Col. William Preston 1730-1783
Smithfield Prestons

 Col. William Preston, only son of John Preston and Elizabeth Patton, was born in Lima Vaddy, Ireland and died in Montgomery County, Virginia. He came to this country with his parents in 1738. He was born 12-25-1730 and died 7-28-1783. He married Susanna Smith of Hanover County Virginia on July 17, 1761. She was born 1-4-1739 and died 6-19-1823.

Sources: "The Family Tree" by Mary Preston Gray 1980-1984, "The Preston Genealogy" edited by L. A. Wilson under the direction of William Bowker Preston pub. 1900 and "The Preston Family" compiled by John Mason Brown 1870.

William built his home called "Smithfield" in what is now Blacksburg, Virginia. The original name of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University was Olin and Preston Institute, named after William Preston, then Virginia A&M and finally Virginia Tech.

Susanna was the daughter of Francis Smith and Elizabeth Waddy, granddaughter of Capt. William Smith and Elizabeth Ballard. Elizabeth Waddy was the daughter of Anthony Waddy and Sarah Parke of New Kent County, Virginia.

Another source shows different dates for many of the dates shown on this page as follows:

Susanna Smith b.1-23-1740 or 1-4-1739 ?, John Preston born at Greenfield, Botetourt Co., 5-2-1764 or 5-12-1764, William Preston was born at Greenfield 9-5-1770 or 9-3-1770, Susanna Preston born at Greenfield 10-7-1772 or 2-12-1769 (looks like confusion with Ann Preston - I didn't show a date but other source has 2-12-1769, she died at 13 years of age.), Mary Preston born at Smithfield 9-29-1776 or 10-7-1772 ?, Letitia Preston born at Smithfield 9-29-1779 or 9-29-1776 ?, and Thomas Lewis Preston born at Smithfield 8-19-1781 or 1780. My source was Mary Preston Gray's "The Family Tree" and the other source is from the Preston Family Bible, #26190 at the Library of Virginia. At the time it was photocopied it was in the possession of N. Floyd Holmes in Florida. What is confusing is Mary Preston Gray refers to this document so she obiously knew it existed and since her livelyhood was genealogy, I would ass-ume she used it. Any comments on these dates would be appreciated, especially those several years apart. The new information was provided by Carolyn M. McDaniel.

William and Susanna Smith had twelve (12) children:

  1. Elizabeth Preston b.5-31-1762 d. 2-4-1837 m. William Madison (1753-1782) on 1-1-1778 at Smithfield. They had two daughters.
  2. John Preston b. 5-12-1764 d. 3-27-1827, a member of the legislature and for many years Treasurer of Virginia. First to Miss Mary Radford of Richmond. They had 5 children. Secondly he married Miss. Elizabeth Carrington Mayo. They had one son.
  3. Gen. Francis Smith Preston born at Smithfield 8-2-1765 and died in Columbia, SC at the home of his son, Hon. William C. Preston, 5-26-1835. He married Sarah Buchanan Campbell, daughter of Gen. William Campbell on Jan. 10, 1793. Sarah was born 4-21-1778 and died 7-23-1846. They had 15 children.
  4. Sarah Preston was born at "Greenfield" on May 3, 1767. She married Col. James McDowell of Rockbridge Co., Va., an officer in the war of 1812, and they had three children:
  5. Ann Preston, born at 'Greenfield', Botetourt County, Va., died at 13 years of age.
  6. Susanna Preston b. 2-12-1769 d. 6-25-1833, born at 'Greenfield' and died at 'Smithfield'. She married Nathaniel Hart of Kentucky and they had 7 children.
  7. William Preston b. 9-3-1770 d. 1-29-1821, born at 'Greenfield'. He became a Captain in General Wayne's Army, probably in his expedition against the Indians. He resided in Louisville, Ky. He married Miss Caroline Hancock and they had 6 children.
  8. Mary Preston b. 10-7-1772 d. 2-24-1824 born at 'Greenfield' and died at her home in Sweet Springs, West Virginia. She married Capt. John Lewis of Sweet Springs, b 8-24-1758 d. 6-5-1823. They married Oct 1793 and had 9 children.
  9. James Patton Preston b. 6-21-1774 d. 5-4-1843 born at Smithfield. He married Miss Nancy Taylor of Norfolk, Va. on June 13, 1801. He was Governor of Virginia, 1816-1819. They had 6 children.
  10. Letitia Preston b. 9-29-1776. She married Gov. John Floyd (Governor of Virginia 1830-1834) and they had 9 children. See her memoirs under Documents
  11. Thomas Lewis Preston b. 8-19-1780 d. 8-12-1812. An attorney at law, became Attorney-General of the United States, a member of the Virginia Legislature and a Major in the War of 1812. He married Miss Edmonia Randolf, dau. of Edmond Randolf (or Randolph). He was buried in the Presbyterian Church yard in Lexington, Va. They had 2 children.
    1. Elizabeth R. Preston married William A. Cocke, of Cumberland, Virginia and they had 4 sons:
      • William A. Cocke fell at the battle of Gettysburg.
      • Thomas L. P. Cocke married his cousin Letitia P. Lewis and they had 2 children:
        • Letitia P. Cocke
        • A son died in infancy.
      • Edmond R. Cocke, unmarried.
      • John Preston Cocke, unmarried.
    2. John Thomas Lewis Preston married first Sally Carruthers (Caruthers ?) of Lexington, Va. and second Margaret Junkin also of Lexington, the poetess. Margaret Junkin's sister married 'Stonewall Jackson'. John Preston became a colonel in the Confederate Army and a professor in the Virginia Military Institute. John and Sally had 7 children:
      1. Edmonia R. Preston died young.
      2. Thomas Lewis Preston who married Lucy Waddell and became a minister. They had 3 children.
      3. William C. Preston who was killed while serving in the Confederate Army.
      4. Phebe A. Preston unmarried.
      5. Francis Preston unmarried.
      6. Edmond Russell Preston married Julia Jackson, granddaughter of Thomas Jonathan Jackson (Stonewall Jackson). (In Brown's "The Preston Family", he indicates that Edmond R. Preston died young.)
      7. John T. L. Preston.

      John had by his second wife, Margaret Junkin, two children:

      1. George J. Preston.
      2. a son.
  12. Margaret Brown Preston ("Peggie") b. 2-23-1784 d. 5-4-1843. Born at Smithfield seven months after her fathers death. She married Col. John Preston b 7-8-1781 d. 10--1864 in 1802. Col. John Preston is of the Walnut Grove Prestons. They had 14 children.


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Original 6/25/97
Last updated 4/10/2007
Page by F. L. Preston