and twelve persons were chosen to constitute the vestry of the parish, viz: James Patton, (Col.) John Buchanan, John Madison, Patrick Hays, John Christian, (Mr.) John Buchanan, Robert Alexander, Thomas Gorden, James Lockhart, John Archer, John Matthews, and John Smith.
From the first settlement of Virginia the Church of England had been established in the colony. The inhabited parts were laid off into parishes, in each of which was a minister, who had a fixed salary in tobacco, together with a farm (called glebe) and a parsonage. There was a general assessment on all the inhabitants to meet the expenses.
Annals of Augusta County, Virginia, from 1726 to 1871 By Joseph Addison Waddell
http://books.google.com/books?pg=PA57&lpg=PA57&dq=Mrs+Patton+was+a+haughty+woman,+says+Mrs.+Floyd&sig=M_smhTZyznyyEemOQ9XmET_n5gI&ei=zsvYUNq4HISA2wXP-IHgBg&id=rZbEC1kEdpcC&ots=ogDVEf-0mO&output=text
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