About Me, Fred Preston
I am from Charleston, WV and wife is from Fair Haven, NJ., her maiden name is Aumack and they all seem to be from New Jersey. I went through high school in Charleston then went to Virginia Tech and became a Metallurgical Engineer. Worked in near Pittsburgh, PA briefly, then Dunkirk/Fredonia, New York, then to St. Joe/Benton Harbor, Michigan and finally to Lufkin, Texas. While in New York I was drafted and went to Ft. Monmouth, N. J. where I met and married my wife. We spent time in Arizona and California. My parents, Seaton Preston and Katy Preston, retired and moved to Florida where they enjoyed 25 or 26 years of retirement.
I have four children, the oldest in Fontana, CA., second in St. Joseph, MI, third in Flower Mound, TX and fourth in Nacogdoches, TX. I have 9 grand daughters, 2 grandsons and one great grand daughter. We also have a Schnauzer, Barkley.
My interest over the years have included model railroading (now for sale), ham radio, chemistry, stamps (United States Unused also for sale), wine making, computer programming, tennis, golf and genealogy. Genealogy is something that many people become interested in after their grand parents and parents have died and there is no one to ask questions about their origin. Unfortunate that it works that way but it does. I am currently president of the local Sons of the American Revolution Chapter and Vice President of the Angelina County Genealogy Society.
I worked as a Metallurgical Engineer in a stainless and tool steel rod and bar mill, a malleable and ductile iron foundry that also produced a full line of jacks, tractor brakes and aircraft brakes, and then Lufkin Industries. Lufkin Industries operates a gray and ductile iron foundry, they are a leading producer of oil well pumping units, gear reducers and trucks. They do not make measuring tapes.
Now that I am retired ??? I am working as a Realtor with Gann Medford Real Estate in Lufkin. In my spare time I work on my web pages and I am webmaster for St. Cyprians Episcopal Church, the Lufkin Tennis Association, The Sons of the American Revolution, Noon Kiwanis Club and numerous web pages of my own.
My wife has a BS in Social Work from Stephen F. Austin in '96 and works part time but is very active with Outreach programs and volunteers with Love INC and CISC.
My Preston line is known as the Walnut Grove Prestons which was the name of their ancestral home in Washington County Virginia near Bristol, VA. They are reportedly cousins of the Smithfield Prestons, also from western Virginia but I do not have any proof of that connection which would have occurred in Northern Ireland near Londonderry. An interesting note, the original name of Virginia Polytechnic Institute was the Olin and Preston Institute. The Preston was of the Smithfield line of Prestons.
My genealogy pages started with my ancestors as I believed them to be. I soon found out that my information was incorrect. Also, I had considerable information on other Prestons, so I started including pages on Prestons all over the world. In addition to the genealogy of Prestons and my collatoral branches, I have pages on Midi Music and some Fun Stuff. Enjoy. If you want to contact me use the Guest Book.
Original 12/29/2006
Last updated 7/30/2007
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