PRESTON
PRESTO X
father was a major in the war of 1812, lawyer,
and member of the Virginia legislature. In 1836
Mr. Preston conceived the idea of substituting
for the company of soldiers who guarded the
arsenal, a company of cadets, who, in addition
to the duties of an armed guard, should pur-
sue a course of scientific and military studies.
This idea materialized, March, 1839, in the Mili-
tary Institute of Virginia, of which Preston and
Gen. Francis H. Smith (q.v.) constituted the
entire faculty from 1839 to 1843. He was married
first Aug. 2, 1833, to Sara Lyie, daughter of Wil-
liam and Phebe (Alexander) Caruthers of Lex-
ington, Va., and had five sons and three daugh-
ters ; and secondly, Aug. 4, 1857, to Margaret
Junkin, the poet (q.v.), by whom he had two sons.
In April, 1861, at the call of the state, the corps of
cadets marched for Richmond undert he command
of Maj. T. J. Jackson, of whose staff Preston be-
came a member, with the rank of colonel. In
1863 the institute was re-opened as a training
school to supply skilled and educated officers for
the army, the cadets being called repeatedly into
active service during the war. On May 15, 1864,
at New Market, the corps lost 8 killed and 44
wounded out of 350, and on June 11, 1864, all the
institution buildings, save the quarters of the
superintendent, were burned by order of Gen.
David Hunter (q.v.). When the institute was
re-opened in October, 1865, Colonel Preston re-
sumed his professorial duties, subsequently
traveled abroad, accompanied by his wife, and
after his return continued a member of the uni-
versity faculty until within a few months of his
death. He is the author of a biographical sketch
of John Howe Peyton in " Augusta County, Va."
He died in Lexington, Va., July 15, 1890.
PRESTON, Margaret Junkin, poet, was born in Philadelphia, Pa., May 24, 1830; daughter of George Junkin (q.v.). She was educated by her father and under private tutors, and contributed her first story to Sartain's Magazine in 1849. She was married Aug. 4, 1857, to John L. Preston (q.v.), and had two sons : George Junkin, born in 1858, a graduate of Washington and Lee, 1879, and of the University of Pennsylvania, M.D., 1883, and Herbert Rush, a lawyer, both established in practice in Baltimore. Mrs. Preston spent her married life in Lexington, Va., traveled abroad with her husband, collecting material for her Book of Monograms (1886), contributed to the Southern Literary Messenger ; translated Dies Tree (1855), and is the author of: Silverwood (1856) ; Beechenbrook, a Rhyme of the War (1866) ; Old Songs and New (1870); Cartoons (1876); For Loire's Sake (1886) ; Colonial Ballads, Sonnets and Other Verses (1887); Aunt Dorothy (1890). She died in Baltimore, Md., March 38, 1897, and was buried at Lexington, Va.
PRESTON, Thomas Scott, R. C. prelate, was
born in Hartford, Conn., July 33, 1834 ; son of
Zephaniah Preston, a Puritan. He was gradua-
ted at Trinity college, Hartford, Conn., A.B.,
1843, A.M., 1846; at the General Theological
seminary, New York city, in 1846, and was ad-
mitted to the diaconate the same year. He as-
sisted at Trinity church, at the Church of the An-
nunciation, and at the Church of Holy Innocents,
West Point, 1846—47 ; was ordained jjriest in 1847,
and was assistant rector of St. Luke's church.
New York city, 1847-49. In 1849 he accepted the
Roman Catholic faith, and was deposed from the
Protestant Episcopal church. After studying
at St. Joseph's seminary, Fordham, N.Y., he was
ordained priest, Nov. 16, 1850 ; was an assistant at
the cathedral in 1850 ; pastor of St. Mary's, Yon-
kers, N.Y., 1851-53 ; chancellor of the arch-diocese
of New York, and secretary to Archbishop
Hughes, 1853-91; and rector of St. Ann's, New
York city, 1861-91, building a new church edi-
fice which was consecrated in 1871. He was
vicar-general of the archdiocese of New York,
1873-91 ; received the degree S.T.D. from Seton
Hall college, New Jersey, in 1880 ; and was named
private chamberlain to the Pope (Leo XIII.).
May, 1881. He was appointed domestic prelate
and prothonotarj' apostolic, Dec. 13, 1881, with no
ceremony of investure. He built a large paro-
chial school on 11th Street, and founded the
" House of the Holy Family," for the benefit of
children and homeless girls. He was actively in-
fluential in procuring the excommunication of the
Rev. Dr. Edward McGlynn when he accepted
and taught the theories of Henry George. He is
the author of : Ark of the Covenant (1860); Life
of St. Mary Magdalene (ISm) ; Sermons for the
Principal Seasons of the Sacred Year (1864); Life
of St. Vincent de Paul (1866); Lectures on Chris-
tian Unity, Advent of 1S66 {ISQ7); TJie Purgato-
rian Manual (1867); Lectures on Reason and
Revelation (1868); Tlie Vicar of Christ (1871);
Tlie Divine Sanctuary (1878); Divine Paraclete
(1880); Protestantism and the Bible (1880); Prot-
estantism and the Church {ISS'2)\ God and Rea-
son (1884), and Watch on Calvary (1885). He
died in New York city, Nov. 4, 1891.
PRESTON, Willard, clergyman, was born at Uxbridge, Mass., May 39, 1785. He was gradu- ated at Brown university, 1806, began the study of law, but abandoned it for theology, and was licensed to preach in 1808. He resided in the South, 1808-11. on account of ill health ; and was Congi-egational minister at St. Albans, Vt., 1813- 15; Providence, R.I., 1816-30; Burlington, Vt., 1831-35 ; president of the University of Vermont, 1825-36 ; pastor of the Independent Presbyterian church at Savannah, Ga., 1836-56, and rendered unceasing aid during the epidemic of yellow
